Computacenter’s sourcing and procurement judged best in Europe at the European Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2003

	"Computacenter stood out head and shoulders above the other entrants for all-round performance in sourcing and e-procurement with no area of weakness"

Computacenter has scooped a prestigious European business award for its sourcing and procurement processes.

The IT infrastructure services company beat off stiff competition from around 250 organisations across the continent to win the accolade at this year’s European Supply Chain Excellence Awards. The awards are organised by supply chain and logistics magazine Logistics Europe in partnership with management consultants Cap Gemini Ernst & Young.

Shirley Cooper, Computacenter’s Procurement Director, commented: “Procurement and sourcing are core to every organisation’s supply chain, and without proper systems, management and measurement can have a massive impact on business operations and productivity. IT procurement is particularly challenging as it involves a large volume and range of suppliers and products, many of which can be critical to business continuity.”

The awards are subject to strict judging processes, and all finalists have to undergo an on-site assessment by an adjudicator. Computacenter landed the award after demonstrating its end-to-end approach to purchasing, and best practice in areas such as performance measurement, sourcing and supplier management.

The judging panel commented: “Computacenter stood out head and shoulders above the other entrants for all-round performance in sourcing and e-procurement with no area of weakness.”

Computacenter has deployed a range of systems to help optimise and automate its processes within the company and with external parties. This includes its e-procurement tool Computacenter Connect, which enables customers to buy IT services and equipment online, and the use of EDI (electronic data interchange) to share price and order information with key suppliers.

This is the second time this year that Computacenter’s procurement processes have been singled out for recognition. In June, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply awarded the company a Certification of Excellence after a rigorous programme of compliance testing.

“Sourcing and procurement is a mammoth task. In 2002, we supplied more than 12 million IT products to our customers, which can only be achieved successfully with excellent technology, processes and people,” added Cooper. “We have always championed best practice, and this award provides us with independent recognition. Being benchmarked against companies across Europe was the ultimate test, and we are delighted to have passed with flying colours.”

Computacenter was also shortlisted as one of the three finalists in the high-tech and electronics sector in the European Supply Chain Excellence Awards 2003, which were presented in London this week.