Hi, in general, a Procurement policy should support the strategic goals of your organisation, as well as the legal environment you operate in.

A good place to start is your organisation's vision and mission statements, strategic planning documents, CEO reports etc. This will give you a high level insight into the organisation.

From there you should consider the other stakeholders in the organisation. What are they doing to support the strategic goals, how can you support their goals, how can you tie their success into the procurement vision, and therefore into the Procurement policy?

Also, what is your vision for your procurement department? How does this create value for the organisation, what do you need to achieve your goals, and what support do you require?

Once you have a mandate for your vision, how are you going to execute this plan?

Your Procurement policy should include not only commodity management strategies, but also strategies for managing how procurement interacts with the organisation.

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David van der Walt

Hi there,indeed procurement policy should be in line with vision of the organisations so that all new and upcoming strategies could be easily be implemented.As a procurement personnel,i think,we should be given all the support that we need cause procurement plays a vatal role in the Organistion either Public or Private Sector.Could someone tell me, what system could we adopt interms of Contract management and reducing processing cost aswell as paper.

Thanks David, your response is very useful to me and has definitely given me some questions to consider.
I am trying very hard not to look too deeply into existing policies as it makes it very difficult to draw up your own - it was just a case of "where to start" that I was struggling with!!

Hi csmith

If by not looking at existing policies you mean that you do not look at Procurement Policies developed for other organisations, OK (although there may be usefull hints and tips)

If however you mean that you do not look at existing policies inside your own organisation, I think you are setting yourself up for disapointment. ( IMHO, as they say)

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David van der Walt

I meant existing procurement policies. Of course, I've read a few and have taken away some learning points, personally, however, I find myself limited to not thinking outside the box if I spend too much time looking at one.

As for internal policies, indeed I am looking through any that are set up to ensure our own procurement policy reflects the organisation appropriately.

Humble opinions always welcome !!

Hi CSmith
I posted a response in the public sector section of this forum, that may be relevant. Although you ask about where to start, one of the challenges I've seen is where to end. Here's a possible framework:
1) Supply Chain Policy Manual. This should include the key policy issues for adoption in your Department and for all buying Depts. Keep this very legalistic and concise. The audience for this document is all levels and sections who procure goods, assets or services or get involved in the disposal of assets, so also keep it easy to read and distribute.
2) Delegation of Authorities. This must specify the different layers in the organisation and the spending levels that they are authorised to approve. This should also specify the different committee structures that must be followed for different spending levels or commodities. As committee membership and delegations change frequently, keep this seperate from the policy manual.
3) Commodity Sourcing Strategies. This is the sourcing strategy and or approach that is used for different commodity types. For example, Consultants (one of the commodities) or vehicles or ....products.
4) Supply Chain Process Manual (or Blueprint). This manual is probably optional if you are in a relatively small organisation but it is critical if you have a large organisation or multiple offices across the country. Include the actual process flows that should be followed in each of the areas of the SCM Framework. Also use this manual for your current templates and forms. Some Departments are looking at making this available on an intranet site. This is where you include the systems flows etc.
Hope this helps.
Please advise on the overall structure you eventually use.
ShaunCScott

ShaunCScott, thanks for your reply, it makes a lot of sense.

I will definitely report back and let you know the process I followed and the outcome .. might be a little while from now though!!