Procurement

What is Procurement?

• Definition: The process of releasing material for order, managing lead times, tracking order status, projecting estimated arrival dates, and making sure material and products arrive at the jobsite at the time they are needed.
• Procurement is the next stage of project progression after the submittal process. Once submittals have been reviewed and approved, the now-approved products must be ordered and tracked for onsite delivery and use in the project.

Why is the Procurement Process Important?

• Correct procurement on a project ultimately determines the overall success of a project. If material and products are not delivered in time, in conjunction with the schedule, the result is project delay and large additional cost.

Who is Responsible to Manage Procurement?

• The engineer is responsible for managing the procurement process. 
• The engineer should be taking approved submittals and notifying the subcontractors to release the approved product(s).
• The engineer must be in continuous communication with the subcontractors regarding status, lead times, and project delivery dates.
• All information must be relayed to the project team so that schedules can be adjusted and trades can be scheduled as required.

Communication

• Calls, emails, follow-up conversations and check-ins should happen on a weekly, or bi-weekly basis at max. 
• The engineer must be aware of the status of all material orders and be aware when products are expected to be on site.

Team Meetings

• Internal Team Meetings must be taking place. During these meetings, the status of the procurement process should discussed and reviewed.

The submittal and the procurement processes go hand-in-hand and each carry some of the highest risk that a project will face.

For example, assume a trade is scheduled to be on site on a specific date.  However, the necessary material for that trade was not ordered, and is not available on site for a subcontractor to begin their work.  The subcontractor will likely shift their manpower to another site that is ready to start work, and your project will now be placed on manpower hold, resulting in schedule delays.

In a volatile market, material availability and cost are very fluid, making the already complicated procurement process all the more difficult. Therefore, once submittals are approved, subcontractors should be notified immediately and product(s) ordered, so both price and schedule can be locked in.

For critical items, if an order is not released in time, and price inflation occurs, there is a chance that Brinkmann becomes liable to cover the additional charges.

• Be organized.  Your submittal log and procurement logs should be identical. 
• Pick one day every week (or more as needed) designated to review your procurement log. Go line-by-line identifying which material and products are needed in the next 4-6 weeks.  Correspond with the appropriate contractor to ensure the items are on track for delivery.

• Check on the more critical items of the procurement list (steel, MAU's, etc..) on a constant basis.
• Stay on top of the process.