LOG211: conduct ‘price analysis’ on actual procurement data and Choose a company or organisation you are currently working for or you are familiar with: Procurement Operations Assignment, SUSS, Singapore

Question 1

The main point of this question is for you to have an opportunity to conduct ‘price analysis’ on actual procurement data.

Choose a company or organisation you are currently working for or you are familiar with. However, you must be able to access to ‘some’ procurement spending data of this company or organisation.

First, choose an item, good or service that the company or organisation has purchased for past 3 years on a regular basis. For example, one time purchase of a capital good is not a suitable example for this question. Also, the company or organisation must have spent a substantial amount to procure the item, good or service.

Conduct the price analysis of the item, good or service for past 3 years. Analyse whether the company or organisation has been paying a ‘fair’ price for the item, good or service, according to the price analysis conducted. Explain the price mechanism adopted by the supplier to the company or organisation, if you can.
Disguise the data (source, figures, the name of identities, etc), if necessary.

Question 2

‘Bench marking’ is one of the most abused terms or misunderstood practices in Singapore. Choose a bench marking exercise actually conducted in any company or organisation in Singapore. However, the bench marking must be conducted in the area of procurement.

Some examples of bench marking for procurement related practices are:
• Implementation of e-procurement system
• Identifying or discovering potential suppliers
• Assessing the operational capability of existing or potential suppliers
• Developing price adjustment clauses for service contract,
• Etc.

As it has been discussed in class (or teaching materials), the most fundamental principle in benchmarking is to “isolate and identify variables that associate with the best practices and trying to match or better the performance.”

First, summaries the benchmarking exercise you would like to examine. Then, examine what it exactly means by “isolating and identifying variables that associate with the best practices and trying to match or better the performance” in plain English.

Finally, based on your answer to above question, appraise whether the benchmarking exercise had been performed properly.

Disguise your research contents (source, figures, the name of identities, etc), if necessary.