Kansas Department of Administration 2006 Annual Report.pdf

Finding Savings Through Shared Services: The
Anatomy of a Procurement Negotiating
Committee
By statute, the Department of Administration has oversight over most procurement
functions for the State of Kansas. While the traditional concept of state purchasing has
been "low bid," the needs of a modem state government require more flexibility and
greater ability to fully bring to bear the purchasing power of a large organization.
The Negotiated Procurement process is based upon the concept of"Best Value" and
enables agencies to consider many factors in the evaluation of bid responses beyond cost,
including vendor qualifications, past performance, methodology, among others.
With this additional flexibility comes additional responsibility in terms of documenting
actions taken throughout the bid process, the task of evaluating technical and cost
proposals, and in preparing a written justification for actions taken and award
recommendations.
Many of the success stories of the past four years, as documented in prior annual reports,
have come to fruition thanks to usage of the Procurement Negotiating Cmrunittee (PNC).
The Division of Purchases, as with standard bid documents, is always responsible for
preparing a Request for Proposal (RFP). However, once the bidding process has ended, the
work of the PNC begins.
At bid opening, only the names of bidders are announced. The PNC then undertakes a
thorough review of first the technical proposals of a bid, and then the cost proposals of a
bid. After that review, one or more vendors are invited to negotiate.
Negotiations will include revised offers, as well as opportunity for discussion and Q & A.
Once a review of the final offers, both technical and cost, has been completed, a
recommendation is made for award, accompanied by full documentation for that
recommendation.
While more complex than simply opening and determining the "best bid," the Negotiated
Procurement process not only allows opportunities for lower costs, but also for better
services, through the review of both the cost and technical aspects of a contract.
As part of an effort in 2006 to fully develop the shared services model, the Division of
Purchases made an effort to increase personal connections with both agencies and vendors
to keep costs low, improve understanding of procurement laws and practices, including the
increased usage of Negotiated Procurement, and to increase understanding of D of A staff
of the procurement work performed by our clients, and the impact that D of A decisions
can have on those clients.
A major aspect of Shared Services for the Division of Purchases has been an expansion of
Contract Development Meetings to reach out to clients.
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