Breaking more records

Hansel’s business continued to grow in 2018. joint procurement was lively both in terms of sales and in terms of tendering. Sales of expert services increased by almost €200,000.

joint procurement

A record-breaking joint procurement volume of €895 million was achieved in 2018 (€830 million in 2017). The number of tendering projects carried out was 22, and the number of procurement decisions made during those projects amounted to 201. Four dynamic purchasing systems were established (for long-term accommodation in Finland, computers with IOS/OSX operating systems, IT consulting and occupational health care services). Framework agreements were adapted to meet the needs to an increased extent, and based on customers’ requests, preliminary analyses were carried out even for entirely new product groups, such as fringe benefits (including exercise and luncheon vouchers) and waste transport services. Tendering (if any) of these services will take place in 2019.

The satisfaction of contract suppliers with Hansel’s operations was measured in the beginning of 2018. The suppliers gave Hansel a good grade, four on a scale of one to five. There were several development projects underway in category management, the most important of which were the preparation of simplified digital tendering and the commissioning of the digital procurement system (DPS). DPS is a fully electronic procurement process that is open to all eligible tenderers throughout its duration. Increased investments in service centre collaboration were also made. At the end of the year, there were 17 categories with more than 90 related framework agreements and DPSs.

Development of joint procurement

Customers’ own tendering processes

In 2018, Hansel’s experts provided customers tendering services valued at some €1,345,000 (€1,269,000 in 2017). joint procurement’s internal MinikisaPlus tendering amounted to €153,000 (€157,000 in 2017), and the rest were the customers’ own tendering processes. A total of 161 customer tendering and 53 MinikisaPlus assignments were completed. The assignments took approximately 1,600 person-days to complete. Our experts also support our customers free of charge in internal tendering connected to their own joint procurement projects. A total of 145 of such assignments were completed last year.

Cooperation with several of our customers is established, which has made the process of agreeing on tendering assignments more systematic. Our customers’ procurement objects vary from scientific devices to expert services. Most of the procurement assignments are connected to ICT services.

KPMG assessed the effectiveness of Hansel’s tendering services with a survey in the spring of 2018. It was determined that without exceptions, the tendering services provide identifiable benefits for the customers. Procurement process lead times had become shorter, quality had improved and the customers’ own resources had been freed to the determination of factors related to the substance of the outsourced procurement. The role of Hansel’s experts in the coordination of the procurement project, their general knowledge of central government and their technical proficiency in the procurement process were other issues that, according to the survey, improved procurement quality. Customer satisfaction in our expert services has remained high.

Procurement development services

Demand for the procurement development services remained high in 2018, resulting in net sales of €338,000 (€240,000 in 2017). A total of 22 development assignments were completed in 2018, the largest of which were for the Finnish Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority and the Ministry of Finance. Most of the development assignments involved control and organisation of procurement, analyses of key indicators and current status, planning, contractual management or development of supplier cooperation.

Individual customer challenges are resolved through projects, while more extensive and longer-term assignments are realised as procurement development services. In this service form, Hansel’s development manager works in the customer organisation for a predetermined period. Furthermore, a new service, called “procurement as service”, was piloted in 2018. It is a service for governmental organisations where the client organisation partially outsources the implementation and management of its procurement to Hansel. The unit was also actively involved in the project on the Competence Centre for Sustainable and Innovative Public Procurement (KEINO).