Procurement management includes the process of acquire the products, services, or results needed from outside the project team to perform the work.

All procurement should be performed by the company’s procurement personnel. The professional negotiators invite bids to obtain favourable prices and terms. The employees themselves should never negotiate with suppliers, as this may spoil the company’s negotiation position. If your unit needs to test out, hire or purchase goods or services, contact the procurement unit.

Purchases without procurement authority may cause problems for the company. Violation of the EU rules for competitive bidding, for example, may result in heavy fines for the company.

It is important to perform procurements to secure best terms for the company, on short and long term. Main rule should be competition amongst 3 or more suppliers.

Important tasks and actions

• For projects intending to procure goods or services from external suppliers, it is important to involve the procurement organisation as early as possible for clarification and planning (at M1 if possible).
• A Procurement plan should be made at M2 and updated at M3, if applicable.
• A procurement manager should be appointed from the procurement unit. He/she should be responsible for developing the procurement strategies, in cooperation with the project manager and project team.

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