UC procurement program among five finalists for international award
June 19, 2017 •
For the second year in a row, UC’s systemwide P200 Procurement Program was selected as a finalist at the 11th annual World Procurement Awards, which are widely regarded as the most prestigious award in that field. Last year, the P200 program was one of 10 finalists in the Public Sector category, and this year, it was one of five finalists in the Cross-Functional Transformation category, which included both public and private sector nominees.
UC’s Procurement Services has transformed how the university purchases goods and services to maximize benefit while improving quality and service to partners and campus colleagues. Launched in 2012 as part of the systemwide Working Smarter Initiative, the P200 program aimed to redirect $200 million in annual benefit toward UC’s teaching, research and public service missions by the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year.
P200 surpassed the $200 million annual savings benefit by the end of the 2015-16 fiscal year at $269M, and is expected to exceed $300 million by the end of FY 2016-17.
Associate Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer William Cooper
Winners of the World Procurement Awards were announced May 17 in London. While UC did not win, Associate Vice President and Chief Procurement Officer William Cooper said that the nomination itself was a significant accomplishment. “We are honored that the P200 program has been acknowledged two years in a row as one of the best procurement programs in the world. Over the past two years, this program has been getting increased attention on an international stage, indicative of our evolution into a ‘best practices,’ strategic procurement organization.”
The international acclaim doesn’t stop at awards recognition. Cooper and members of his team have been speaking at procurement and supply chain forums across the country, to international audiences spanning multiple industries. “Audiences are curious about how we’ve been able to make this remarkable transformation which has involved a change in governance structure, investing in integrated technology and exploring new ways to deliver benefit. This is a particularly unique program in higher education,” said Cooper.
This fall, Cooper will give a speech at a supply chain conference sponsored by INBRASC (an international business school entirely focused on procurement, logistics and planning) in Brazil to discuss the P200 program and how they are building on those successes to evolve into their next plan, Supply Chain 500 (SC500).
UC’s P200 program is also currently being featured as a three-part case study on the Procurement Leaders website (the sponsors of the World Procurement Awards). You can read the first part: “Securing Buy-in to Solve a $500m Problem” here.
