When speaking to finance and procurement departments at school districts, I often ask: “Who is the end customer that you serve?” The responses I receive, ranging from administrative assistants, teachers, school boards, and students, vary widely. While there is no single right answer, I’d suggest that they are all customers of procurement. With so many end customers, it’s important to have at least one guiding principle that influences how organizational decisions are made.
Kirkland Wash, a city of almost 88,000 on the eastern shores of Lake Washington, often relies on cooperative agreements says its financial operations manager, Greg Piland.
Meeting the procurement needs in Kirkland, Wash., a city of almost 88,000 on the eastern shores of Lake Washington, is a major task with increasing demands, says its financial operations manager, Greg Piland.
Cooperative contracts offer many benefits for public agencies. They provide volume discounts, unprecedented value, better delivery terms and supply chain advantages while reducing administrative time and expense.
At some point, your organization will face an emergency – whether it’s a natural disaster or human-made. These emergencies can be make-or-break moments for procurement teams. The key to surviving and even thriving in a time of crisis is planning.
Cooperative purchasing helps public agencies, educational institutions and nonprofits stay on budget while delivering efficiencies. All procurement professionals strive to stay on top of procurement best practices and get the most out of their resources. These five tips will help you get the most out of your cooperative purchasing partnership.
Public entities like state and local government agencies, educational institutions and nonprofits all face ever-tightening budgets and constant expense pressures. Cooperative purchasing is a well-known strategy for reducing costs and adding efficiencies.
Here are five ways cooperative purchasing improves the public procurement process.
