Authors (including presenting author) :
Fung MHR(1), Wong YKS(1), Ngai TK(1), Nip WLA(1), Lee PSJ(1), Li LFK(1), Yuen WM(1), Tam PKN(1), Chan CTT(1), Leung PLE(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Cluster Procurement & Material Management Unit (CPMMU), Kowloon West Cluster
Introduction :
In order to promptly and swiftly handle the increasing purchase requests raised by users in Kowloon West Cluster, especially for the required items to provide an efficient hospital service in Caritas Medical Centre (CMC), Kwai Chung Hospital (KCH), North Lantau Hospital (NLTH), Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) and Yan Chai Hospital (YCH), the purchase requisition (PR) handling workflow was modified by prioritizing the PRs with purchase value below or equal to $3,000.00, and forming standing quotations for low value but frequently purchased medical consumable items.
Objectives :
To shorten the procurement lead time by
(a) Issuing PO for 80% of the PRs with purchase value below and equal $3,000.00 within 2 working days;
(b) At least 75% of low value but frequently purchased medical consumable PRs converted to POs within 2-6 weeks.
Methodology :
(1) To accord priority to handle PRs with purchase value below and equal $3,000.00 within 2 working days. Buyer managers in each team closely monitor the PO issuance progress and report the PO issuance progress in the monthly CPMM in-house meeting;
(2) To form standing quotations for low value but frequently purchased medical consumable items by incorporating uncommitted quantities through proactive projection.
Result & Outcome :
The modified PR handling workflow has been implemented since May 2019 and the objectives were achieved:
(1) For PR with purchase value below and equal $3,000.00, procurement lead time was greatly reduced, i.e. the PRs converted to PO within 2 working days was increased from around 44% for the period from July to September 2018 to 87% in July 2019, 96% in both August 2019 and September 2019.
(2) For low value but frequently purchased medical consumable items, procurement lead time was also shortened significantly, i.e. the PRs converted to PO within 2-6 weeks was increased from 65% for the period from July to September 2018 to 87% in July 2019, and over 90% in both August and September 2019, in which with more than 60% of the PRs converted to PO in 2 weeks’ time.
The modification of PR Handling Workflow was effective in shortening the procurement lead time without additional manpower, allowing more time for the team members to handle other complicated procurement activities.
