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How can tendering authorities stimulate innovations within SMEs in tenders below threshold values?

The Procurement Platform Groningen is a cooperation of 15 tendering authorities in the northern part of the Netherlands. The Platform requested Hanze to start a research project concerning the Social Added Value of the Platform’s spend. The first phase of this research has now been completed. This phase has resulted in more insight into the spend of the Platform. The subject of this working paper concerns one of the next steps in this research. How can tendering authorities stimulate innovation within SMEs through tenders below threshold values? Most of the Platform members’ spend is put to market through non-European tenders. This paper describes a theoretical research into Platform’s possibilities to encourage innovation in SMEs, by using tendering for contracts that are below the threshold value. The results of this research show that the Platform can use several tendering procedures.

E-Procurement as Digital Collaboration in an Integrated Coalition Limited by EU Regulation

from the article: Supply chain integration intensifies through digitalisation of business administration (BA) processes. However, it is unclear whether differences exist between the public and private sector in development or implementation of supply chain integration solutions. The large scope of the supply chain, being a large network of companies working together towards one end product, is limited for this study to e-procurement processes. The related software solutions are included. This study starts with a theoretical snapshot of e-procurement. This is followed by a process viewpoint of the e-procurement function. Next five different forms of e-procurement cooperation are presented seen from an actors network viewpoint. The utilisation of these forms create insight in the differences between the public and private sector in their e-procurement adoption behaviour. The process maturity scan results shows that the process maturity between the two sectors is comparable. However, this only explains the differences per sector concerning their ability to improve and control their processes in general. For reliability, this step is followed by three in-depth interviews combined with analyses of recent e-procurement behaviour studies involving the two sectors. The final step compares the maturity outcome with the in-depth data results. Both sectors show certain forms of coalition in the e-procurement. Where ‘competition’ is a construct that drives the private sector, the public sector has cost control as a driver towards collaboration and integration within e-procurement. This can only partially be explained by the past European financial crises. Differences are found in digital collaboration and the integration itself. The most important difference lies in the European tendering procedure to which the public sector (unlike the private) is restricted. In nature an e-procurement design and development project does not fit the prescribed procedures.

Logistics Collaboration between Shippers and Logistics Service Providers. Observations in the chemical industry

Summary Project objectives This study fits into a larger research project on logistics collaboration and outsourcing decisions. The final objective of this larger project is to analyze the logistics collaboration decision in more detail to identify thresholds in these decisions. To reach the overall objectives, the first step is to get a clearer picture on the chemical and logistics service providers industry, sectors of our study, and on logistics collaboration in these sectors. The results of this first phase are presented in this report. Project Approach The study consists of two parts: literature review and five case studies within the chemical industry. The literature covers three topics: logistics collaboration, logistics outsourcing and purchasing of logistics services. The five case studies are used to refine the theoretical findings of the literature review. Conclusions Main observations during the case studies can be summarized as follows: • Most analyzed collaborative relationships between shippers and logistics service providers in the chemical industry are still focused on operational execution of logistics activities with a short term horizon. Supply management design and control are often retained by the shippers. • Despite the time and cost intensive character of a logistics service buying process, shippers tendering on a very regular basis. The decision to start a new tender project should more often be based on an integral approach that includes all tender related costs. A lower frequency of tendering could create more stability in supply chains. Beside, it will give both, shippers and LSPs, the possibility to improve the quality of the remaining projects. • Price is still a dominating decision criterion in selecting a LSP. This is not an issue as long as the comparison of costs is based on an integral approach, and when shippers balance the cost criterion within their total set of criteria for sourcing logistics services. • At the shippers' side there is an increased awareness of the need of more solid collaboration with logistics service providers. Nevertheless, in many cases this increased awareness does not actually result in the required actions to establish more intensive collaboration. • Over the last years the logistics service providers industry was characterized by low profit margins, strong fragmentation and price competition. Nowadays, the market for LSPs is changing, because of an increasing demand for logistics services. To benefit from this situation a more pro-active role of the service providers is required in building stronger relationships with their customers. They should pay more attention on mid and long term possibilities in a collaborative relation, in stead of only be focused on running the daily operation.

Framework for tendering based on EMAT approach to support sustainable urban construction logistics

Innovating the Dutch construction industry: How to change?

The environment of the(Dutch) building industry is increasingly turbulent. There are many cges for the building industry. Innovative tendering, better marketing, openness and transparency are examples of this. A strong reduction in failure costs (estimated at between 10 and 25% of the total costs) and an increase in quality are also necessary. Lastly, the declining inflow of young people has to be mentioned. The image of the building industry is not particularly good and students prefer to choose other industries. The building industry therefore has to change and, so far, everyone agrees. Evidently both the building industry and its environment are very keen to change; the sincere will is there, and money and energy are available, but it seems that efforts are not proceeding in a very planned or coordinated manner at present. And this is causing fragmentation and, therefore, sub optimisation. How does sectoral change proceed and how is this process to be managed? That is the central question in this paper.

Understanding how the value chains of e-bus public transport work for six European regions

The Interreg Europe eBussed project supports the transition of European regions towards low carbon mobility and more efficient transport. The regions involved are Turku (Finland), Hamburg (Germany), Utrecht (The Netherlands), Livorno (Italy), South Transdanubia (Hungary) and Gozo island in Malta. It promotes the uptake of e-busses in new regions and supports the expansion of existing e-fleets. Within the project, there are four thematic working groups formed that aim at delivering a best practices report and policy recommendations to be used in the partner regions. Thematic Working Group 4 (TWG4) focusses on the topics of Procurement, Tendering and Costs of e-busses. As a starting point for TWG4, the value chain for e-bus public transport per region has been mapped. By mapping how the value chain for e-bus public transport works and defining the nature of the issues, problems or maybe challenges per region can be better understood.