Birmingham Metropolitan College (BMet) is using transparent supplier margins to achieve consistent best value on purchases thanks to the implementation of a simple online IT buyer’s tool, Mercato ITelligence, which enables purchasers to benchmark against trade guide price and stock levels.
The College’s procurement team has been able to drive down the cost of purchase process and products as a direct result of accessing real-time information that is enabling the team to quickly negotiate better value deals and benchmark existing agreements, and is now reinvesting those savings directly back into providing an even better experience for learners.
The new approach has been adopted after BMet’s procurement team identified that the highly volatile IT market, where prices daily rise and fall, needed to be addressed with a less fragmented buying approach.
The best practice structure that Mercato ITelligence provides is forecast long term to save BMet up to 24% on prices paid and around an hour per order on administrative time, otherwise spent trying to manually benchmark multiple suppliers.
Now, buyers simply input their preferred supplier product lists or spot checks online for a real-time comparison with trade guide price and stock on over 150,000 products from more than 2,500 manufacturers in the UK IT supply chain. The tool’s automated ‘alerts’ also indicate when price or stock rise or fall for long term sustained best value.
BMet’s Jamie Smith, Director – Systems & Policy Development, said: "Through ITelligence we are able to conduct qualified benchmarking activity quickly and simply. Mercato ITelligence has enabled Birmingham Metropolitan College to provide financial assurance that we are achieving value for money on consumable IT related spend".
"The tool’s management reporting and forecasting capability is also giving us critical market intelligence and allows us to watch key market trends. By establishing patterns in the market we are able to plan our buying activity, which helps the organisation stay ahead and save money.
"We now deliver more informed, cost effective and efficient procurement with a best practice approach to buying in what is a very tough market. Return on investment has been quick."
With management reports and forecasting facilities, Mercato technology offers Chartered Institute of Purchase & Supply (CIPS) accredited ‘procurement excellence’ and cashable savings. It has also been approved as offering Best Practice Best Value by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.