Tailored purchasing agreements, volume discounts and the appointment of local procurement managers will reduce the cost of procurement at Health. These are the expectations for a new pilot project.

2014.05.27 | Sabina Bjerre Hansen

New pilot project at Health will ensure that millions of Danish kroner are saved on the procurement of goods and services.

Glass bottles, ballpoint pens, work clothes and servicing of departmental vehicles. These are some of the many different goods and services that Health purchases to keep the institute running. The total cost of all purchases at Health is almost DKK 76 million a year. With the new initiatives the faculty management team expects to be able to reduce that amount by as much as DKK ten million.

Everyone will have to make an effort

”Our expectations are high for the new pilot project for the procurement area. It will require hard work, management support and employee involvement to achieve this goal. But there is certainly money to be saved,” says administration centre manager at Health, Steen Harrit Jakobsen, who is the joint project coordinator together with procurement manager Anne Sofie Hedemann from AU Finance, Procurement.

”Another advantage is that the departments will experience a reorganisation of the purchasing process. The idea of is to have local procurement managers placed in the environments so as to free up more time overall for the academic staff for their core services – research and teaching,” explains Steen Harrit Jakobsen.

In connection with the pilot project, AU Finance, Procurement has tailored agreements for each department. The agreements must ensure that the departments achieve savings without compromising on quality and service from the suppliers.

Employees hold the key to success

”Of course we need to have some good agreements that meet the local area’s requirements and wishes. That is why it is absolutely vital that we have the opportunity to involve employees in this work. We depend on employees contributing with good ideas and sharing their knowledge and experience with us, so we can secure the best possible agreements in the respective areas,” says Anne Sofie Hedemann.

Several departments at Health have already appointed procurement managers so that there are fewer people responsible for procurement. On aspect of the project is that it will also be rolled out to the other departments and the School for Dental Assistants, Hygienists and Clinical Technicians.

Facts about the pilot project

• The Department of Biomedicine has been the pilot department and they are already well under way with the project, which will now be rolled out for the remainder of the main academic area.
• The pilot project focuses in particular on three focus areas:

1. New tenders (purchasing agreements) must be established and the agreements must be complied with.
2. Local procurement managers will be appointed and procurements must be pooled in larger orders.
3. The procurement manager and a number of key employees must be better equipped so that they can utilise the purchasing agreements correctly.

• The pilot project coordinators report quarterly to the faculty management team, and the faculty management team can continuously follow the development of the project via AU Finance, Procurement’s website.
• The pilot project has been launched and will be evaluated in the second quarter of 2015.