Project procurement is just one aspect of your project, but it is a very important one. Let’s take a closer look…
What is project management procurement?
When it comes to project management, procurement is when you are required to rent, purchase or contract with an external source in order to meet the goals of your project. Just like any other process within your project, these processes need careful management.
In order to manage procurement, you need to ensure that you get the best quality possible from any external vendors that the company employs considering any constraints on time and cost that may exist. Procurement management is a way in which you can handle the process of requisitioning, ordering, sourcing, inspecting, and expediting procurement more efficiently.
The process
During the planning stage of any project, you will identify your procurements. You will need a statement of work (SOW) for every external contractor that you use; this is a document that outlines the work being undertaken. Before this, you will need a request for proposal during which several contractors will be able to bid on the job and this will allow you to determine who will receive the contact.
It is really important to ensure that you are comparing like for like completely when looking at different bids, and not simply going for the cheapest bid, as this may not give you everything you could get from another contractor. There are techniques and tools that can help you to deal with this decision. When it comes to asking for bids it is a good idea to cast the net as wide as possible, whilst you may already have some contractors in mind who you might ask to bid advertising can be a useful way of soliciting further bids.
Once you have completed any paperwork linked to the first stage of your procurement process and selected the bid that works best for your project you will need to sign agreements and update your project plan.
It is really important to keep on top of things once you have agreed a contract.
Control the procurement process
When it comes to schedules and budgets, contractors can have a negative impact, this can result in a project going off track at the very least, so it is important to ensure that contractors are included into your overall responsibilities as a manager.
Regular status updates are vital in order to check contractor agreements, review performance of work and to ensure that the requirements outlined in any contracts held are being met. Whilst it is expected that the contractors you have hired will be experts in their own field you should still expect to track and monitor their work in order to ensure that it is going as planned. It can be a good idea to have regular reviews of procurement performance, with audits and inspections to ensure that work is proceeding as it should be. This will allow you to keep managers informed as well.
