"When we compiled prices for a random selection of recently bought products and compared them using ITelligence, it demonstrated we could have saved an average of 10% on price. This more than justified the investment."
The new approach is expected to save time and money, as well as streamline current processes.
Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust has adopted an innovative online IT buyer's tool, Mercato ITelligence, to reduce IT purchase costs as part of an effort to get ahead of the Spending Review.
The new approach has the potential to save the Trust up to 24% on prices paid and 20% of time usually spent manually benchmarking supplier prices. The solution informs users in real-time what margin their supplier is offering, so empowering buyers to quickly negotiate better value deals and benchmark existing agreements.
Buyers simply input their preferred supplier product lists or spot checks online which are compared to trade guide price and stock of over 150,000 products from more than 2,500 manufacturers in the UK IT supply chain. The tool's automated 'alerts' also indicate when price or stock rise or fall for long term sustained best value.
IT represents one of the largest areas of indirect procurement spend for the Trust and as a volatile marketplace where price and stock fluctuate daily, it tests buyers trying to achieve sustained best value.
The Trust has huge demand for regular purchase items and sources, specifies and buys ICT hardware, software, peripherals and consumables daily. However, gathering and analysing supplier information is very difficult given the size and volatility of the IT market, which impacts upon informed buying decisions.
Whilst using best practice 3 quote approaches and government frameworks to try and achieve best value on every purchase, the Trust acknowledged that there could be a quicker method of achieving and validating when best value is reached on every purchase.
With management reports and forecasting facilities, Mercato technology offers Chartered Institute of Purchase & Supply (CIPS) accredited 'procurement excellence' and cashable savings. It has also been approved as offering Best Practice Best Value by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.
David Thomas, Head of Procurement Birmingham & Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Mercato ITelligence is an invaluable tool that enables us to see what IT resellers are paying real-time for products. This allows us to validate prices being quoted to ensure we're getting a good deal. ITelligence also maps price trends, so we can monitor price movements for different product categories.
"When we compiled prices for a random selection of recently bought products and compared them using ITelligence, it demonstrated we could have saved an average of 10% on price. This more than justified the investment.
"Early use has found that on one major purchase the lowest price quoted was 3% higher than expected. Mercato ITelligence enabled us to challenge the supplier and save over £1000.
"This solution is helping us reduce costs in what is a very challenging market."
