Insights and Advice for Enabling More Efficient and Sustainable Construction

Key Steps For Successful Procurement Management In Construction

July 28, 2022
6 mins read

Procurement can account for up to 75% of your project revenue. Optimize the process with a digital solution to boost your bottom line. Explore key steps for successful procurement management in construction:

Procurement management is one of the most important parts of any project. No matter how well you plan and manage your project, mistakes in procurement could have a huge financial impact. Procurement is closely linked to profits in construction. In addition, it plays a major role in the overall success of any project.

If you’re looking to improve your procurement management, then using the right digital tools is essential. We’ll take a closer look at what procurement management in construction is, and how you can optimize it to boost your success.

Procurement Management in Construction

First, what is procurement management? Quite simply, procurement is the process of acquiring something new. While procurement is a pretty straightforward idea, it can get complicated. It involves obtaining all of the necessary materials, tools, and services you need for your project.

There are many different considerations when securing these goods. For example, construction procurement managers need to think about:

  • the quality of the goods
  • their project timeline
  • costs
  • client requirements, and
  • any risk and administration involved with these goods

Successful procurement management in construction is all about maintaining the highest level of value for the project and the client. There need to be specific procedures for each service and product that you need to obtain. As such managing the process is not as easy as simply going to the store and filling up your cart with everything you need.

Each requirement for the project could come with its own unique challenges. In addition, managers will likely deal with multiple vendors at a time. This can be confusing and difficult to manage without the right tools. Optimize the process with a digital solution to boost your bottom line  

Steps Involved in Procurement Management

Procurement management in construction can involve various steps in order to secure the goods or services needed for the project. Here are the basic steps:

  • Estimating: First, do prepare an initial estimate of your project to ensure that you have identified all the resources and services you need.
  • Planning:  Next set up an official plan for procurement. This should be part of your entire construction management plan.
  • Bids and evaluations: Next, you accept requests for proposals and evaluate the bids.
  • Awarding procurement contracts: Once you have analysed all bids, you award contracts to the different contractors and suppliers. Then, the contracts are agreed upon and the plan for procurement with each supplier is outlined. This forms an important part of the overall construction management plan.
  • Procurement monitoring: Now that the contract is in place and the suppliers have a clear plan, procurement managers need to monitor and manage this process throughout the construction project. This can involve checking the quality of each procurement, monitoring the timeline, and making sure that everything is up to date with compliance.
  • Closing the contract: At the end of the construction project, you close the contract.

Each construction project is unique. As such, the procurement management plan can differ between projects.

Some basic elements involved in these plans include things like the metrics used to measure contractors’ performance, the standard documents used, the assumptions and constraints of the project plan, and how the schedule of the project will be coordinated.

Using Technology to Optimize Procurement Management

Clearly, procurement management in construction can be a complicated process. To best optimize the process to achieve success, you need to use a fit-for-purpose digital solution.

The right construction software will allow you to easily bring together and understand all of your project’s data. This allows you to review and analyze the project and come up with data-driven answers in real-time.

For procurement management, this makes monitoring suppliers and contractors far easier. You get a detailed overview of the materials and services you have available, which leads to better project management and control.

That said, even a minor error in the procurement management process can end up with a significant impact on your business. This is why you need to make shrewder decisions, backed by data, to control the project smoothly.

Conclusion

Regardless of the scale of your construction project, procurement is one of the most vital processes when it comes to project’s success. Careful management is essential for an organized project and a good bottom line.

If you’re not using construction management software, then it’s time to start. Using the right tools is the most effective way to achieve this!