Category Management To Achieve Value For Money In Procurement

Name of Author: Ssekimpi Benjamin Musoke
Education Background: Masters of Business Administration (2021 to Current)- Uganda Management Institute.
Advanced Diploma in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management – Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), United Kingdom (2020).
Diploma in Procurement and Supply Chain Management Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS), United Kingdom (2019).
Bachelors Degree of Procurement and Supply Chain Management- Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda (2018).

Organisation: MRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit.
Research Focus: Category Management.
Presentation Title: Category Management to achieve value for money in Procurement.

Abstract

Procurements in multi-project organisations can get messy as more and more projects are undertaken and as the organization grows. In an organization with numerous requests going to the procurement department, things can get disorganized and staff may start to feel overwhelmed. One modern way to take control of the procurement processes is by using category Management a tool discovered by a university professor named Brian F. Harris in the 1980’s.

Operational /day to day procurement management is seen to handle purchase requests and procurement needs asthey arise which differs from Category Management. With or without software solutions, category managementhelps to breakdown procurement into manageable sections providing control and grip over the whole purchasingprocess ensuring economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Procurement category management is applicable and usefulin all types of companies as It cuts across all types of goods. Category management avails the department withopportunities to turn the procurement into a valuable asset. Management in many organisations has been forcedsearch for all avenues to achieve the two most common goals; reducing cost and improving quality. In response tosuch external pressure, Medical research organisations and health care organizations in Uganda for example theMRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, The Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI), The Infectious diseasesresearch collaboration (IDRC), Infectious Diseases Institute of Makerere University (IDI), National Medical Stores(NMS) and the world are looking for help. Category management enters into the picture as one of the tools thatadministration can rely on.

This paper explores what has been done in the Medical research and healthcare procurement category area in thelast three years (2019-2021). In the field of medical research, introducing new technology and managementstrategies is slower than in other industries primarily because medical research is done in an incremental rather thanradical way due to its conservative nature reflective of the unique task to innovate and find new information toimprove health interventions while saving human life.

Accordingly, organisations have begun to re-direct their efforts and strategies to maximise resources by reducingcosts. Under such managerial change, the procurement discipline seems to be an attractive alternative achieving anacceptable level of effectiveness and efficiency. The strategy seems to be feasible even in Not for profit organisationssince the central premise of procurement or even an entire supply chain is to reduce or eliminate unnecessaryexpenses with efficient procurement tools/techniques.

There is a growing need to re-conceptualize procurement in medical research and healthcare organisations or other not-for-profit entities because their development stage in is far behind commercial supply chain in utilizing various supply chain tools.

This study aims at new directions for the applicability of category management in the medical research and health care industry by presenting the major operational tools, barriers of adopting category management and managerial implications.