Procurement Integration Into Projects: Case Study On Sustainable Textiles For Fire Services

Procurement Integration Process

In this assignment you will integrate procurement tasks into a project. Consider the given case study on Sustainable textiles for the fire services and answer the following questions:    

1. Given a situation to solicit a bid proposal, evaluate technical, management, commercial and ethical requirements, and then prepare an RFP for IFSN.  
2. Given the receipt of a proposal or competitive proposals for a major contract, determine the key factors used when negotiating an agreement or evaluating competitive proposals and establish a negotiating strategy for IFSN.  
3. Analyse and select effective contract management techniques to control contract cost, schedule and performance factors; as well as manage contract changes, contract claims and contract close out for IFSN.  
4. Given a claim on a major contract, analyse the role of commercial terms and conditions, the uniform commercial code (UCC) and applicable government regulations on the outcome for IFSN.

The Instituut Fysieke Veiligheid (Institute for Safety, IFS) is the institute for disaster relief and public crisis management in the Netherlands. It contributes to a safer society by strengthening the 25 safety regions of the Netherlands through supporting policy, encouraging knowledge sharing, providing training, promoting leadership, managing projects  and acquiring and managing communal equipmen

Withr egards to purchasing, the IFS has a CSR policy and an action plan on sustainable procurement which contains goals on sustainability for several categories (e.g. corporate clothing). The IFS also supports the regions to set procurement policy and undertake procedures. It also provides legal advice and offers advice around undertaking market consultation and managing contracts.  

In 2015, the IFS began by carrying out a market study to see what possibilities the market had to offer, and allow it time to develop solutions to the IFS's asks.  

After this engagement period, the IFS decided to use a non-public procedure, where they selected companies which have experience of using recycled and organic fibres and have some ability to influence production. This approach also minimised costs for involved parties.  

A project structure was created to implement this purchase. Representatives from the fire service were included in a project group and steering committee, which was chaired by a Regional Fire Service Chief who also chairs the Fire Service Clothing Policy Committee. A 'sounding board group' was also created which consisted of members of the ABB (advisory group on fire service wear management), and the chair of the ABB was also an active  member of the project group.

Subject matter of the contract

Sustainable fire station clothing for 19 of the 25 Dutch fire service regions  

Selection criteria

When submitting tenders, bidders were asked to confirm that they, and any subcontractors they work with:

• do not tolerate any form of discrimination or personal threat; o accept the right to organsise;
• support the right to individual development; o do not tolerate any form of forced labour or slavery; o ensure a healthy working environment; and
• require everyone to comply with Convention number 138 of 26 June 1973 and Convention number 182 of 17 June 1999 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) concerning the minimum age and the prohibition of child labour. 

Description of how bidders will give substance to three subjects from ISO26000 (CSR) for this order. The bidders had to explain which principles of social responsibility they are dealing with in the decision making and implementation of the following specific core themes and topics on the production for and deliveries to the Client:

The subjects were:

• The environment o Preventing environmental pollution (harmful substances) o Sustainable use of resources (use of recycled fibres)
• Labour practices o Working conditions and social protection (international work needs one ILO o Health and safety at work
  • Human rights
  • Discrimination and vulnerable groups (women, girls and child labour) o Fundamental principles and labour rights (forced labour and child labour)

The clearer the principles of social responsibility in the decision making and implementation were described the more points were given.

• Percentage of recycled/organic content in items                

Selection Criteria

 The higher the percentage of recycled fibres were on the weight of the clothing and / or the higher the percentage of organically grown fibres, the more the more points were given.

1. Article about innovation

Once a year, for the first time in 2017, the Contractor must present an innovation proposal to the Client. This innovation proposal relates to CSR, the products and / or services provided by the Contractor and contributes to quality improvement and / or cost reduction.

1. The IFS decides whether the innovation proposal is accepted and introduced.

The resulting purchase, worth €4.5 million, supplied garments in which only organic (GOTS certified) cotton was used, and polyester components consisted entirely of recycled fibres, sourced from the cutting waste of production processes.  

It was agreed that any intellectual property or patents developed through this process would continue to be held by the supplier, thereby stimulating innovation, however, they will be made available to the IFS if necessary. This has been laid down in a legal instrument, signed in the presence of a civil law notary.  

Organic cotton has a range of sustainability benefits. For example, in 2014 a life cycle assessment of comparing organic cotton and conventional cotton found that, per 1000kg of cotton fibre, organic cotton had 46% less global warming impact, as well as the potential to reduce acidification by 70%, eutrophication (excess of nutrients in the water environment) by 26%, and reduce non-renewable primary energy demand by 62%. With the right management techniques, it is also possible to reduce blue water consumption 91% . In addition, it completely avoids the use of any synthetic pesticides, which benefits biodiversity  Polyester is derived from oil, and therefore its production is also accompanied with high emissions of greenhouse gasses (CO₂, methane and nitrous oxide) and high energy consumption. By substituting the inputs with recycled fibres, this environmental impact is reduced. In addition, textile waste is also reduced, as it is redirected back into the production process.  

In one year, more than 92,773 kg of fire station clothing is procured by the IFS. By applying sustainability requirements to the tender, the IFS was able to achieve savings of:

134 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent o 3213 GJ of energy derived from fossil fuels o 7.6 GJ of energy derived from renewable energy o 262 tonnes (100%) of toxic additives and synthetic pesticides

Every year the production will be around the 92.000 kg. The contract lasts 6 to 8 years, so the total savings are many times higher than is written above. 

The personal learning portfolio is an effective personal space that is used to deliver as a dynamic planning tool (Demirkesen & Ozorhon, 2017). The personal learning portfolio is designed by the learner, controlled by the learner and any framework of his or her own choice. This Personal Portfolio management elaborates reflection, collaboration and information of American Shogun, Planet Orbits and ConSoul Software (Banihashemi et al., 2017). This portfolio elaborated several aspects of three different projects. This portfolio elaborates the successful program management.

1. This project is partially successful. In the case of tangible benefits, budget management was an essential factor (Fernandes et al., 2015). But in this particular case, many companies were not able to manage the budget properly. Companies involved in this project were not able to manage the risk of the program. Risk management was most important for making a program successful. In this particular program the companies performed the teamwork successfully.
2. The financial goal of American Shogun was done well (Franz et al., 2016). The orders of the American Showgun for International Instruments were very large to meet the development and research expenditure associated with the program. International Instruments were successful enough in this particular program because this company is focused on the market share and customer relationship as main targets. It was quite clear that Shogun would support the achievement of strategic targets. International Instruments efficiently managed program management. The company provided flexible as well as standard frameworks to manage the project. The company provided managers associated with this program adequate training to make them efficient.
3. As per my knowledge, Shogun can provide a gain in market share (Harper,2014). The competitive goal can be achieved by implementing the project. Giving advice and support can teach all of the small tricks and tips that might be helpful at the time of initiation phase. Cross-discipline development was found to be important for achieving business goals. The projects on the Shogun program are all interrelated and dependent on each other.

Moreover, transparency is important. In my opinion, communication is the necessary for everything, but one always has a frame of mind of ‘bad news never travels up.’ Tools like the program strike zone and program dashboard can help greatly to have a purposeful measurement and information system in which everyone can trust.

4. As per my knowledge, American Shogun should be implemented properly (Hornstein, 2015). Engineers must have sound knowledge regarding this matter. Companies should generate certain categories of information that affect market participation and establish a relationship with technology. Companies should redouble their effort to expand access to the business.

1. The complexity of the Planet Orbit programme is huge (Langston, 2013). The company can determine all the parts of the program. Program components were very difficult to handle for the program manager. The company, named Technology Corporation, was elected as a technical partner. The company was responsible for designing the hardware for the program. This program was not typical at all because this program was shared by two different centers. The program management Office different types of administrative and managerial support to manage the Planet Orbit program (Miterev, Engwall & Jerbrant, 2016). Team members were elected by the main team of the Planet Orbit program. The team members of this program were selected based on experiences, dedication, enthusiasm and competency. External recruitment of the Planet Orbit has involved the staffs of different organisations namely Spacecraft Laboratory and Technology Corporation. The number of employees of the team varied from phase to phase. At the definition phase the total numbers of employees involved were twenty-five. Technology Corporation has eighty employees. The fourth-dimensional training was performed by external organisation (Morris, 2013).
2. The team of the project named Planet Orbit should look after the space light. It has bad impacts on the human body (Parker et al., 2013). It is responsible for generating the weightlessness involves muscle atrophy and the bad effect of the skeleton. The team should look after that this type of incident never happens.

The members of the Planet Orbit project should not egoistic while achieving success in their project (Morris, 2013). They should feel proud at the time of achieving success. But they should keep their cosmic glory into a limit. They should balance their cosmic glory because it can harm their professional career.

3. As per my knowledge, long term exposure causes a huge amount of the health problem to the team members of the Planer Orbit project. The most important is the loss of muscle and bone. This effect degrades the performances of the Planet Orbit team (Pitsis et al., 2014).This incident also increases the probability of injury and decrease in aerobic capacity. This incident slows down the cardiovascular system.
4. Soft skills are very important for this project. Highly-developed representation skills, ability to perform communication and proper awareness help the team members of Planet Orbit to make the project successful. Proper communication skills help the team members to communicate among them. This strategy helps to create a strong relationship among the team members of Planet Orbit (Shi et al., 2015). In this project, efficient communication skills help to increase the confidence among the employees. By implementing efficient leadership and teamwork, the projects are performed very smoothly. It provides the outcome that makes glad every person and even positively influences the personal life of any employee.

1. The schedule of the program was designed based on the estimated time from the quality assurance functions. High level time is estimated that is initially developed at the time of the kit planning process in the planning phase (Springer, 2013).Milestones were entirely related on main deliverables of the project and the checkpoints of the standard decision program and perform the monitoring by the PCT.
2. To achieve the business goals leaders from the console needs to be engaged in the strategic planning session along with top-level management. The success of the project ratios are increasing and in turn, provide a good chance of supporting the company good targets. The business strategy is transformed into a technology strategy where the sequence of technology is carefully paid good attention to the functional dependencies and technology dependencies (Too & Weaver, 2014). The second portion is constructing an outstanding portfolio and process management procedure. The first phase provides a strategic focus to ensure business alignment among more than one stakeholders and decreasing the risk of the business process.
3. In my opinion, the first option is suitable. The team is a broad idea regarding the project. As per my knowledge, it will respond to finish the project within the deadline. It will increase the popularity of the company among the clients. As per my knowledge, this target can be reached by the company very easily.
4. The competition had tremendous advantages (Tsaturyan & Müller, 2015). The products of the company were just packed with features. If anyone wants to use the product of this company, then adequate training is required. The company must finish their work within their stipulated deadline. They review all the options to meet the actual delivery date. It may have automation features. A company should perform the review operation to its program from top to bottom. If the project manager has any doubt then he or she can raise that matter to the top-level management.
5. Successful Program Management

There are various procedures that make the program management successful (Hornstein, 2015). These include:

• Construction of an office of program
• Elaboration of control procedures
• Calculation of Work breakdown structure

Example of successful program management is – merging of American Airlines with US Airways.

1. The technical requirements are Fire extinguisher, Fire alarms, fire blankets, sustainable fire station and many others (Banihashemi et al., 2017).

In the organization there should not be any products that are derived from polythene and cotton.

The ethical requirements- maintaining the CSR policy and maintaining the law of International labor organization.

Request for proposal

Project Description

Institute of Safety has many facilities. These can old and new. It must hav4 the fire safety and suppression systems (Carithers et al., 2015). Majority of facilities are the alarm systems. It is connected to the remote monitoring. This organization is seeking a licensed and qualified company to perform the annual inspection of fire extinguishers.  

Scope of professional services

An entire range of professional services are required (Carithers et al., 2015). The scope of services includes:

• Visit the institute to perform the testing of fire alarms.
• Visit all the facilities to inspect all fire extinguishers.
• Inspect all the fire extinguishers.
• Required five years maintenance and hydro testing fire extinguishers are required.

The qualifying company can submit a bid sheet for the fire extinguisher purchases and other works related safety.

• Provide an elaborated list of qualification and licensing that can be demonstrated the company.
• Statement of project and work place in narrative format by providing an outlined approach.
• Proposal must include the services provided for the fire safety systems and fire extinguishers.
• Description of the overview of the service
• Description of the experiences of the company for giving similar services.

Familiarization with the institute

Companies are invited to visit the institute to make themselves comfortable with the facilities and scope of the project (Carithers et al., 2015).

   Evaluation Criteria

                  The evaluation criteria will be based on qualification, experiences, background of the organization and estimated expenditure (Crawford, 2014).

 Proposal copies

Submission of the proposal in writing to the institute head of the Institute of Safety, Netherland (IFSN)

Selection Criteria

Deadline

Not later than 2^nd April 2020.

Acceptance and Rejections of RFP

               The institute will accept the RFP if it is outstanding and sophisticated. Otherwise institute has a proper right to reject RFPs (Crawford, 2014).

2. The key factors for negotiation are- Interest, Legitimacy, Commitments, Communication and Relationship (Fernandes et al., 2015).

The main points for the negotiation strategy of IFSN are:

• Ensuring proper resources in place tom protect the reason and result.
• Giving importance of the life, safety and welfare of all the members of that institute.
• Giving proper protection of the assets of the institute.
• Obeying the FRA to perform efficient monitoring, controlling and review of the measures.

3. In this particular case the selected contract management strategy is “Performing the background check”. By using this strategy the IFSN can check the background of the service providing organization. They can easily check whether they performed well in the previous projects, they provided the services at the affordable expenditures (Fernandes et al., 2015). They can also check whether that company completed the project within the stipulated time, By using this methodology they can verify whether the company claimed the contract in any unethical manner.
4. The commercial terms and conditions include:

• Price for purchasing

The price of purchase should be affordable so that IFSN can perform that purchase.

• Place for giving supply

As per the agreement the place of the supply must be in IFSN.

    By using the uniform commercial codes the IFSN can harmonize the law of sales and other commercial transactions for the fire safety management provided by the company (Morris, 2013).

   As per rule of Australian Government, the service providing company and IFSN that efficient   emergency plan is executed (Morris, 2013). The IFSN authority must ensure that there should be efficient response for the emergency situation. They also ensure that adequate training s provided to the employees.

Conclusion

In case study one the program management of the American Shogun is discussed. In this particular case study the overall success factor of the American Shogun is discussed. This case study elaborates the several aspects of well-performed program and also lesson learnt from the case study. In this particular case the proper recommendation is provided for the improvement of the project. In the Planet Orbit project it can be concluded that the project is executing well. In this particular project balancing of cosmic glory as well as earthly issues are very much important. Employees involved in this particular project should try their level best to maintain this part. There are several numbers of challenges in this particular project. These challenges are mostly related to the environment and biodiversity of the globe. In the conclusion it can be said that program management is an important factor to reach to the business goals.

References

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