Corporate Purchase Card on trial

A scheme to save University money by cutting out the paperwork of processing small purchases has been on trial by the central purchasing office.

The pilot scheme on the use of Corporate Purchase Cards by selected departments is due to be assessed after six months. The scheme, which is aimed at reducing administrative costs of processing low-value orders, is being trialled by selected departments including student recruitment, APEME, biological sciences, IT services and medical education.

Purchasing Manager Jim Cruickshank reports: "Early indications show that the cards are being used for the purchase of a wide variety of low value commonly used commodities." At the close of the pilot period a recommendation will be made on whether card use should be extended to other users within the University.

The purchasing office helped save the University some £925, 000 last year according to their annual report. Managing tendering processes and negotiating contracts and prices for a range of goods and services from catering and cleaning products to electron microscopes and computer accessories have all contributed.

Courses for training departmental buyers have proved particularly popular, with extra sessions being introduced to cope with demand. A series of leaflets dealing with common topics such as Delivering Best Value for Money, Zero-rated VAT and How to do Business with the University have been introduced to complement the regular newsletter which is now sent out to over 200 contact points internally. The new CPO website has also proved popular, receiving around 100 hits per day 73% of which come from university departments.

Mr Cruickshank also reports a significant rise in the amount of university stationery printed by the recently engaged official print service, earning in the process, a significant retrospective rebate.

"Over the last 12 months the CPO has extended the diversity of its workload, moving away from processing low value orders to assist departments in ordering direct from university-wide agreements. We will continue to concentrate on high value orders and value for money improvements," he said.

Next Page
Return to December/January 2000/1 Contact