Background
An organization that provides research and development services for the federal government was growing rapidly in their space services sector. Deadlines on current contracts were already being missed because of slow procurement processes, and the same processes were to be further stressed as the organization expands. There were multiple legacy systems that didn’t communicate. The organization was also experiencing high turnover in procurement due to high employee frustration.
Solution
The assessment found multiple root-causes of delays, including challenges with processes, people, and technology. Manual entry between multiple systems was inefficient and error prone. Tracking of orders was difficult. Workflows were manual, inconsistent and sometimes confusing. A lot of important information resided in Excel. Important data wasn’t readily available and data reports didn’t always match. Because of the level of customization in current technology and multiple homegrown systems, upgrades were difficult.
Results
After the assessment, multiple projects were launched including process improvements to simplify the creation of subcontracts, simplify terms and conditions, and remove duplicative work from invoice reviews. Dashboards have been established for greater visibility of timelines and backorders. The organization is also investigating an end-to-end technology solution, which would be a transformation over several years. In the meantime, document automation has been implemented to accelerate the process and improve employee morale. Several large suppliers have been set up on EDI to reduce the procurement workload. Employees have been engaged in the continuous improvement process throughout. They have learned new process improvement tools and are enthusiastic to continue to improve their workplace.
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