Topic: Procurement

Photo: Joel Forsman, 2016

The Guides and Scouts of Finland has implemented SC Sourcing Suite, a strategic sourcing system supplied by SC Software. The system has been adapted to support procurement projects, as it is to be used at the Scouts’ Kajo2022 camp. The Guides and Scouts of Finland is the is the national Scouting and Guiding association and the largest youth organization in Finland.

“This is an international camp with 15-20,000 participants expected”, says Ville Pentti, Kajo2022’s project manager. “Acquisitions will be worth about five million euros. We needed to have an application that supports event-type procurement, where purchases are made on a one-time basis and deliveries are distributed to the camp area.”

The camp, like the rest of the Scouts’ operations, is run mainly on a voluntary workforce:

“The camp has its own procurement team of about 10 people, all of whom are volunteers but some are civilian professionals. Acquisition in this scale requires experience and expertise”, says Pentti. “However, there are hundreds of end users of the system, as many volunteers in different responsibility areas of the camp enter the purchase requests in the system”.

SC Sourcing Suite supports procurement, deliveries and financial monitoring

A key element in the Scouts’ sourcing platform is the purchase requests that can be entered in the system by those in the camp’s various areas of responsibility, such as food or waste management. The procurement team checks and approves the requests and combines them into purchase packages, which are then tendered and ordered from selected suppliers.

According to Pentti, the transportation, reception and distribution of goods are important issues to be planned and managed within the system. In addition, the financial reporting consisting of invoicing forecasts and realizations gives an overview to the use of the camp’s budget.

Photo: Juha Nurmi, 2016

SC Software’s agile approach was a winning factor in the choosing of a software development partner

“The Sourcing System itself, as well as the references of SC Software were great. SC Software had very different types of customers, and it became clear that they had experience in aligning processes to various customer needs. These facts among others influenced our choice of starting the cooperation with SC Software”, Pentti explains. “Our presumption proved right, as SC Software was very agile in the development project.”

Pentti is also happy with the project execution:

“The project went according to the plan and on budget. I really liked the proactive way of SC Software’s professionals to come up with different options and to reflect on the needs and suggestions presented by the customer. Our cooperation went very well.”

“Organizers also have an opportunity to learn new things”

Kajo2022 will be held in July, when the Sourcing Platform will be actively utilized. Pentti sees also other benefits in the implementation of the system:

“It will be a huge value for us to save the project in the system. The transparency of our operation is at a high level, so it is important to see in retrospect where the purchases have been made. In addition, the recorded project provides an example for the similar events in the future. Part of our ideology is that we always aim to organize the best event for the target group, in which the organizers also have an opportunity to learn something new and develop themselves”, Pentti concludes.

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SC Software has developed a comprehensive strategic sourcing platform in cooperation with the City of Espoo. Based on SC Sourcing Suite -product, system was effectively customized according to Espoo’s needs and sourcing processes.

“A significant part of the statutory municipal services offered to our residents are procured. Therefore, procurement is an essential part of organizing these services”, says Veera Lavikkala, Development Manager of the City of Espoo’s Procurement Center.

“Our procurement is guided by the values ​​of the Espoo story: procurement must be economically, ecologically, socially and culturally sustainable. In addition, the effects on business and employment, as well as resident and customer viewpoints, must be taken into account. Sourcing is therefore a strategic activity”, Lavikkala continues.

The principle of leading with knowledge is reflected in the development of the Espoo procurement process

The city of Espoo has been actively investing in the development of their procurement process, as a result of which the city has also been awarded the Logy ry’s Public Procurement Developer Award. The work is based on the principle of leading with knowledge, where the available information is utilized in decision-making.

“Leading with knowledge plays a big role in sourcing. In order to get a comprehensive overview of procurement, we need to have good operating processes and tools to support them”, comments Ari Erkinharju, Chief Procurement Officer of the City of Espoo.

Well-defined processes behind the successful system development

According to Lavikkala, the entire contracting entity has been involved in defining and developing the processes, and external lean expertise has also been used. Well-defined processes have also helped with defining requirements for the strategic sourcing platform.

The system consists of procurement, supplier and contract management modules that are directly derived from the needs of public procurement:

“The solution supports the centralized Procure-to-Pay process throughout the whole city organization, covering procurement planning, management and execution”, describes Lavikkala.

SC Sourcing Suite enhances availability and transparency of procurement information

The acquisition of SC Sourcing Suite was based on the need to improve the availability and transparency of the City of Espoo’s procurement information and to unify the organisation’s operating models:

“Before SC Sourcing Suite, information about purchases was fragmented into 22 different systems and different excels. This prevented us from getting a quick overview”, says Lavikkala. “Now the information is available to different stakeholders, and we are able to track the progress of the individual procurement processes and the entire procurement portfolio. The necessary information is no longer behind individuals either, which is why anyone can jump in, even in the middle of the process”, Lavikkala describes.

Erkinharju agrees:

“SC Sourcing Suite supports the workflow of our employees, and with the developing reporting views, we are able to utilize it even more in the leading of procurement as well.”

“There is no equivalent solution on the market”

SC Software was selected as the supplier of the solution through an open tender in accordance with the Procurement Act.

“The SC Software’s solution met our requirements the best. SC Sourcing Suite scored high in the evaluation, especially in terms of usability. It was great value for money”, says Erkinharju.

Other city organizations have also been interested in the solution:

“The system is needed because there is no equivalent solution on the market that provides an overall picture of public procurement. That is definitely the reason behind the strong interest”, explains Erkinharju.

Seamless cooperation led to a successful project completion

The cooperation between the City of Espoo and SC Software has been successful.

“I’ve left with very positive feelings about our cooperation”, praises Lavikkala. “SC Software has the necessary understanding of the industry and a clear intent to learn more. In addition, we are pleased with SC Software’s iterative development model, which allows the solution to be slowly built and customized to meet our evolving needs. The implementations have been fast and efficient”, Lavikkala describes.

Erkinharju shares the opinion:

“The introduction of SC Sourcing Suite has gone well and the schedule and budget have kept up. Both parties have learned a lot from the project.”

Learn more about SC Sourcing Suite

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