SunWater Ltd engaged Charles Kendall Australia (CKA) to undertake a review of its procurement process to identify improvements and provide recommendations for better managing its procurement practices with regards to its $7 billion in water infrastructure assets (40% of all water used commercially in Queensland, Australia).
The Challenge
- Review end-to-end procurement processes to identify improvements.
- Increase value for money in procurement, address weaknesses in procurement culture and mitigate associated risks.
- Improve compliance and performance related to procurement practices, including legislative compliance, contractual issues and supply chain vulnerability.
Our Approach
- Desktop review of SunWater’s existing processes and 25 contracts across different departments and categories.
- Identify procurement function effectiveness, strengths, gaps and weaknesses via employee surveys.
- Map existing procurement capability against CKA’s Capability Assessment Matrix based on best practices.
Outcomes
- Recommendations and pathways for transforming SunWater’s procurement into a strategic function with prescribed medium and long-term goals.
- Recommendations for improved procurement structure and processes, including centre-led structuring supported by policies, procedures and management, plus a framework for implementing supplier/contract/spend measurements, analysis and management.
- Recommendations for equipping staff with required purchasing and contract management skills, with focus on roles/responsibilities and training needs analysis.
