Observatory
Case Study: Baltimore County Public Schools, MD
Baltimore County Public Schools used our services to
identify potential procurement savings through better spend and
contract visibility. We talked to Rick Gay, Purchasing Manager
about his experience to date.
“Spikes Cavell are out there in front leading the way and
setting the pace. They don’t follow, they lead, and that’s where I
like to be.”
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Tell me a little bit about your agency?
I work for Baltimore County Public Schools; our county
actually surrounds the city of Baltimore. We’re the 27th largest
school system in the country and have 106,000 students, 178 schools
and 17,000 employees. Our annual budget is $1.4bn of which
approximately $300m is in discretionary spend and is administered
by my procurement team.
Can you describe your procurement function and where
and how it fits into the organization?
We have a staff of 17 that includes myself, five purchasing
agents who manage solicitations, five clerical people that handle
purchase order processing, a contract specialist, an MBE liaison
and a data analyst. We also have a dedicated receptionist and
administrative staff supporting the procurement team. We handle
about 9,000 purchase orders a year, the majority of which are
managed online using an eProcurement platform comprised of 55
vendor catalogues and more than 600,000 line items. We also have a
very successful procurement card program with more than 7,500 cards
deployed.
Would you describe the procurement function's role as
mainly tactical or mainly strategic?
These days we’re able to operate more strategically than we
have in the past due, in large part, to the implementation of new
systems and new processes. We now spend a lot less time, money and
effort pushing paper which gives us scope to think about how we
might continue to improve the way we do things.
What do you see as the top three challenges for
procurement Baltimopre County Public Schools over the next 12
months?
As you know we have been going through some really difficult
economic times. This year we’ve had to find $50m in savings and
next year it looks like we’ll have to save a further $22m. My
first, second and third priorities are trying to make sure that my
end users are able to stretch their short budget dollars as far as
they can in support of our educational mission.
You've been working with Spikes Cavell to deliver
improved spend visibility. What were you hoping to achieve when you
undertook the data transformation and spend analysis
project?
Well, I had been working on my own databases and my own
reporting structures for a number of years and was never able to
fully commit the resources to do the job properly. When I saw the
Spikes Cavell presentation, my initial thoughts were, “At last.
This is exactly what I’ve been struggling to do on my own for a
number of years and now here’s somebody who’s already done it, has
proven that it works and can deliver it without a whole lot of
effort and expenditure on my part.” And that’s exactly how it has
panned out. For the first time we now have the right intelligence
at our fingertips that truly helps us get a handle on where our
money is going and who it’s going to. This has allowed us
to really take a step back and ask ourselves whether we’re doing
the right things in the right way.
What has better spend visibility enabled you to achieve
to date?
We’re still analyzing the data and identifying savings
opportunities but one of the early wins came from an unexpected
quarter. The deputy superintendent asked, through a board member,
for an accurate assessment of how much Baltimore County Public
Schools spends on goods and services in Baltimore County and
in the State of Maryland. We were able to go to the Spikes Cavell
Observatory and have the answer ready in minutes when previously
this was the sort of request that would have taken weeks. We were
able to leverage the good news with our constituents, and
that’s a good profile for procurement.
What are you anticipating better spend visibility will
help you achieve in the future?
Well one of the things we’ve been able to do is participate
in a pilot program whereby BCPS and four other school systems of
various sizes are comparing and contrasting their spend data
through the Spikes Cavell Observatory. We’re now at the point
where we can start to analyze spending in common and leverage this
for everyone’s benefit. The numbers are big. We’re
talking $6M, $8M, $10M in some categories and that makes you a big
player under any circumstance. For example right now in a lot of
contracts if you’re getting say, 20-25% off list, that’s pretty
good. Now by cooperating with our peers and colleagues we’re
talking 30-35% and when you’re spending $8M, an additional $800k
incremental savings is very meaningful. It also means a massive ROI
on what we’re investing annually in the spend and contract
visibility.
Do you think you could have undertaken the data
transformation and spend analysis project without external
help?
Definitely not. And that’s as much to do with not having the
time, money or resources as it is the extra benefits of working
with an innovative organization like Spikes Cavell. By way of
example, a bill was passed in the legislature this year that
mandated that Baltimore County Public Schools would support
transparency by posting all of their transactions above $25,000 on
the web. So our people started to look at designing it and
everything that would go into delivering transparency. I then
recalled that I’d had a conversation with Spikes Cavell about an
add-on service for the Observatory called spotlightonspend that was
designed to deliver the transparency required of us. So we took a
look and it became obvious to us that it was already built and
there was really no need for us to go through the expense, time and
effort of designing our own site. I think once we deploy the system
that will pay dividends as it definitely helps position us as a
leader and good steward of the tax payers’ dollars. And we’re able
to achieve this positive end as a direct result of our relationship
with Spikes Cavell.
How did you find working with Spikes
Cavell?
It’s really a lot of fun to work with an organization that’s
innovative, that’s on the cutting edge and always thinks of
something new to do that makes my job easier and more productive. I
truly feel that we’re on the same wavelength and as a result it’s a
lot easier to get things done.
You have one word to describe Spikes Cavell to a
colleague or peer. What would that one word be?
Cutting edge. They’re out there in front leading the way and
setting the pace. They don’t follow, they lead, and that’s where I
like to be.
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Download your copy of the Case Study |
About Baltimore County Public Schools, MD
From the Chesapeake Bay to the Maryland–Pennsylvania Line,
Baltimore County wraps around but does not include Baltimore City.
With more than 800,000 residents, Baltimore County is diverse with
residents living in suburban, rural, and urban neighborhoods,
reflecting the nation's blend of cultures and backgrounds.
Baltimore County Public Schools is the 26th largest school
system in the US and the 3rd largest in Maryland. It’s $1.5 billion
budget supports the education of more than 105,000 students at 174
schools, programs, and centers in the County.
http://www.bcps.org
Published: 8/9/2012
TAGS: spend visibility, observatory, baltimore county, schools, procurement, case study