What are the top 2022 priorities for public sector procurement?

By Bernie Donachie, Vice President, Consulting, GEP; and Jane Newman, Senior Director, GEP

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought procurement and supply chain management into the spotlight. Also, it has highlighted that disruption will continue to be an ongoing fact of life for organizations. How will procurement and supply chain management adapt to meet this fast-changing future to achieve greater transparency, speed and agility? While many public sector institutions are embracing a digital-first approach, it’s technology plus the power of people that drives true transformation.

At GEP, a minority/women-owned business enterprise, we have highlighted 11 initiatives and trends that illustrate aspects that public sector procurement officers should keep at the forefront of their minds in delivering on their missions and serving their citizens.

While several of these key initiatives and trends are highlighted below, stop by the GEP booth to obtain your copy of GEP’s take on top 2022 public sector procurement priorities for procurement and supply chain leaders.

eProcurement

It’s critical for public sector procurement to move away from manual and legacy processes and allow digital transformation to take place. With supply chain disruptions and uncertain sources of supply having become the new normal, eProcurement solutions can seamlessly automate spend analysis, supplier management, sourcing, contract management and request to pay. As diversity requirements accelerate within government entities, all certifications and documentation should be housed where buyers can see them, and alerts should be sent to keep these documents active. Leading eProcurement solutions ensure that buyers and sellers can collaborate fully, enabling better communication and engagement.

Change Management

In 2021, the public sector faced a host of challenges that required the ability to change processes and adapt quickly. Public sector procurement will likely move along the same trajectory in 2022, especially as it continues on its path of transformation. In the face of challenges and disruption, it is beneficial to focus on how to introduce, implement and manage change effectively and sustainably. To best support an effective change management program, public sector procurement and supply chain leaders should focus on these five pillars: vision and strategy; stakeholder management; addressing organizational impact; communications; and training.

Effective Contract Administration

Contracts define business relationships regardless of your organization’s size. Managing contracts effectively should be an important component of how an entity operates. Many organizations encounter totally avoidable pitfalls associated with ineffective contract management, such as missed deadlines, failure of an audit, unintentional auto-renewals, slow approvals and version control problems — all of which can lead to a lack of compliance and increased financial and legal risk.

One way to avoid these issues is by embracing modern contract management practices. This includes organizing contracts in one central, secure and searchable location, as well as setting automated alerts for specific contract milestones, tracking changes to avoid inaccurate or duplicate data and using workflows to follow business rules.

As one of the major challenges of managing contracts is unified storage, digitally storing contracts in a single controlled repository simplifies reviews and change management. Doing so makes it easier to prepare for compliance audits. With a digital repository and coordinated approach, it’s possible to automate the preparation and review of common elements more efficiently.

Sustainability

The public sector has an immense opportunity to lead the United States toward a cleaner economy. While it has made strides over the last few decades toward making purchasing more sustainable, there is still a long way to go.

Public sector procurement departments can lead sustainability goals in the following ways:

• Reducing the carbon footprint of the supply chain: Procurement departments are uniquely positioned to see the entire value chain, and the choices they make impact the institutions overall sustainability. Thus, they should take the initiative to find innovative ways to help governments move toward more sustainable, lower-carbon-emitting supply chains.
• Aligning acquisition improvement goals with sustainability: Procurement departments should begin to take steps to ensure there are sustainability requirements in every procurement decision. One possible avenue is looking toward automation and aligning it with sustainability targets by focusing on the agency contracts systems.
• Reviewing online ordering systems (GSA Advantage, DLA FedMall, etc.): Procurement departments should review their online ordering systems and update search engines to display sustainable products first — or even eliminate products that are not wholly sustainable. In addition, the system should require purchasers to justify why they are purchasing a nonsustainable option. These efforts will also lead to more diversity in suppliers.

In 2021, public sector procurement professionals faced a series of unprecedented challenges. These challenges not only affected how they approached their operations but also required transformation to enable them to respond with agility. By prioritizing and addressing these trends and initiatives as we go into 2022, public sector procurement professionals will have the best chance to deliver results that more effectively serve the public.

As GEP is a leading provider of innovative procurement and supply chain software, a global supply chain and operations consulting powerhouse and a best-of-breed provider of managed procurement and supply chain services,  GEP can assist you in achieving the best results — quickly, easily, efficiently.

One partner. Comprehensive solutions. Amazing results. That’s GEP.

To learn more at CAPPO, please contact Bernie Donachie and Jane Newmanor better yet come see us during our speaking session on Monday, January 31, 2022, at 10:15 a.m. We look forward to meeting you!

Website: GEP | Supply Chain & Procurement – Strategy, Software, Managed Services