Queenstown was the fastest growing town in New Zealand and
could no longer rely on traditional policy, procedures and
methodology that were designed to capture surplus capacity in an
oversupplied market.
Queenstown Lakes District Council (QLDC) reached
a significant milestone period in its growth with its annual
infrastructure capital works program increasing from NZD20-25
million to NZD40-50 million, meaning that it had become a
significant participant in the New Zealand infrastructure market.
GHD were engaged to review procurement practices and develop a
procurement strategy to deliver the 2006-2016 Long-term Community
Care Plan (LTCCP) Infrastructure Capital Works program.
GHD employed its Strategic Procurement Delivery
Framework and identified the following strategic drivers through an
outcomes workshop with QLDC:
- QLDC to be delivering a growing capital works program on time
and at best value by:
- Increasing the planning period to three years (minimum)
- Offering market commitment that encourages investment in
capacity and capability
- Increasing depth of supply built on performance and creative
tension
- QLDC is increasing competency (people, policy and processes) to
implement and support:
- Longer, more strategic relationships
- Integrated delivery (e.g. maintenance and renewals, water and
roads)
- Value based performance management
- Simplified but robust approval processes
The outcomes and initiatives were developed and used to inform
the detailed planning process, including:
- Alignment of internal processes and
structure
- Development of options
- Detailed delivery design
- Implementation
The developed strategy is taking QLDC from
managing suppliers through price competitive processes, to
integrated strategic supplier management measured against total
cost of ownership. Below are some achievements from the
integration of strategic suppliers and procure-to-pay systems:
Integrated renewals and new works
planning
- Suppliers have direct relationship with
QLDC at programme level
- High percentage of programme committed
- Projects allocated after scoping
- Accelerated design processes
- High performance rewarded with more work -
valid low risk procurement option
- Performance management integrated with
LTCCP outcomes
- Leveraged relationships across transport,
three waters and solid waste
- Enabled cost reductions across price,
process and outputs, targeting 7.5% improvement in cost
- Increased intellectual capital –
particularly “know-how”
- Increased capability and capacity
(including consequential maintenance)
- Provided measurable results against
community outcomes