Category Management
Procurement Lincolnshire is organised using a Category Management model, this means that a number of its staff specialise in the purchasing of particular categories of expenditure (for example Consultancy or Utilities). Organising in this manner means that Procurement Lincolnshire can develop a clearer understanding of the needs of its Local Authority stakeholders and, also, develop increased knowledge of supply markets. This leads to enhanced and more sustainable outcomes from the procurement process.
A dedicated category management unit is employed by Procurement Lincolnshire which works across all eight Local Authority partners in regard to particular categories of expenditure. The categories which the team focuses on are:
- Consultancy
- Business Services
- Facilities Management
- ICT
- Vehicles and Transport
- Utilities
- Environment Services
- Housing Stock
- Construction
- Procurement Card
Each of the categories has a lead procurement officer who works closely with key stakeholders in the individual Local Authorities to ensure that procurement is undertaken sustainably and secures optimum value for money. Purchasing decisions are taken cross functionally which delivers superior procurement outcomes by combining the knowledge of expert users, based in the Local Authorities, with the professional procurement skills of Procurement Lincolnshire’s category management team.
What does Category Management mean for me?
For Local Authority partners, category management means that you will be supported by a number of different procurement specialists and your point of contact will be dependent on the nature of the procurement project you are working on. You can either contact the category lead directly or alternatively make use of your partner liasion contact who will able to give you initial support and facilitate the next steps. If you are looking to undertake a procurement which comes under Procurement Lincolnshire’s remit, please aim to contact us as soon as possible so that we have early warning of your project. The category management team will seek to combine your procurement needs with those requirements of the other partner Local Authorities - by procuring collaboratively with other partners value for money can be secured for all. However, this approach does require some time to scope out the position of other authorities in order to identify the potential for collaboration. You can help the process by informing us if you are aware of similar requirements in the other partner authorities.
For suppliers, category management means that you can have a single point of contact which can advise you the best way to go about obtaining business from Local Authorities in Lincolnshire. The category managers will be able to advise you of the procurement landscape for your particular line of business and suggest where you can best focus your efforts. Please do not contact the category managers without having first looked at our section on Supplier Advice and Tender Opportunities.
