Vanessa Cowan

Group Procurement Makes Old Mutual’s Money Talk Look around you as you sit at your desk. Everything from desks, chairs and computers, to temporary staff, professional services and your travel arrangements have been sourced from one vendor or another. The Group Procurement Office makes it their business to ensure that the process of finding, procuring and paying for these goods and services benefits all parties involved. Clear rules that benefit everyone “The GPO team is directly responsible for setting the rules that determine who we buy goods from, and where our money ends up as a result of these transactions,” Heidi Kincaid, Head of the GPO explains. “We make sure that Old Mutual’s money is spent with the right suppliers, at the right cost. This involves a thorough process of evaluating vendors to ensure that they meet our various business requirements and standards, and includes factoring in various new legislative amendments we must follow in support of transformation.” The team also ensures that every company that we deal with has a proper contract in place – guaranteeing transparent and open dealings at all levels and better overall management of our vendors. Standardisation makes everything simpler The benefits of this approach are being driven and strengthened by the Source to Pay project that the team is currently involved in. An important focus of this project lies in creating a standard procurement contract management process. In line with this, Group Procurement is currently engaging with Old Mutual’s top 250 suppliers across most commodity classes - to put formal arrangements in place that will cement them as preferred service providers. Heidi says that the benefit of this engagement is that Old Mutual will be able to use its purchasing power to negotiate greater discounts and improved contractual terms, resulting in significant savings. By including the right spread of local, small to medium, black owned and black women owned vendors, we are also able to direct greater spend towards the development of South Africa’s transformation agenda. At the same time we are reducing the large number of once-off or low value-add vendors Old Mutual currently uses; curbing high costs and facilitating more effective management of our vendor database. Success depends on you Together, these initiatives and practices will give Old Mutual better control over spending, and an improved ability to negotiate cost-effective deals on behalf of business units. But in order for this model to work, purchases* must be made using the services and information that the GPO has on offer. “Business Units can easily access the right vendors by referring to the GPO Preferred Vendor List. This contains details of companies that we have negotiated preferential rates with, and that have proven track records of good delivery. By making use of the products and services of the many smaller or black owned vendors on the list, we are actively contributing to the development of the South African business community.” Helping Old Mutual to help South Africa Some of the achievements that good purchasing behaviours contribute towards include Old Mutual’s prestigious Level 2 B-BBEE status, as well as our preferential procurement score of 19,74 out of 20 – both industry leading scores for companies our size. Both these ratings are the direct result of processes and principles implemented by the GPO team, allowing businesses and vendors to do the right thing without having to do the grudge work. The Source to Pay project will also foster better vendor relationships, as standardised channels for invoice receipt and improved payment practices will ensure that vendors get paid on time - in line with standard payment terms. Buying better is easy with the GPO Most importantly, because Group Procurement has already done the groundwork, and has the right relationships in place, it will be easier for you and me to find the goods and services we’re looking for. Two things that you can start doing right now include: consulting the Preferred Vendor List (http://groupnet.intranet/procurement_who_to_buy_from.html) before you make your next purchase, and ensuring that any supplier that you interact with has signed a Master Service Agreement that protects their interests as well as yours. If you’re unsure about anything relating to your next purchase, contact the GPO team for assistance. They are happy to advise you, and will also gladly assist you with any tender or supplier sourcing process - or carry them out on your behalf. A number of best practice templates and processes have been recently developed, to guide you in this respect, and can be obtained by contacting the Group Procurement Office at- We look forward to helping you buy better! * IT related purchases are procured independently through OMEM IT, however the GPO can assist in directing any such queries to the right resources.