The Laboratory's Procurement Improvement Project has accomplished a major milestone by developing a new organizational model for Procurement (SUP-1). Procurement personnel now have until the end of the month to comment on the new structure. The Procurement Improvement Project is working to demonstrably improve the way the Laboratory purchases and delivers goods and services, said John Tapia, co-project manager for PIP. To achieve this goal, PIP is focusing on people, processes and tools related to procurement activities. The project is a continuation of the Laboratory's ongoing initiative to improve business processes.
The proposed restructuring of SUP-1 was a priority for the project and represents the culmination of weeks of work by personnel inside and outside the organization. Over the course of several design sessions, personnel in SUP-1, the Supply Chain Management (SUP) Division and elsewhere met to design a new organizational model by focusing on strategies, structures, processes, people and potential rewards -- not only for SUP-1's stakeholders and clients, but for members of the group themselves, said Lynne Richards, level 2 manager for the people component of PIP and program manager for Organizational Development for the Lab.
"By embracing a rigorous process to design a new organizational structure and tackle issues associated with it, we were able to maximize benefits for all affected parties while remaining realistic in our goals and focus," Tapia said.
Participants originally developed three possible organizational models. They eventually settled on a final concept, which can be found at http://sup.lanl.gov/procurement/default.shtml online.
Mike Boule of Procurement (SUP-1) examines an individual purchase request while dozens of others wait on his desk. Laboratory procurement specialists see a steady stream of requests each week ranging in value from hundreds of dollars to millions. Photo by James E. Rickman, Public Affairs
The new proposed model streamlines procurement activities and more closely associates them with division-level line management requirements while creating enhanced management oversight for procurement processes. More significantly, however, the new proposed model gets back to basics by creating specialists among procurement customer service representatives.
In the former model, procurement personnel were generalists, which sometimes led to situations where representatives were over-utilized or underutilized. The new model -- coupled with process redesign, tool improvement, and extensive training and development of the work force -- will alleviate utilization issues and guarantee a high level of expertise for customers and clients, while improving the speed of transactions, Tapia said. It also gives customers a single point of contact.
"This reorganization will provide customers access to a larger pool of experts in critical procurement areas," said procurement team leader Pete Ayala (SUP-1). "A requisition will be handled by the procurement specialist most qualified and experienced in that area, and this is one way that this proposed restructuring makes our organization more effective and customer focused."
For SUP-1 personnel, the new model is designed to facilitate a team environment that will boost morale, enhance management support and provide greater opportunities for professional development.
Procurement employees can submit comments about the proposed structure through April 30 by going to the Procurement Improvement Project Web site at http://sup.lanl.gov/procurement/pip/default.shtml online.
Tapia said the organizational development process for SUP-1 would not have been nearly as successful without the design and facilitation skills of Richards, Janet Langone of HR-Special Projects (HR-SP), and invaluable support from SUP-DO, SUP group management, SUP-1 team leaders and employees and other critical stakeholders.
The organizational development of SUP-1 and its subsequent implementation is one of 11 major milestones identified under the Procurement Improvement Project.
--James E. Rickman