Creating a purchase order seems easy, but there is a lot to do. You agree as to what is needed, where it can be ordered, and how this will be funded. Then you enter the order completely and correctly in BASS. Next it needs to be approved by Procurement, Finances, and the budget holder. Only then can Procurement submit the order to the supplier.
What do we want to improve?
The average processing time for the regular purchase orders via BASS is currently 5 days. Our goal:
- Reduce the processing time to 4 days
- Reduce the number of ‘exceptions’ (orders that take much longer)’ from 33% to a maximum of 20%
A shorter and more reliable processing time means quicker delivery, less reminders, and less coordination
First successes
The first steps have been taken:
- All management assistants receive a workshop with tips & tricks to enter purchase orders correctly and efficiently
- Functional management of BASS will edit the system so Finances can check orders more quickly
- An analysis of the ‘exceptions’ has been completed and an action plan has to be made as to how their processing time can be shortened
What’s next
In the upcoming period
- We will talk to the budget holders about the importance of approving orders in a timely manner and we will investigate if we can come to a guideline together
- We will share practical tips via the Weekly for colleagues who have a request for an order, to make sure these can be entered as correctly as possible
- We will talk to Procurement to understand the process from their side as well: what do they do, what challenges do they run into, and how can we organise this all more efficiently?
Do you have any ideas or do you simply want to know more? You can let eline.spek [at] ru.nl (eline[dot]spek[at]ru[dot]nl) or nicola.rijzewijk [at] ru.nl (nicola[dot]rijzewijk[at]ru[dot]nl) know.