Procurement should be understood and treated as a managerial discipline running
through all parts of the project management rather than simply as an administrative
undertaking. Procurement planning should include the development of a procurement
strategy, plans and risk analysis from the early project formulation phase and address the
identified challenges in electoral procurement.
Electoral procurement strategy
For each procurement project a procurement strategy must be defined, intended to
ensure that all relevant aspects are covered during the process to be conducted, starting
with the selection of a procurement method to asset disposal considerations. In short, a
procurement strategy should involve the following issues:
- Procurement objectives, i.e. what needs to be accomplished through procurement
- Procurement methods, i.e. how the procurement will be conducted
- Requirements
- Institutional and legal framework of the elections
- Distribution of roles and responsibilities, involving all parties and stakeholders
- Risk assessment, involving primary and secondary risks, identification and
management of risks in terms of reducing likelihood or reducing impact (i.e.
contingency plans)
- Costs, considering not just the purchasing price, but the so-called Total Cost
of Ownership
- Technical specifications (also including TORs and SOWs) and quality of materials
(observation of existing standards), to be thoroughly defined from the start.
They are the central part of the solicitation document, the central aspect to
obtain agreement with the end user, and the main channel to describe and
explain to bidders and potential suppliers what is the request
- Timelines, including production lead times and realistic delivery and
distribution
- Logistics, involving all supply and logistic chain from origin of the goods to
final delivery and deployment at destination, encompassing international
freight, storage, packing, local distribution, etc.
- Disposal and retrieval, with special considerations to environmental regulations
and special dispositions for toxic or dangerous goods, such as batteries,
indelible ink with Silver Nitrate, plastic materials, etc.
- Sustainability, i.e. considering how the costs incurred can be turned to an
investment for the future, by for example reusing materials, and if the systems
and infrastructures created for a specific electoral project can be effectively
maintained and used in the future on a continuous basis, ensuring the
continuity of the solution adopted and migrating from temporary solutions to
more structural and longer term approaches
Electoral Procurement Planning
A full integration of procurement planning into the programme design phase is essential
for an electoral assistance project. A joint planning process between programme and
operational staff, allows for the necessary understanding of procurement requirements,
the market and associated risks.
During project formulation, procurement plans should be developed in line with and
operationalizing the corresponding procurement strategy, including thorough discussion
and accomplishment of the following:
- Identification of procurement needs and strategies
- Analysis of associated risks and costs
- Determination of constraints in the supply chain
- Assessment of implementing partners’ procurement capacity
Procurement planning also means that key objectives, timeframes, roles and responsibilities
are clearly identified and operationalized in the plan. Procurement plans, like operational
plans and budgets, are dynamic documents that need continuous updating
through the project, in order to reflect changes and address any new challenges that may
arise.
As shown in the figure, planning represents the highest savings potential of the
procurement process, as the earlier we find ourselves in the process the more we can
influence costs, quality and timelines.
Therefore, appropriate planning at the start of the process contributes to timely procurement
and a better allocation of resources, avoiding the risks of unjustified higher costs
due to late action, and without compromising established regulations or quality levels. If
procurement has not been planned well in advance – and all identified risks been mitigated
- it often leads to rushed processes and eventually undesired procurement outcomes,
delays or non-performances.
Procurement should ensure that the solicitation of offers is timely, purchases are cost
effective and materials are delivered on time as per required quality. In relation to this,
procurement officers should be encouraged to develop the necessary understanding of
supply markets through market research, and include such factors and their interrelations
in the corresponding procurement plans.
Time, Cost and Quality, the same pillars that define “best value for money”, are crucial factors
to be carefully considered when planning procurement of electoral materials as well. Each of them interrelates and influences the other two, resulting in a matrix
of relations which needs to be factored in from the start, at planning
stage.
First, timing is an essential factor in electoral
procurement as it affects the complete
project implementation, the pricing and
total costs, the credibility of the electoral
process, and ultimately the results. Here,
timing is not only considered as delivery
time but also the time needed for further
inland distribution, especially when goods
are consolidated from all over the world, as
well as time needed for mobilization of staff
and preparedness.
Major system enhancements — e.g. new IT
systems and/or voter registration systems —
should aim to start as early as possible in the
post-election period to maximise the time for
testing, procedural development, training,
cultural acceptance, as well as durable and
institutionalized adoption of the solution. All these will have a great impact on the sustainability
of the solution.
Secondly, in relation to costs and pricing, it is worth to note that in the case of electoral
processes a considerable part of the materials sourced for may be low-tech and relatively
easy to produce, hence low cost “a priori”. However, the urgency and need for expedited
response and extreme consolidation capacity make that for certain usual items in elections
only a limited number of specialised suppliers that can respond under such circumstances
exist.
When timelines are tight, the buyer becomes highly dependent on suppliers, while
suppliers must deploy more resources and effort to respond, all in all potentially resulting
in dramatic increases in their prices. Later Part 2 provides a complete overview on
budgeting and issues related to costs.
Last but not least, quality requirements need to be factored in the procurement plan, as
they determine major aspects including what is to be sourced, where it can be sourced, the
appropriate methods, etc. The overall implementation of the project will highly depend on
having procured the right items for the job, i.e. the right quality in broad meaning. In terms
of quality issues then, procurement plans should consider for example the implications
of the quality level/standards required on the range of available products/equipment
and responsive suppliers; interrelations with cost and time, i.e. the higher the quality
requirement the more that prices and timelines tend to increase; considerations in terms
of necessary testing; considerations on alternative solutions; and quality specifications
such as materials, sizes, performance, standards, in order to minimize involved risks.
