"Scotland Excel works with over 400 suppliers from a wide range of business sectors, and more than half of these are SME companies."
Hugh Carr,
Head of Strategic Procurement,
Scotland Excel
Supplier guide
The award of a contract marks the beginning of a partnership between Scotland Excel and the supplier which will develop over time.
Contract implementation
Following the award of the contract, successful suppliers are contacted by Scotland Excel to discuss requirements for implementing the contract. This involves setting review dates and ensuring that suppliers understand the information that they need to supply to help us promote and manage the contract.
Catalogues
As the majority of local authorities use electronic procurement systems for ordering products and services, Scotland Excel creates electronic catalogues (known as eCats) for most of their contracts. These are files with information and prices for each of the items that are available on the contract which are loaded into electronic procurement systems to enable ordering over the internet.
Shortly after contract award, suppliers will be contacted by a member of Scotland Excel's eCat team with a request for information and images to enable an eCat to be produced. It is essential that suppliers respond quickly to these requests otherwise their products and services will not be available on electronic procurement systems for ordering.
The information received from suppliers will also be used for Scotland Excel's online catalogue which covers all our contracts, products and services. This catalogue helps customers find and evaluate product options by providing enhanced product information and images.
Events
When a new contract is implemented, we will often invite suppliers to take part in events where our members can learn more about their products and services. These events are particularly useful where a local authority is planning to change their supplier as a result of adopting the new collaborative contract.
Management information
Scotland Excel requires regular information from suppliers so that we can monitor spend and savings on behalf of our members. This information is also used to analyse the products and services that customers are purchasing most frequently.
This analysis is beneficial for suppliers as it enables us to refine the product range available on our contracts and ensure that it continues to be aligned to customer needs. As a result, suppliers are able to focus on the products and services that are most popular, which can assist with stock control.
Contract management
Ongoing supplier management is a key part of the contract process. Contracts are closely monitored throughout the period of award to check that price, product quality and supplier performance are yielding best value for our members.
Scotland Excel run regular category forums at which local authority staff provide feedback on how well all contracts within a particular category are meeting their needs. Occasionally, suppliers will be invited to these meetings to discuss ideas for optimising the perfomance of contracts.