Post Office signs Computacenter for sole supplier agreement

The Post Office has signed a single source supply contract with Computacenter for all IT hardware and shrink-wrapped software from PDA to server level. The sole supply contract, which will run for one year with a renewal option for a further one or two years, is expected to be worth in excess of £ 40m p.a. The award follows a mid term review and performance evaluation of existing sourcing arrangements carried out by The Post Office during the latter part of 2000.

"It's a very important strategic contract, because it underpins the ability of Post Office Business Systems to deliver its services to the user communities in our 19 business divisions," comments Jim Reed, Director of IT Procurement for the Post Office.

In January 2001 The Post Office announced a change of its corporate name to Consignia Plc. to better reflect the widening scope of its services from physical delivery to electronic, from the distribution of goods to the transfer of information and from national provider to global competitor. "We needed to take steps to ensure we had the best possible supply chain in place for our customers and their changing needs. It became apparent that we needed to streamline our procurement operations to optimise efficiency and increase our competitive advantage"confirms Jim.

Since 1998 The Post Office has operated a dual supply framework. Under this arrangement, prices were agreed with two vendors, and the volume of business placed through the two was related to the quality of their supply and logistics services.
"We compared our existing suppliers by measuring how they performed in terms of meeting delivery dates and schedules, the accuracy and timeliness of their deliveries, and the quality of service they were giving to our business divisions," Jim explains. Both suppliers were then invited to evaluate what they foresaw as the Post Office's needs in the immediate and medium term future, and demonstrate how they would deliver those to us. Computacenter emerged as a clear winner."

In order to fulfill the procurement for such contracts, Computacenter is implementing 'Directa', it's e-procurement and tracking system. This allows users of the system to select and place an order electronically. The order is then passed through to the relevant authoriser, who can approve on-line. The requester can then use the system to track the progress of the goods from order point to delivery. It is envisaged that 'Directa' will be used by the Post Office as a service management tool component, integrating with the Business Systems team to automatically request a service along with the physical product. This will provide a seamless service with a minimum time to desk.

Although the agreement covers all desktop, server, laptop and shrink-wrapped software, which must comply with The Post Office IS/IT Architecture standards, there is no fixed manufacturer or product specification. Post Office businesses's specify the type of equipment they need, and it will be the responsibility of Post Office Business Systems responsibility to work with Computacenter to identify the best value supplier that fits the specification. Computacenter will be responsible for managing mini-competitions between manufacturer and managing the supply chain from the successful vendor.

Jim Reed is keen to point out that the agreement is fully compliesant with EU Public Procurement rules. "Agreements such as this maintain competition to supply products to The Post Office whilst giving us a fast and flexible way of placing orders."

Chris Webb, Chief Operating Officer of Computacenter, said " This new agreement is very exciting for Computacenter as we are now in a position to develop innovative ways of delivering the best supply chain to support the Post Office's business. Last year we were delighted to receive a Silver First Class supplier award from the Post Office in recognition of our understanding of their drivers in terms of innovation and quality of service. Alongside this award, Computacenter won a European Supply Chain Excellence Award last year and I see The Post Office's new positioning and market diversification as an opportunity to rise to a new set of challenges to help the Post Office develop a platform for their competitive success."