The Benefits of Effective Procurement Planning

Effective Procurement Planning is essential for all procuring entities in the implementation of the purchasing objectives for the following reasons:
1. An effective plan saves time and money
2. An effective plan serves as a conduit to achieving entity‘s objectives
3. An effective plan ensures compliance with regulatory policies
4. An effective plan provides a framework to guide procurement officers in the achievement of their tasks and duties.
5. Effective procurement planning enables organization and its staff to work smoothly to achieve the organization‘s goals with the right quality and quantity of inputs in place

When procurement practitioners outline their procurement activities prior to the beginning of a fiscal year, this process provides an organized means whereby time and money are saved. This happens when timelines are followed in the procurement of contract packages and when patience is exercised in the use of the right procedures enshrined by law to ensure transparency and competitiveness. Some individuals may argue that the process slower purchasing activities; however, imagine conducting the process of procurement in a hasty manner disregarding the processing steps required by law and ended up with items that are undesirable, unreliable, nondurable and costly; the results are loss to Government and probably the repurchase of similar items in the not to distance future, thus consuming your precious time and resources.

Secondly, an entity‘s procurement objectives are achieved when an effective procurement plan is utilized. Each contract package procured has a direct or indirect effect on the general aims and objectives of the procuring entity. In fact, various public procuring entities specific objectives are tied into the national objectives and goals of the Liberian Government. Ministries, Public agencies, commissions and institutions serve as support bases in the achievement of both the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) ‗Lift Liberia‘. With this in mind, when a procurement plan is being prepared, practitioners must
consider the impact these purchases will have on the users of these goods, works and services. If the objective of the entity in question is to build modern roads, schools, hospitals; let the goals of achieving higher literacy, better infrastructures development and a healthier society be achieved also.

Thirdly, the Public Procurement & Concessions Act was passed into law in 2005 to regulate public procuring entities in their execution of the procurement activities. Apart from the establishment of procurement structures at these entities, practitioners are required to abide by the procurement law in all its procurement transactions. The preparation of an effective procurement plan is the first step in achieving such mandate. No public procuring entity is in compliance with the PPDA if said entity does not observe its responsibility to annually prepare an effective plan. An effective plan enables entities to follow a step by step implementation process that guides in meeting up with satisfactory compliance level necessary during General audits, the Public Procurement and procurement audits and other monitoring exercises.

Finally, an effective plan provides a framework to guide procurement officers in the achievement of their tasks and duties. Practitioners, who do not plan, have already planned to fail. When individuals use effective procurement plans in the execution of their functions, they are more organized, effective and efficient in effecting positive changes and growth in their organizations. This growth and change exposes the procurement officers relevance and reliability in the achievement of duties and responsibilities assigned to his office, thus, producing the necessary measures which would provide the basis for achieving the spirit and intent of the procurement law of 2005.

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