CIPS L4M8 Procurement and Supply in Practice Exam Practice Test

Conflict or dispute is the final area a procurement professional considers when creating terms for a contract with a supplier. If conflict or dispute arises, there must be a process put in place in the contract to try to resolve it and these includes;

a) Negotiation, b) mediation, c) arbitration and d) litigation.

Negotiation is usually carried out between senior people within organization that are in conflict, if they cannot reach an agreement through negotiation, mediation is the next stage, mediation is when a third party tries to help find a resolution among the parties in dispute. If mediation fails arbitration can start, arbitration involve independent professionals (arbitrators) working with all the party to try to reach an agreement. Parties do not have a formal or legal obligation to follow the arbitrator’s recommendation. Arbitration is expensive. If arbitration fails to resolve the conflict, the final stage is litigation, litigation takes time and money, and most people avoid it. It is a legal process where a court decides on the outcome of the dispute. The judge’s ruling is final.

The abuse of power within the supply chain can be linked to corruption. If individuals with seniority favor one supplier over another, they can exercise their power to award the contract to whoever they wish. According to CIPS code of conduct, this is not acceptable.

According to French and Raven, there are five types of power (Legitimate power, Reward, Expert, Referent and Coercive), and these powers can most likely be used in corruption.

It would be rare to find a supplier who does not emit any form of pollution. However, part of ethical and responsible sourcing is to make effort to reduce impact of population on the planets. Pollution can be factory emission, Noise, smell, Transportation Development, waste disposal. Transportation is a major cause of pollution. The carbon dioxide emitted from vehicles contributes greatly to air contamination. Yet it is better to use sea freight rather than air because it has a smaller impact on the environment.

Hidden costs are costs that do not always present themselves at the onset of the project.

Logistics can provide a hidden cost within global sourcing. The movement of goods can generate risk within a localized supply chain, but the risk is greater within global sourcing. Within global sourcing there are usually many more aspects to the logistics operation, hidden cost associated with the logistics process includes,;1) delays that can be experienced after placing orders, 2) unclear and poor/incorrect communication that might affect the successes of the transaction, also 3) goods could be confiscated by customs for unseen reasons.

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A new buy is the purchase of goods and services by an organization or an individual for its first time. For example a transport organization for the very first time contracting the purchase of a Lorry out to an external supplier. In situations like this, it is advisable to start the procurement cycle from the very first stage. Which is understanding the need and developing high level specification.

Modified re-buy is the purchase of goods or services that an organization has bought before there was a need but with changes to the specification or supplier or quantity or quality. In carrying out modified re-buy, procurement professional should start from the very first stage of the procurement cycle to justify the added need and follow through. Not in all cases that buyer would have to start from understanding the need. In a situation where the changes required is a change of supplier, the organization will start from its preferred suppliers list and contract the next ranking supplier as the case may be.

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Benchmarking is the process of comparing a function, process or performance with another which is best-in-class. Benchmarking is either internal or external. External benchmarking has three types;

1) Competition benchmarking,

2) Functional

3) Generic

Company Toyota with the Porsche a competition in the same industry and by suggesting that drives will find the cars performances comparable with that of Porsche Cayman sports car, suggest think it is an external competitive benchmark.

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Tuckman’s team development model depicts from where a team is formed to the various stages they might experience before the end where the objective is achieved and these includes.

1) Forming: here they are just being put together

2) Storming: conflict and competition begin to arise

3) Norming: here agreement and consensus is reached as roles and responsibility is clear.

4) Perform: They start carrying out the roles and responsibility

5) Adjourning: Task is complete and they are discharged

Fraud occurs when a person acts deliberately to secure monies from another party through dishonest method. Within the supply chain of an organization, fraud can represent itself in the following ways:

1. Kickbacks: e.g. (commission given to a bribe taker for service perform)

2. Corrupt influence (e.g ordering more than what is required)

3. Collusion: (group of suppliers working together to submit multiple bids and split profit.

4. Bid Rigging (a contract is informally agreed with a chosen supplier prior to the official process

5. invoicing fraud

6. Substitution (submitting products that are below the required quality

7. False claims (files false document)

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Retention of title (ROT) states when ownership transfers from supplier to buyer.

The retention of title terms also referred to as the Romalpa clause, which is related to a legal case from 1976 between Aluminum industries Vaassen BV and Romalpa Aluminum LTD

The procurement cycle is the heart of purchasing, sourcing and supplying and should be followed in day-to-day practice in the industry. The procurement cycle has thirteen stages. Contract award is stage 9, and the stages after the contract award are;

Stage 10: ware house, logistic and receipt

Stage 11: Contract performance review and continuous improvement

Stage 12: SRM/SCM and contract management

Stage 13: Asset management, lessons learned, end of life.

A business case is a document containing the justification and the commercial benefits achievable for a potential project or an identified need, for example, the purchase of a capital equipment, con-struction of an additional warehouse or procuring more innovative software to replace the current on in use.

The essence of the business case is to obtain support and get buy-in from senior management.

In order to gain authority to apply whole life asset management a business case will need to be created and presented. A developed business case will cover the following element.

1) Introduction: Outline of what the business case is all about

2) Objective: Explanation of what the business case desired outcome is.

3) Approach that will be undertaken

4) List of resources required

5) Benefits of achieving the objective

The purpose of the tendering process is to invite potential suppliers to bid to supply a product or service to the buying organization. Then buying organization select suitable suppliers, award con-tract and manage. The process is selected mostly when the need is a large or complex project or the law mandates it or it is in the company’s policies to do so. The stages of the tendering process includes;

Stage 1: decide which style of tender to use. There are four types of tendering used within pro-curement and this include; 1) open 2) Restricted 3) Negotiated 4) Competitive Dialogue

Stage 2: Prepare invitation to tender (ITT): this stage is to prepare the document that will be made available to potential supplier. It should contain everything potential bidders will need to know to fully understand the need and to prepare and send a suitable RESPONSE it may likely in-clude; open letter, company details, overview of a project, evaluation criteria, submission date and so on.

Stage 3: send ITT: With fairness, transparency and equality, buyer will provide the documents to all potential suppliers at the same time and also provide exactly the same information/documents to all suppliers. If after receiving the ITT and some suppliers seek clarifications on anything in the documentation, buyers must give same response to identical questions to keep the process transparent and fair. Also, the response to each query to all bidders in the process.

Failure to this may result in bidders who feel disadvantaged or discriminated in any form to submit a legal challenge. Supplier submitting a Legal challenge may cause delay in the process and eventually increase administrative cost for the buyer.

Stage 4: Buying organization receives responses to the Invitation to tender from suppliers (bids). Suppliers must adhere to the bid submission dead line included in the invitation to tender document. Any bid that arrives after the deadline must be left out of the process, or else this may result to other suppliers legally challenging the process.

Stage 5: Evaluate bid. The buying organization can now evaluate the bids based on the criteria in the ITT document. It is always thorough that cross-functional team evaluates the bids to guarantee complete fairness and ensure that the chosen bid is fit for purpose. In evaluating the bids, the cross-functional team will consider the bids in the following areas; supplier organization, ethics, price, sustainability, quality, payment, disposal, service level, location, warranty and risk.

Stage 6: Award contract and give feedback hence the buying organization wards the contract to the winning supplier. This can take place by a formal communication like a letter or an e-mail.

Stage 7: Contract management. Contracts must be evaluated against the criteria in the invitation to tender.

The reasons why these stages must be followed includes;

1. Knowing the right TYPE of tender to use, reduces administration cost, for example, deciding to do restricted tendering to reduce the interest that are going to be sent in have already cut down on administrative cost.

2. The supplier can know what exactly the buyer’s intentions are by developing description and the required specification.

3. To ensure that objectives of resorting to use the tendering style and the tendering process is achieved

4. To ensure that the organization generates added value by going through the stages.

5. To ensure that there are none unethical issues like fraud, bribes etc are not part of the system.

6. To ensure that the tendering process becomes transparent to all suppliers. These stages must be followed for transparency and fairness. Just like in stage 3: buyer send out the ITT to potential suppliers at the same time and providing them same information. Failure to this and bidders who feel disadvantaged or discriminated in any form may submit a legal challenge. Supplier submitting a Legal challenge may cause delay in the process and eventually increase administrative cost for the buyer.

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ILO stands for International Labour Organization- It is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance justice and promote decent work by setting international labor standard.

ETI is Ethical Trading Initiative: It is a leading alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs that promote respect for workers right around the globe. Its vision is a world where all workers are free from exploitation and discrimination and enjoys condition of freedom, security and equity.

Commissioning is bringing something new into working condition, e.g start running a gas plant after building it. Commissioning is one of the eight elements that form the cycle of whole life asset management. The commissioning of an asset has the following associated costs, installation, training insurance, testing, operational efficiencies/performance and quality.

Organizational culture is made up of behaviors, traits, values and beliefs and these differ signifi-cantly across the globe. Gestures that may be positive in one country can be highly offensive in another. This culture could mean; for example, individualistic/collectivistic, masculine/feminine, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, Time perspective, indulgence/restraint.

When negotiating and forming contracts within the extended supply chain, it is important that the culture of the suppliers is understood to be compatible with the buying organization or else their might be loss of reputation, time, money material and equipment.

Also, being not aware of what is an acceptable ethically behavior in global sourcing can cost a buying organization. In some countries, bribery and kickbacks are a standard part of doing business. If procurement professional is not aware of the fact that some countries methods of doing business involves or expect kickbacks, for example, this could be costly to the organization and cancel out any savings that had originally been seen.

Cost of poor quality and rework: if the product or service quality is poor the organization may not satisfy it customers and this can lead to a loss of reputation in the market. For example, a residential building construction company contracting a supplier that supply would require home owners to reinstall a new door within three months. The organization would spend more funds in carrying out rework.

More administrative cost in contract management: an organization will have to manage it sup-pliers and the contracts to ensure they are delivering what they were contracted to do. A poor con-tract management is a waste in the process of delivery that can lead to loss of money. Also, to cor-rect this would cost the organizations administrative cost.

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ILO stands for International Labour Organization- It is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance justice and promote decent work by setting international labor standard.

ETI is Ethical Trading Initiative: It is a leading alliance of companies, trade unions and NGOs that promote respect for workers right around the globe. Its vision is a world where all workers are free from exploitation and discrimination and enjoys condition of freedom, security and equity.

The purpose of the tendering process is to invite potential suppliers to bid to supply a product or service to the buying organization. Then buying organization select suitable suppliers, award con-tract and manage. The process is selected mostly when the need is a large or complex project or the law mandates it or it is in the company’s policies to do so. The stages of the tendering process includes;

Stage 1: decide which style of tender to use. There are four types of tendering used within pro-curement and this include; 1) open 2) Restricted 3) Negotiated 4) Competitive Dialogue

Stage 2: Prepare invitation to tender (ITT): this stage is to prepare the document that will be made available to potential supplier. It should contain everything potential bidders will need to know to fully understand the need and to prepare and send a suitable RESPONSE it may likely in-clude; open letter, company details, overview of a project, evaluation criteria, submission date and so on.

Stage 3: send ITT: With fairness, transparency and equality, buyer will provide the documents to all potential suppliers at the same time and also provide exactly the same information/documents to all suppliers. If after receiving the ITT and some suppliers seek clarifications on anything in the documentation, buyers must give same response to identical questions to keep the process transparent and fair. Also, the response to each query to all bidders in the process.

Failure to this may result in bidders who feel disadvantaged or discriminated in any form to submit a legal challenge. Supplier submitting a Legal challenge may cause delay in the process and eventually increase administrative cost for the buyer.

Stage 4: Buying organization receives responses to the Invitation to tender from suppliers (bids). Suppliers must adhere to the bid submission dead line included in the invitation to tender document. Any bid that arrives after the deadline must be left out of the process, or else this may result to other suppliers legally challenging the process.

Stage 5: Evaluate bid. The buying organization can now evaluate the bids based on the criteria in the ITT document. It is always thorough that cross-functional team evaluates the bids to guarantee complete fairness and ensure that the chosen bid is fit for purpose. In evaluating the bids, the cross-functional team will consider the bids in the following areas; supplier organization, ethics, price, sustainability, quality, payment, disposal, service level, location, warranty and risk.

Stage 6: Award contract and give feedback hence the buying organization wards the contract to the winning supplier. This can take place by a formal communication like a letter or an e-mail.

Stage 7: Contract management. Contracts must be evaluated against the criteria in the invitation to tender.

The reasons why these stages must be followed includes;

1. Knowing the right TYPE of tender to use, reduces administration cost, for example, deciding to do restricted tendering to reduce the interest that are going to be sent in have already cut down on administrative cost.

2. The supplier can know what exactly the buyer’s intentions are by developing description and the required specification.

3. To ensure that objectives of resorting to use the tendering style and the tendering process is achieved

4. To ensure that the organization generates added value by going through the stages.

5. To ensure that there are none unethical issues like fraud, bribes etc are not part of the system.

6. To ensure that the tendering process becomes transparent to all suppliers. These stages must be followed for transparency and fairness. Just like in stage 3: buyer send out the ITT to potential suppliers at the same time and providing them same information. Failure to this and bidders who feel disadvantaged or discriminated in any form may submit a legal challenge. Supplier submitting a Legal challenge may cause delay in the process and eventually increase administrative cost for the buyer.

Supply chain involves a network of individuals, organizations, technology activities and resources to make sure goods or services flow along the chain. If one point fails, every part further along the chain fails.

Fullpower projects (a flour manufacturer) supply chain begins with producers (raw materials, wheat farmers), suppliers, manufactures, distributors, retailers and end users (customer).

Fullpower projects supply chain falls within the primary sector (producers of wheat), the secondary sector include the manufacturing (those that converts the wheat the suppliers brings into flour) and tertiary sector (the distributor those that takes the wheat to the end users).

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A sector is an area of an industry, e.g., private, public or third sector.

A public sector is a sector of the economy that is owned, finance and run by the government. This sector is financed with tax payer’s money. And therefore owe the general public an ethical explanation towards all investment and decision.

Once the supplier that is awarded the contract has accepted, the buyer can tell the unsuccessful bidders. This usually happens through email or letter. The public sector is more likely to give feedback to unsuccessful bidders and also have to respond to any stakeholders that request information on why a supplier is not successful.

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An offer is created when one party communicates to another or to multiple parties that they wish to enter into a legal binding agreement in accordance with the terms stated, for example; a company in promotion advertising for buyers to buy one and get one free, an offer is a buying organization communicating to a supplier to supply X number of goods and be paid x amount upon delivery at company premises, an offer is when a football club proposes to pay X amount to a player if agrees to play for them for a month. An offer can be legally banded if accepted, whereas invitation to treat does not. An invitation to treat is just an invitation from one party to another to begin negotiations with the intention of creating an offer. If an offer is made without stating terms, this becomes an invitation to treat, for example, an invitation to treat is when a pharmacy displays a drug in its shelf. An invitation to treat can be linked to a request a buyer send to suppliers asking them for specific information.

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RESPONSE

A purchase requisition should contain the following information

1) Date of the requisition

2) Description of what is required

3) Supplier if known

4) The quantity

5) when the need is required

6) why the need is required

7) who identified the need

8) who approved the need

9) if it’s a re-buy

Once the need has been understood, defined, justified and authorized, the next stages are to analyze and test the market. Analyzing and testing the market includes looking at the following

1. STEEPLE analysis

2. SWOT analysis

3. Porter’s five forces

4. Level of suppliers competition

5. Supply and demand

6. Push and pull

7. Supplier segmentation

8. Product life cycle

9. Ansoff matrix

10. Early supplier involvement

11. Make or buy

12. Offshoring

1. Porter’s five forces: The use of porter’s five forces helps the procurement professional to understand the level of competition within the marketplace. Whether it is a monopoly, oligopoly, imperfect or perfect market. Knowing these will equip the organization to better negotiate a favorable price.

2. Supply and Demand: the procurement professional must also think about supply and demand as part of their market analysis when they receive a requisition. This economic factor has a significant effect on the prices charged and on the cost incurred.

3. Supplier segmentation: in this the procurement professional start to form an opinion of potential suppliers.. They can segment current suppliers into four categories, depending on their level of integration into an organization. This can help to inform the procurement professional of which type of supplier relationship that would be most appropriate.

Bonded labour and forced labour are among the five types of modern slavery which is against ethical and responsible sourcing.

Bonded labour also known as debt bondage, this is an individual’s promise to provide services through exploitation as repayment, or part of them, of a debt or other obligation whereas forced labour is work that people are forced to do with the heat of punishment if it is not carried out.

After a need in an organization has been identified/understood, defined, justified and authorized, the next stages are to understand how commodity prices are reacting, which suppliers are available and their strength. The make or buy decision can be reached with knowledge from this; the procurement professional can consider the organization external environment, strength, weakness opportunity and threat to develop strategy/plan of how to achieve the procurement.

‘STEEPLE’ is an effective way to evaluate the external environment. It helps buyers to assess factors that could affect the need in hand and helps them to develop the plan accordingly. ‘STEEPLE’ is an acronym which stands for,

Social, Technology, Economic, Environment, Political, Legal, Ethical

‘SWOT’ helps the organization to analyze its strength and within the organization and the oppor-tunity and threats outside the organization.

‘SWOT’ is an acronym which stands for, strength, weakness, opportunity and threats.

When a fixed asset reaches the end of its life, it requires decommissioning before reconditioning or disposal.

Decommissioning is to observe all the safety measures and technical procedures and stop active machinery or an asset from operation (example gas plan, generator, transformer etc.

Decommissioning process include the following aspect

1) Preparation: Plan the process

2) Dismantle: Take the asset apart and remove hazardous waste

3) Processing: make safe any hazardous waste

4) Disposal: Ensure paper work is received to confirm removal and disposal

Make or buy decision are about whether a products or services should be made within the organization or bought-in from an external supplier.

For a procurement professional to establish which method (make or buy) offers the best value, the item in question must be thought through if it is core to the organization and which option will add more value to the organization, as regards achieving its strategic goals. If it is core the procurement professional decide to make it and if it is not core the product or services can be bought in.

During the sourcing stage of the procurement cycle, the procurement professional needs to identify and select suppliers to fulfill the business needs. Supplier selection involves evaluating suppliers against predetermine criteria to assess their suitability in working with the buying organization. Suppliers can be evaluated according to Carter’s 10Cs which are as follows: (1) Competency (2) capacity (3) consistency (4) control (5) cost (6) commitment (7) cash (8) Clean (9) culture (10) communication.

Procurement professionals can decide to evaluate and select suppliers based on the overall strategy and the business objectives. After that, it most suitable suppliers receive the documentation (Invitation to tender/ request for quotation).

The reputation of all the organizations within a supply chain is linked. A Company’s reputation is an intangible asset that can contribute to the failure of an organization if damaged. Factors that could damage organizational reputation within the supply chain are;

1. Quality: if the product or service quality is poor the organization may not satisfy it customers and this can lead to a loss of reputation in the market. For example, a residential building construction company contracting a supplier that would do a bad job which in three months may require home owners to reinstall new doors.

2. Sustainability: if the organization is not replenishing that which it is extracting, it will some day run out of business or probably loss loyal customers. For example a drilling company that spills hydrocarbon as it drills.

3. Fit for purpose: if an organization produce a product or carry out services that are not fit for purpose, it may run at loss for there will be so much rejection and rework. This can lead to customers switching to another organization which product or services are fit for their purpose.

4. Contract management: an organization will have to manage its suppliers and the contracts to ensure they are delivering what they were contracted to do. A poor contract management is a waste in the process of delivery that can lead to reputational loss.

When a fixed asset reaches the end of its life, it requires decommissioning before reconditioning or disposal.

Decommissioning is to observe all the safety measures and technical procedures and stop active machinery or an asset from operation (example gas plan, generator, transformer etc.

Decommissioning process include the following aspect

1) Preparation: Plan the process

2) Dismantle: Take the asset apart and remove hazardous waste

3) Processing: make safe any hazardous waste

4) Disposal: Ensure paper work is received to confirm removal and disposal

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Disposal of an asset is the final stage in the decommissioning process of a fixed asset.

When a fixed asset reaches the end of its useful or cost effective life time within an organization, the decision is made as to whether it should be removed from the premises or disposed off.

If the asset is truly at the end of its life, no longer fit for purpose, not cost effective to repair and is not able to be exchanged, then disposal is the only option; there are two options for disposal;

1) Take the asset to land fill site

2) Taking the asset to a recycling plant.

A business case is a document containing the justification and the commercial benefits achievable for a potential project or an identified need, for example, the purchase of a capital equipment, con-struction of an additional warehouse or procuring more innovative software to replace the current on in use.

The essence of the business case is to obtain support and get buy-in from senior management.

In order to gain authority to apply whole life asset management a business case will need to be created and presented. A developed business case will cover the following element.

1) Introduction: Outline of what the business case is all about

2) Objective: Explanation of what the business case desired outcome is.

3) Approach that will be undertaken

4) List of resources required

5) Benefits of achieving the objective

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Specification is a detailed description of what is required or needed. Due to certain reasons, needs sometimes increase in importance or lose their essence, therefore speci-fications need to adapt and develop to reflect the changing requirements of the con-sumer and also to comply with regulations and legislatures as this are amended.

Standard, regulations and legislation are continually evolving and new updated versions of existing guideline, as well as completely new initiatives one being released.

Continuous improvement relates to removing waste from the supply chain and improving processes to increase efficiency within whole life asset management in a full power project (a flour producing firm) can benefit from continuous improvement in the following ways;

1) Reduce cost of spears by recondition parts, instead of disposing them out rightly.

2) Can reduce down time by conducting routine maintenance after hours.

3) Can reducing accident by up skilling operators on safety

4) Can reduce waste oil by following owner’s manual instead of relying on experience.

5) Create efficiencies by operating a 24/7 shift pattern.

Factors that contribute towards value for clothe gum in a fashion firm;

1) How much money does the gum cost?

2) How much is the benefits of using the clothe gum?

3) Does customers prefer clothe gum at the bottom of their garment?

4) Is the clothe gum difficult to use?

5) Does the clothe gum beautifies the fabric when placed properly?

6) Does it give a better finishing?

7) Is it ethical to use?

8) Is it from a sustainable source?

9) is it environmental friendly?

10) Does using clothe gum suggest innovation in fashion?

The reputation of all the organizations within a supply chain is linked. A Company’s reputation is an intangible asset that can contribute to the failure of an organization if damaged. Factors that could damage organizational reputation within the supply chain are;

1. Quality: if the product or service quality is poor the organization may not satisfy it customers and this can lead to a loss of reputation in the market. For example, a residential building construction company contracting a supplier that would do a bad job which in three months may require home owners to reinstall new doors.

2. Sustainability: if the organization is not replenishing that which it is extracting, it will some day run out of business or probably loss loyal customers. For example a drilling company that spills hydrocarbon as it drills.

3. Fit for purpose: if an organization produce a product or carry out services that are not fit for purpose, it may run at loss for there will be so much rejection and rework. This can lead to customers switching to another organization which product or services are fit for their purpose.

4. Contract management: an organization will have to manage its suppliers and the contracts to ensure they are delivering what they were contracted to do. A poor contract management is a waste in the process of delivery that can lead to reputational loss.

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Whole life asset management is the process of evaluating the total price and all associated costs of a product to make an informed decision as to which option will provide the organization with the best value for money option: To achieve this the organization works at the following eight elements.

1. Identify need/objectives/risk: The first stage of the whole life asset management is the same as the first stage in the CIPS procurement and supply cycle: identify the need prior to any asset being procured; the need could be competition in the marketplace, raised/reduced demands or financial concern. Once this need has been identified, the objectives of the new assets need to be set, and this may include being more energy efficient, reducing cost or saving money.

Risk also needs to be explored. When investing in a new asset there are factors to be considered that may or may not be advantageous to the investment. These include; downtime, lost sale/revenue or associated cost.

2. Procurement: Procurement professional would have to source and arrange supply of the asset.

3. Construction: ones the supply has being arranged, then the designing and the manufacturing of the asset begins.

4. Commissioning

5. Deterioration/maintenance

6. Condition performance monitoring

7. Decommissioning

8. Renewal/replacement

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Key performance indicator (KPI) is another method of monitoring how a supplier is delivering on a contract.

When creating KPIs to manage suppliers and their contracts the areas monitored should be related to the organization’s overall strategy that is where organization’s success will be measured.

Bonded labour and forced labour are among the five types of modern slavery which is against ethical and responsible sourcing.

Bonded labour also known as debt bondage, this is an individual’s promise to provide services through exploitation as repayment, or part of them, of a debt or other obligation whereas forced labour is work that people are forced to do with the heat of punishment if it is not carried out.

(Correct)

3. Explain the elements that Lucie should include in her analysis based on whole-life asset management. (25 marks)

Whole-life asset management means evaluating the total cost and value of an asset over its full life , not just the initial purchase price. CIPS explains this as whole-life costing / total cost of ownership , covering acquisition, usage and end-of-life costs. ISO 55000 also states that asset management should consider assets over their life cycles to realise value for the organisation.

In Water Works’ case, Lucie should include the following elements in her analysis of purchasing the 200 vehicles.

1. Initial acquisition costs

Lucie should first calculate the purchase price of the vehicles. This includes not only the price of each vehicle, but also delivery charges, registration, taxes, any fit-out requirements, signage, tracking systems and initial insurance. This is important because the capital cost will be high for a fleet of 200 vehicles, so the business case must show the full upfront investment rather than just the list price. CIPS notes that whole-life costing includes purchase price and acquisition cost .

2. Operating and running costs

A major element is the cost of operating the vehicles during their working life. Lucie should estimate fuel or energy costs, servicing, maintenance, repairs, tyres, road tax and insurance. This is especially relevant because the case states that some current vehicles are several years old and running costs are increasing . Therefore, Lucie should compare the likely running costs of new vehicles with the current hired fleet to show whether ownership offers better long-term value. CIPS identifies usage cost as a core part of total cost of ownership.

3. Reliability and performance

Lucie should assess how reliable the vehicles are expected to be over time. The case already mentions several breakdowns causing operational issues on Water Works sites. Therefore, her analysis should include the likely cost of breakdowns, lost productivity, missed site visits, delays to operations and possible emergency replacement vehicles. This is important because a cheaper vehicle may not represent best value if it is unreliable and disrupts service delivery. Whole-life asset management is about the value delivered over the asset life, not only cost. ISO guidance emphasises value, risk and outcomes across the lifecycle.

4. Maintenance strategy and support arrangements

Lucie should include how the vehicles will be maintained once purchased. For example, she should assess whether servicing will be outsourced, managed through manufacturer warranties, or supported by local garages across the ten regional offices. She should also consider the availability of spare parts and support response times. This matters because purchasing the fleet transfers more responsibility for asset upkeep to Water Works compared with hiring.

5. Asset life and replacement cycle

Another important element is the expected useful life of the vehicles. Lucie should estimate how long the vehicles will remain economically and operationally effective before replacement is needed. This should include mileage, intensity of use, operating conditions and likely deterioration. Since Water Works operates across ten regional offices, some vehicles may experience heavier use than others. A whole-life analysis should therefore include assumptions on replacement timing and fleet renewal planning.

6. Residual value and disposal value

Lucie should include the likely residual value of the vehicles at the end of their useful life. If Water Works owns the vehicles, they may be sold, traded in or auctioned. This means the organisation may recover some value at the end of the asset life. She should also include any disposal costs, such as decommissioning, collection, administration or environmentally compliant disposal. CIPS notes that whole-life costing includes end-of-life cost .

7. Financing and cost of capital

Although capital funds are available, Lucie should still consider the financial impact of tying up funds in vehicle ownership. The analysis should show whether using capital for vehicles represents best value compared with other strategic uses of funds. She may also include depreciation and the effect on budgets over time. This is important because purchasing assets creates a different financial commitment from hiring them.

8. Specification and fitness for purpose

Lucie should review whether the chosen vehicles meet operational needs. This includes vehicle size, load capacity, durability, fuel efficiency, suitability for site conditions and any specialist requirements for water service operations. A whole-life approach requires the asset to be fit for purpose, because a poor specification can increase maintenance costs and reduce operational value later in the lifecycle.

9. Risk analysis

Lucie should include risks associated with ownership. These may include unexpected repair costs, changes in fuel prices, asset obsolescence, poor resale values, non-availability of parts and the risk that operational needs change during the asset life. She should compare these ownership risks with the risks under hiring arrangements. ISO 55000 highlights that asset management should consider risks and opportunities throughout the lifecycle .

10. Sustainability and regulatory factors

As a regulated public authority, Water Works should also consider environmental and regulatory issues. Lucie’s analysis should include emissions, fuel efficiency, possible transition to lower-emission vehicles, compliance requirements and disposal obligations. This is relevant because public sector organisations are expected to consider long-term environmental impact as well as cost.

11. Whole-life comparison against hiring

Finally, Lucie should compare the total whole-life cost of buying against the alternatives of extending the current hire contract or re-tendering for hired vehicles . This comparison should include all acquisition, usage, maintenance and end-of-life costs, as well as service reliability and operational value. CIPS describes whole-life costing as an end-to-end cost estimate to support procurement decisions.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Lucie’s whole-life asset management analysis should not focus only on the purchase price of the vehicles. It should include acquisition costs, operating costs, maintenance, reliability, useful life, replacement cycle, residual value, disposal costs, finance implications, specification, risk and sustainability considerations . By analysing all these elements, Lucie can show whether purchasing the fleet gives Water Works better long-term value than continuing to hire vehicles. This is the main purpose of whole-life asset management.

When evaluating potential suppliers, procurement professionals can carry out bench-marking. Benchmarking is the process of comparing a function, a process performance with another which is best in-class.

Other factors, apart from price that can be considered to find the total cost of acquisi-tion include the product or service quality, lead time, supplier culture, its environmental awareness and sustainability.

Damages are ‘sum of money that the supplier pays if it fails to carry out its contractual obligation.

When creating terms for damages in the contract, it should be considered that Damages are categorized into two types (liquidated and un-liquidated). And which or if both are applicable to the contract in hand.

Liquidate Damages are fixed amount of money agreed between the parties that is payable if a contract is breached. For example, knowing that supplier not being able to install a device properly in a power transformer may destroy the device and going ahead to include a fee in the contract if the device was destroyed.

Un-liquidated damages are unfixed amount of money. It is used when the amount of money that will compensate the injured party cannot be known in advance. A court decides the amount when the damages occur. For example, knowing that supplier not being able to install a device properly in a power transformer may destroy the device, other appliances and equipment unknown, cause the buyer delay in the process and reputational damage as in customer dissatisfaction. Yet, unquantifiable as both parties are unable to fix a fee in advance on the damages and leaving it to the court to decide the damage if it may occur.

The abuse of power within the supply chain can be linked to corruption. If individuals with seniority favor one supplier over another, they can exercise their power to award the contract to whoever they wish. According to CIPS code of conduct, this is not ac-ceptable.

According to French and Raven, there are five types of power (Legitimate power, Re-ward, Expert, Referent and Coercive), and these powers can most likely be used in corruption.

Tangible costs are the cost an organization incur acquiring items that can be physically touched and or seen. Examples includes; 1) Capital Purchase 2) Raw materials 3) Sundry items 4) Vehi-cles/transport 5) Utilities

Intangible costs are the cost an organization incurs acquiring something that cannot be physically seen or touched. Examples include; 1) Insurance 2) Marketing 3) Research and development 4) Salaries and/pension 5) Services 6) Training.

Direct costs – These are costs that an organization incurs acquiring product and services directly attributable/traceable to its production, for example, the cost of labour and materials directly uses to produce the goods/services which the organization sells. In the case of buying and running a Lorry for transport fleet, this would be 1) total cost of acquiring the lorry,) Tooling 3) Operation.

Indirect cost - These are costs that are not directly associated to production, for example, materials and services not used in production, labour/ staff cost not directly attributed to production, such as management, sales and marking, ICT support, rents. In the case of buying and running a Lorry for transport fleet. Examples are; 1) Insurance 2) Disposal.

When organization has made the decision about which option is best for sourcing the asset, it can then begin to work on the whole life asset management strategy.

Whole life asset management is the process of evaluating the total price and all associated costs of a product to make an informed decision as to which option will provide the organization with the best value for money. This strategy is only under taken for large-value procurements because; 1) It takes considerable time (2) It involves many stakeholders and require numerous resources; If whole life asset management were conducted on every purchase it would not create value for the organization and that may tie up valuable resources.

Commissioning is bringing something new into working condition, e.g start running a gas plant after building it. Commissioning is one of the eight elements that form the cycle of whole life asset management. The commissioning of an asset has the following associated costs, installation, training insurance, testing, operational efficiencies/performance and quality.

When evaluating offers, it is important to remember that the best price may not be the lowest. To ascertain that; the total cost of Acquisition TCA (the cost a buyer bears for placing orders and re-ceiving a product from a supplier) should be uncovered and compare against offers received. Things to consider that might make up the total cost of acquisition are;

1) logistics and handling costs

2) Cost of requisition

3) Rework

4) stock cost

5) Delay

6) Inspection

7) customer services

8) consumables

9) Training & support

After all the due diligence is carried out, before awarding contract to the best supplier, sometimes procurement professionals find themselves in some problem solving situation; this might have been emanated from supplier facing a financial challenge or problems from external environment. Responding to this might require an amendment or an addendum, depending on the case in hand.

An amendment is for a physical change in the existing contract for example; if a contract contains a negotiated and agreed fixed price for the period of the contract but unexpected market forces such as an economic down turn or force majeure occur, the supplier may have to request an amendment order to continue to make a profit.

An addendum is when an additional document is added to the existing contract for example, If a contract have a schedule of rates and the market forces prices up, an addendum can be added to an existing contract with a revised schedule. Once accepted, the addendum becomes part of the con-tract. Addendum are physically used when the forecasted cost of a project rises and approval is needed to increase the contract spend.

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Conflict or dispute is the final area a procurement professional considers when creating terms for a contract with a supplier. If conflict or dispute arises, there must be a process put in place in the contract to try to resolve it and these includes;

a) Negotiation, b) mediation, c) arbitration and d) litigation.

Negotiation is usually carried out between senior people within organization that are in conflict, if they cannot reach an agreement through negotiation, mediation is the next stage, mediation is when a third party tries to help find a resolution among the parties in dispute. If mediation fails arbitration can start, arbitration involve independent professionals (arbitrators) working with all the party to try to reach an agreement. Parties do not have a formal or legal obligation to follow the arbitrator’s recommendation. Arbitration is expensive. If arbitration fails to resolve the conflict, the final stage is litigation, litigation takes time and money, and most people avoid it. It is a legal process where a court decides on the outcome of the dispute. The judge’s ruling is final.

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Modern slavery is against ethical and responsible sourcing. Modern slavery is one of the areas to understudy for procurement professionals to carry out ethical and responsible sourcing and this is recognized in five ways.

1. Human trafficking: The process of seeking, recruiting, transporting and exploiting individuals to work against their will. Often human trafficking includes violence, deception, and coercion.

2. Bonded labour (debt bondage): This is an individual’s promise to provide service through ex-ploitation as repayment, or part thereof, of a dept or other obligation.

3. Forced labour: Work that people are forced to do with the treat of punishment if it is not carried out.

4. Children labour: The exploitative and illegal employment of children.

5. Domestic slavery: Individuals exploited through working in private households for little or no money in return for living accommodation

By using STEEPLE and SWOT analysis, the organization can reach out to the following strategic decision in how it will engage with its external environment, and utilize it strength to cover up for its weakness and achieve its strategic goals;

1) STEEPLE can aid an organization to come up with informed decision by understanding when is the right time to procure goods or services?

2) STEEPLE and SWOT analysis can uncover the quantity that could be most economical to ac-quire at the point in time.

3) When an organization want to decide on the currency that could be most favorable for the buy, it will analyze the countries involved and the strength of their currency and make its decisions on which currency that the supplier should be paid that will not make the organization to lose unnecessary money to exchange.

4) Should the product or services be made or bought?

5) Should the product or services be resourced?

6) Should the product or services be placed?

Bribery is the act of giving someone something of value to persuade them to do something that benefits you. Ethical and responsible sourcing requires conducting due diligence on bribery before going into contractual relationship because failure to this might lead to loss in reputation.

In other for an organization to defend itself against a case of suspected bribery, the United Kingdom bribery Act introduced in 2010 suggests that organizations should have adequate procedures’ in place.

The following are six procedures an organization should have in place to be able to defend itself against bribery

1) Proportionate procedure

2) Top level commitment

3) risk assessment

4) due diligence

5) communication

6) monitoring and reviewing

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Carter’s 10cs is a detailed mechanism that procurement professional uses to evaluate potential supplier. What the procurement professional should consider in supplier are the following 10 things.

1) Competency 2) capacity 3) Cost 4) Cash 5) Clean 6) Consistency 7) Control 8) Culture 9) Com-mitment 10) Communication.

RESPONSE

After a need in an organization has been identified/understood, defined, justified and authorized, the next stages are to understand how commodity prices are reacting, which suppliers are available and their strength. The make or buy decision can be reached with knowledge from this; the procurement professional can consider the organization external environment, strength, weakness opportunity and threat to develop strategy/plan of how to achieve the procurement.

‘STEEPLE’ is an effective way to evaluate the external environment. It helps buyers to assess factors that could affect the need in hand and helps them to develop the plan accordingly. ‘STEEPLE’ is an acronym which stands for,

Social, Technology, Economic, Environment, Political, Legal, Ethical

‘SWOT’ helps the organization to analyze its strength and within the organization and the oppor-tunity and threats outside the organization.

‘SWOT’ is an acronym which stands for, strength, weakness, opportunity and threats.

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Benchmarking is the process of comparing a function, process or performance with another which is best-in-class. Benchmarking is either internal or external. External benchmarking has three types; 1) Competition benchmarking, 2) Functional 3) Generic

Company Toyota with the Porsche a competition in the same industry and by suggesting that drives will find the cars performances comparable with that of Porsche Cayman sports car, suggest think it is an external competitive benchmark.

Trying to measure how sustainable an organization was use to be challenging undertaking. However, during the 1990s, a concept brought up by American John Elkington change the way sustainability was measured. This framework is known as the triple bottom line (TBL) and measures sustainability in relation to organizational performance and investment against the 3Ps (1 ) Profits (2) People (3) Planet. For example;

Profit: A packaging manufacturer reinvesting its profits in State- of-the-art recycling machinery for it wasted cardboard.

People: A large privately owned call centre donate its end of life computers to a local youth clubs and social groups to help gain internet cases.

Planet: A driving instructors using only hybrid vehicles to teach her learners, thus to reducing Co2 emission.

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