Call for Papers - Tendering Best Practices and Effective Implementation of the bidding process conference
How to effectively conduct Tendering and Bidding processes in line with World Class Practices in both the Public and Private Sector is the theme of the Tendering Best Practices and Effective Implementation of the Bidding Process - Conference to be held on 29-30 July 2009. SmartProcurement is calling for papers from interested (and even afflicted :)) parties ...
Posted by Editor at 6:42 AM
The Law of Government Procurement in South Africa
Publisher Lexis Nexis has launched the The Law of Government Procurement in South Africa the very first comprehensive analysis of this topic. It systematically covers the entire field of law applicable to government procurement and examines the scope and effect of the current procurement legislation in the light of existing case law and commentary. Posted by StaffWriter at 2:41 PM
"Open Book Costing" and "Cost Plus" can hamper Outsourced Logistics contracts.
The commercial agreement between the principal buyer and the service provider of outsourced logistics has far reaching, long term consequences for both parties. Cobus Rossouw of Volition shares some practical insights with Smart Procurement on how to extract the maximum value from your service provider....Posted by StaffWriter at 1:05 PM
Do’s and don’ts when developing Office Automation tenders
"By rights, the issuing of a tender should mean the company is serious about placing orders - after all, respondents approach tenders with a belief that the company has realised a pressing need for the equipment, system and or services in question," Billy Bell of Bell Output Strategies told Smart Procurement. "However, in many instances the tender (expecially tenders for Printers, Faxes and Photocopiers) is used to benchmark existing contracts, has not been through a thorough needs analysis, has no prepared business case and is an attempt only to 'see' the market."
Posted by Bernie at 10:54 AM
Service Level Agreements – what should they contain?
Many organisations have introduced Strategic Sourcing techniques to reduce their costs. Normally this is based on a methodology where the ‘A Team’, comprising top procurement, technical and other skills, completes a cost-management project and then hands these new arrangements over to other staff to continue to manage on a day-to-day basis. After the initial successes management has begun to ask how sustainable these initiatives are, particularly as costs seem to move inexorably upwards...
Posted by Bernie at 4:06 PM
Finding a cure for "BAD" contracts and outsourcing deals?
"It is a well researched fact that the majority of outsourcing deals become unsatisfactory to one of the partners involved, within the first two years of the agreement, Cecil Harris, MD of ODMS tells SmartProcurement. This dissatisfaction could range from poorly delivered services to unhappiness with the pricing. "Invariably all outsourcing deals require a degree of remediation or renegotiation at some point during their lifetime, he says.
Posted by Bernie at 3:17 PM
Printer, Fax and Photocopier Rentals: What clauses to look out for!
Most organisations finance their office automation equipment due to the associated high capital commitments. The problem here is that if there are issues with the equipment the corporate company cannot hold back payments or force the issue of replacement because the financial instrument still has to be paid to someone else, regardless of performance... By Billy Bell of Bell Output Strategies.
Posted by Bernie at 4:17 PM
Avoid, reduce or pass the buck on procurement risk... (Part 1)
Clever suppliers will plan to introduce risks after you've entered a into contract or started a project. As part of a "foot in the door" strategy, they might be the lowest bidder initially but with a deliberate plan for increasing costs once the "Balance of Power has shifted"....
Posted by Bernie at 8:36 AM