UAF Procurement Process Metrics

Transcription

1 UAF Procurement Process Metrics INTRODUCTION As part of its process improvement effort, the SUPER (Streamlined, User-friendly Purchasing and Efficient Requisitioning) team collected data on the time it takes from a request to purchase an item until the Purchase Order for that item is issued (Section 1). The team also conducted a campus-wide customer satisfaction survey, covering both how well Procurement and Contract Services provides services, and how important those services are to stakeholders (Section 2). As part of that survey, the team collected suggestions on how to improve the procurement process (Section 3). Thank you to everyone who participated! We are using this data to focus our efforts. Additional suggestions, or questions about the SUPER effort, can be sent to: uaf-super@alaska.edu. SECTION 1. TIME TRACKING RESULTS The SUPER team, with lots of help and participation from staff in the departments and in the central office, tracked the time it takes from an initial purchase request (ex. a PI asking his departmental requisitioner to make a purchase) until a PO is issued. Thank you to everyone who participated! We plan to do another time tracking event after some of our improvements are implemented, and we expect the next time to be easier for everyone. The average cycle time for each step of the process are summarized below: Request to REQ entry REQ entry (dept.) to P&CS receipt P&CS receipt to Buyer assignment Buyer receipt to PO issued Subtotal: REQ entry to PO issued Total: Request to PO issued 3.3 days 1.2 days 0.7 day 5.8 days 9.8 days 13.3 days Note: the averages are calculated from the tracks where data was complete throughout that stage; the subtotal and total cycles are calculated from fully complete tracks and are not an addition of the separate stages averages. Reducing this cycle time is a key goal of the SUPER team s process improvement effort. 1

2 SECTION 2. CUSTOMER SATISFACTION Each service provided by Procurement and Contract Services (P&CS) received two scores. The first evaluated how satisfied stakeholders were with that service, and the second indicates how important that service is to the stakeholders; for both series of questions, the score was 1-5. The results have been ordered according to their importance score (the first listed service is the one with highest average importance) and color-coded according to performance. Green indicates an average score of 3.25 or higher, yellow between , and red for an average performance score less than 3.0. PERFORMANCE Avg. Importance Performance: [The overall quality of customer service provided by P&CS is high.] Performance: [Communications (via phone, , etc.) with P&CS are answered in a reasonable amount of time.] Performance: [P&CS is a professional and efficient organization.] Performance: [The ProCard system is easy to navigate.] Performance: [The ProCard guide provides relevant content.] Performance: [P&CS provides adequate communications related to changes in policies or procedures, new contracts, and other activities. ] Performance: [I know whom to contact in the P&CS department to resolve a purchasing issue.] Performance: [P&CS website provides relevant content.] Performance: [P&CS is aligned with the goals of UAF and supports its institutions and departments.] Performance: [I generally engage P&CS on large sourcing purchases.] Performance: [P&CS website is easy to navigate.] Performance:[P&CS obtains better pricing from suppliers for my department by combining and leveraging my spending with other UAF schools, departments and administrative units. ] Performance: [P&CS helps me stretch my budget dollars by reducing the cost of my purchases.] Performance: [P&CS helps improve the quality of goods or services purchased.] Performance: [I generally work with P&CS on small purchases.] TRAINING avg. [In general the responses from Procurement Officer to Procurement Officer are consistent.] 3.38 [The quality of training received from P&CS (not Banner Navigation) regarding the procurement process is relevant to my position. ] 3.36 [The training provided by P&CS regarding the scope of work and contract administration is relevant to my position. ] 3.27 [The training provided by P&CS is consistent.]

3 SECTION 3. IMPROVEMENT SUGGESTIONS The SUPER team received dozens of suggestions on how to improve the procurement process through the survey. Some of these suggestions are already being worked through by the team as part of their process improvement efforts, and others are being explored. A condensed list of submitted suggestions and current status/actions follows. Several suggestions were very similar to each other, and repeats have been removed from this list. Comment Main issue Response I don't like Banner, but that doesn't have anything to do with you. Keep up the good work Procurement! Let us know when requisitions/purchase orders/invoices are approved/created/paid! Setting up contracts is INCREDIBLY difficult. A more streamlined and clear process would be very helpful. The Procards are AWESOME! I only wish we could buy everything on them. Web based tracking system that tracks purchases and contracts. A system like this will provide some much needed accountability. Offer a far more userfriendly system for quick reporting and printing. Accountability. Fast, reliable service with follow up via /phone if problems are encountered. I suggest a system is put in place that monitors the performance and quickness of purchases. Communicate which Procurement Officer handles what commodities. Faster turnarounds on purchases, less bureaucracy, fewer obstacles. A reference chart and/or flow chart that covers all possible purchasing options, including encumbrances and blanket purchase orders and what to do for each. Sometimes Banner makes it difficult to get through purchasing of items. Purchasing with anything other than a credit card is incredibly time consuming. Instead of requesting a check, why couldn't Banner Communication Contract process Tracking system Communication Banner Banner improvements are in process with SW! In progress! Working with SW Banner Finance to have automated notifications SUPER is willing to collect suggestions on streamlining the contract creation/modification process and forward on to Deb Moore for review. SUPER is exploring a one-card system and ways to increase pro-card purchasing as appropriate. Researching e-procurement systems that might have this functionality, or ways to grow our own. Basic automatic notifications are being implemented soon. Your suggestion will be reviewed by the SUPER team and forwarded on to John Hebard, Director of P&CS In progress! Website is being redone to better communicate. P&CS is working through Process Improvement now, to eliminate barriers and de-mystify the process Great suggestion, will work this into the new web design. Working with SW to improve Banner interface This is an interesting solution to the check request process. We will investigate it further. In progress? 3

4 we request a transfer into an office account, then be able to write checks from that office account. We have no idea who is responsible for the req once it has left our local office. We Tracking system need to know who is the responsible P&CS and person and their contact information. More trainings, more help topics online. Service is always wonderful and professional - I enjoy working with P&CS. As someone who makes very small purchases occasionally, the process is very cumbersome and inefficient. In the time it takes me more time to log, reconcile, file, record, track and seek approval a $5.00 item becomes a $30 item. RSA forms creation is extremely cumbersome When modifying a purchase from the original buyer's request, COMMUNICATE to the buyer before purchasing the item/service. Thank you Now that Maren Boyack is there-it is even better!, training, training. Consistent, systematic training. Have a filing drawer (similar to OGCA) so that departments know if there's something that they/the vendor needs to provide. I think the P&CS website can be updated to include an accurate commodity listing for staff. I would like to see more blanket purchase orders available. P&CS needs to make more training available and ask all UAF staff to take training every two years to keep up to date on purchasing changes. Long-term staff still work under old purchasing policies and are not up to speed on new practices. Faster response during periods of heavy volume, a website that is easy to navigate and has more content on the main page. An average user should be able to quickly find reference materials regarding Communication; Red tape Communicating ability for departmental staff to see assigned P&CS buyer in Banner Working on revamping training options and frequency. Website is also being redesigned. It would be interesting to know if the item being purchased was via requisition or ProCard. Unfortunately, until the auditors come up with a better process, the documentation requirements may remain the same. The RSA form in its current form is required by statute and/or guidelines and cannot be altered at a department level. We are working to identify ways that the form could be improved at the SW level. This request has been forwarded to John Hebard, Director of P&CS. None Thanks! n/a Tracking system Website; Website Working on revamping training options and frequency. exploring ability of e-procurement systems to show current status of any requisition -website is being redesigned and updated, and will include accurate commodity listing Terry Rahlfs is currently working on compiling a list of existing BPOs and creating additional ones for air charter services. Working on revamping training options and frequency. Currently working on website redesign to address these issues- great idea on the reference guides! 4

5 procedure and regulations. Creation of 1-2 page quick reference guides that explain the life of a request: how to initiate (step by step), documentation/other requirements, the average turnaround time for the request, and who to contact with questions. I would suggest that cross training between positions so that when someone is out or gone, that procurement would be seamless - however the best laid plans can go awry The only glitch I have is with the Procard website - when the account number is entered you have to tick the circle AND fill in the number for each part of the account number, and then you must update for the account number immediately or the information is lost and you have to do it all over again. Several times I haven't noticed that the information wasn't entered, and the item was placed to the default account when I had forgotten to tick the radio button or had entered the description before updating the information. I suspect this is a computer problem rather than P&CS. provide a better visual chart that may help to explain the procedures from one dept to another. There are so many tasks/ procedures to cover and my position needs to know it all, so anything else to help would be good. I have found that staff at PCS seem to be overly busy, thus procurements tend to get pushed out as staff is working on other procurements. It is rare that procurements that I submit are advanced in a timely manner. Each procurement person has different forms they use and different processes they require, which is very inconsistent and frustrating. My major comment is that I would like to see a more streamlined process for obtaining a procard waiver. By the time signatures are ed back and forth several times, the form is almost illegible. In a nutshell, the process is very cumbersome. Excellent suggestion - this will be forwarded on to John Hebard. This is a frustrating issue. A new system for ProCard reconciliation is actually being rolled out now. Stay tuned to the Pro-Card User ListServe for further updates. Great suggestion, will work this into the new web design. This is a legitimate concern, as P&CS has gone through some staff turnover in the last few months. They are fully staffed now. Additionally, the process improvement team is working on streamlining the procurement process with the goal of reducing the time it takes for a PO to be issued. SUPER is working on bringing consistency and ease of use to existing Procurement & Contract Services forms Your suggestion will be reviewed by the SUPER team and forwarded on to Helen Connor, ProCard Administrator 5

6 Try to cut checks on time...especially if they are RUSH. If they can't be cut by the requested date, at least let the requesting department know more or less when they should be expecting the checks. Some things are time sensitive and we would appreciate the courtesy of being informed. Some checks I requested were overdue and I had to call P&CS to find out the status. A couple of the requests were submitted two weeks prior. Nonetheless, P&CS is doing a good job. P&CS is not responsive to the needs of researchers - researchers have generally done all the legwork required to reach a purchasing decision (usually on Fund2) and their orders should be expedited accordingly - they will ask for help when it is needed. This is a frustrating problem. The process to get an actual physical check cut is actually a team effort: 1) the department submits the request via Banner through the requisition process, 2) Procurement issues a purchase order to fund the check, 3) Financial Services cuts the check from the purchase order. As you can see, several steps are needed to get the actual check cut, much less sent to the department or vendor. The SUPER Team is willing to take any suggestions under consideration that would speed the process up. P&CS actually has two full-time staff members who are dedicated to Research related procurements. Please refer to the Commodity/Service List and contact the appropriate staff member if you have concerns related to procurement and would like to discuss it with P&CS Staff. 6