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Today we met Peter Jeffs, Director of Procurement Services at Western University, and introduced our SILex project. The context is that Western is currently using Mustang Market, a web-based eProcurement solution under Jaggaer and they are looking for another Contract management software or Contract and risk management software solutions that is Artificial Intelligence (AI) / (RPA) supported, and can integrate with mustang market.

We are tasked to make a small group, provide research report on potential software solution and a powerpoint presentation on week 12.

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Broader Public Sector Directive and Trade Agreements

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Broader Public Sector Directive and Trade Agreements

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After the SILex introduction, we discussed the Broader Public Sector (BPS). These are the organizations that benefit from government funding, like hospitals, various educational institutions, and children's aid society. The BPS Directive promote open, fair and transparent as fundamentals for good governance, accountability, and public trust.

It is mandatory for these agencies to comply by reporting every expenses, failure to do so may lead to legal consequences. However, not all public agencies are under the BPS directive. Some are exempted like municipalities, local boards, long-term care facilities and boards of health for some reasons like local autonomy or specific provisions.

Lastly, we tackled the benefits of trade agreements, like increasing economic growth, tariffs and trade barrier reduction. and improve ties with others.

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My name is Andrew, and I am from one of the beautiful countries in the Southeast, the Philippines. For the last 10 years, I have been working as a procurement coordinator in Dubai, UAE, and I am excited to continue my career path here in Ontario once I graduate. I hope to work with my fellow classmates as we venture into the world of supply chains here in the province.

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Public Agencies and Cooperative Purchasing

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Public Agencies and Cooperative Purchasing

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Our in-class presentation is about the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC). A public agency under London Healthcare that pioneers medical teaching and is affiliated with Western University and home to various hospitals here in London

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Public procurement pertains to the process of buying for public agencies with funding from taxpayer contributions.

Sources:
- sales tax
- income tax
- business tax
- federal government
- licenses fees

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Who are they?
- all levels from federal, provincial, and municipal
- healthcare services
- educational institutions
- military

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This week, our topic is about risk management. It is not only a process, but it should be systematic way of knowing the risk, evaluating it, and responding to it. One method presented to us is to use a risk formula where probability and potential are gauged to identify the level of severity. We then applied this method to a short case regarding $1000 of job work at Joint Fork Elementary School. We formed a small group and have identified the likelihood and consequences of the risk.

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We started reviewing Module 1 and proceeded to discuss cooperative purchasing, its types, benefits, and challenges. I learned that cooperative purchasing is a collaborative action from public agencies that puts the needs in a pool to benefit various sectors. Cooperative purchasing can be classified into four types: piggybacked, pooled, consortium, and formal. It is different from my experience as a buyer for a private company. Our collective details stayed and were used within the department to assist with the requirements of all internal customers. It is a solid workload for us as team member of the purchasing department.

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The class started with the Kahoot quiz; however, this day is special because Professor Sarah prepared prices for the top 3. To our excitement, everybody participated, and it was a heart-pumping game. I didn't make it to the chart during the first few rounds, but eventually I did. To my surprise, I got the top spot and selected a lovely water bottle as my reward. Here is a photo of me with Vega and Ana holding our prices.

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In this module, we spent our class learning in depth about the specification and scope of work that are part of a requisition. I played the role of an internal customer who had knowledge of the requirements I had read before the activity. My task is to identify the details of the request and write them down on the form provided by the professor. These specifications will then be used to answer the question of the group acting as procurement employees. Using the information, they need to determine the type of RFx that is suitable for the request. The exercise provided us with an actual scenario happening in the business world and how to handle and process it professionally.

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This week, we are finalizing our group case analysis regarding Hamildon’s Wiper Blades by combining all the individual work we started during Module 5. My analysis outline starts with identifying the immediate issue of implementing a new intergrade procurement system. Followed by proposing alternatives, such as reverting to the previous system while learning to manage the new system; acquiring a new system that assists vast procurement activities; and using third-party services. The decision criteria are time, cost, and long-term benefits. My initial recommendation is to replace and acquire a new system suitable for the procurement process, and I ended up creating an implementation plan with details on Milestone and "The 5 Ws" guidelines.

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There were three options for how to handle the risk and those are to avoid, to transfer and to manage risk. My work experience with risk avoidance is not engaging in buying volatile products such as steel during high demand. We monitor the market price and make strategic decisions to avoid potential financial losses. Another work experience related to transferring risk is to include insurance, especially in vehicles we purchase and ship via airfreight. In case of damage, we can claim from the insurance provider. Lastly, my experience in managing risk involves developing contingency plans in case of logistics problems to respond effectively and deliver the products to our clients.

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We started the class by reviewing risk management and then looked at a big case involving $100M contract controvency in Toronto. The takeaway is that public purchasing should be open, fair, and transparent. Next, we talked about the common law, also known as judge-made law, which is based on the precedential decisions of tribunals or courts. The law of agency is also defined as authorized relationship between the principal, agent, and third party. Under this law, various duties should be fulfilled, like the duty to perform, the duty of care, the duty of fidelity, and more.

The personal responsibilities of a procurement professional don't apply only to public procurement but also to private companies. In some instances, my responsibility as a buyer acting as a principal party that hires an agent to do shipment transportation is the same. We also handle procurement contracts with our clients; however, the formation of clauses is done by the top management, and we have the duty to fulfill the terms.

I have no idea or experience with contract A and B, as we do not submit tender bids or bid security. It is great to have additional knowledge from this module.

Lastly, our group got to study and analyze the case of Acme Building and Construction vs. Newcastle (1992).

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After a short review of Module 6, the lesson started with the goal of public procurement: to obtain goods and services in a timely manner with efficiency and integrity. Integrity encompasses being open, fair, and transparent in all transactions of public procurement. One aspect is competitive bidding, and here in London, bids, tenders, and proposals are available through London.bidsandtenders.ca.

We also discussed the different types of competitive bidding documents, such as:

•RFI - solely for information purposes without pricing.

•REOI or RFEI - used to submit bidder's interest in a project

•RFPQ - multi-level of prequalifying suppliers

•RFQ - formal submittal of offer of prequalified suppliers

•RFT - use in bigger projects, such as construction works

•RFP - often complex and heavy detailed proposal

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RFQ is the type of document we regularly work on. Working in the private sector gives me options to facilitate non-competitive bidding as well. Single sourcing from a particular supplier with whom we have dealt before as long as the performance is highly satisfactory. Sole sourcing is also practiced due to the nature of the business. Our logistic activities extend from Dubai to various military bases in Afghanistan, so the exclusivity of suppliers that have defence contracts is restricted. Lastly, we could negotiate and award purchase orders between 1-3 suppliers in the market.

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Our group analysis was finalized by using the risk formula we learned in Module 4, a detailed implementation plan, and recommended a blended alternatives.

1. Go back to the old process because it will provide an immediate solution to the problem. It is less costly and can be simply implemented.

2. Acquire a new procurement system that meets all the requirements.

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After Module 8 review, our topic is about evaluation criteria and supplier selection. In public purchasing, projects are awarded to the lowest bidder in RFQ and RFT, while more consideration is given to RFP or RFPQ bidder selection. Measures are strategically formulated to identify qualified and unqualified suppliers. These measures are subjective to the evaluation committee, which will determine the agency to whom the project will be awarded.

There are a couple of evaluation criteria presented to us that differ based on the scope of work. Along with it are the team rules in order to showcase integrity (open, fair and transparent) during the evaluation period. Lastly, we discussed the distinctive phases of the proposal (pre-proposal, open bid, and post-close)

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Our in-class activity is to discuss and create evaluation criteria with a weighted percentage based on critical factors of the project. We then presented two stages of evaluation, each with 100% target performance.

In my experience, we do not have a separate evaluation team that filters the RFQ. Often, I do a comparative report on offers from a number of suppliers, then get approval from the purchasing manager. After which, I proceed with the issuance of the PO, delivery, and payment.

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Today is our in-class working period regarding our group SILEx presentation. Our initial selections are Kira Systems, LawGeex, Conga Rivers, ContractPod, and Cobblestone. We then narrowed our research to Conga Rivers, ContractPod, and Cobblestone based on our prequalification discussion. We also discussed the report content and selected to whom it would be assigned.

·         Cover Page

·         Executive Summary

·         Analysis of Situation/Relevant Background Info

·         Research Information

·         Methodology/Analysis of Alternatives

·         Recommendation

·         Conclusion

·         References

Professor Sarah assisted all teams by giving guidance and feedback on our draft report.

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In every profession, public or private, ethics are important. It is the moral compass between right and wrong, just and unjust. I learned in earlier modules that in public purchasing, open, fair, and transparent are the guiding pillars of integrity. We continue to identify unethical practices in public procurement, such as personal buying, accepting favours from suppliers, sharp practices, and reciprocity. To prevent these, the Ontario BPS, OPTA, and Supply Chain Canada outline each Codes of Ethics as guiding principles.

Further issues were discussed starting with conflict of interest, scandal, fraud, misuse of public funds, patronage, corruption, bribery, local preference, bid-rigging, and collusion.

Most of these issues are self-explanatory. My takeaway from this module is to abide the code set by your organization. I'll leave this reflection with a quote from Wiliam Penn: "'Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it."

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Today is our SILex presentation with Peter Jeffs, Director of Procurement Services at Western University. We finalized our proposal with CobbleStone Software. Our slides start with analysis and background to set the compass, followed by a presentation of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. We ended by highlighting the compelling reasons why we chose CobbleStone.

It was a quick presentation, but nerve-wracking. My takeaway is that preparation is the key. We have been building the project from its introduction during Module 3. We believe that we have justified our selection and delivered a clear message to the audience, especially the guest.

I only suggest having an in-class practice presentation a week before so we can polish the delivery and have constructive comments from the class before presenting to a live guest. We thank the effort of our professor and Peter for listening to us, and we thought we could refine our performance more if we had the practice.

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It was unfortunate to miss the makeup class for this module; however, I managed to do some self-study on the topic.

While a contract can be a written or spoken agreement, in the case of public procurement, a contract should always be in writing to follow transparency ethics. It is also the same in my experience working in the private sector to mitigate risk, avoid misunderstandings, and resolve disputes. Among the types of contracts, purchase orders are the most common to me; blanket purchase order, service level agreements, and master service agreements have never manifested.

As part of the ISO 9001 process, we also measure our supplier's performance by the KPI metrics of quality, delivery, cost, kaizen and relationship with a hybrid approach of informal and formal evaluation. It enables us to mitigate risk and improve our services to customers. Supplier debriefing happens between management and suppliers to strengthen the business relationship.

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For the last time, we started with playing the mentimeter as a review of the last module, and I got in 5th place :)

We also discussed key aspects of the course, including the significance of being open, fair, and transparent in purchasing.

This course is an eye-opener in the world of public procurement. Activities are realistic and actual practices in the workplace. Thank you very much, Professor Sarah, for building this course and imparting your experiences in the public sector. Today is bittersweet, but overall, it is my honor to be part of your class. I highly appreciate it.