Care Kenya, a vital component of Care International’s global mission, operates across more than 100 countries, striving to alleviate poverty and promote social justice. With a centralized procurement system and a dedicated department, Care Kenya sought to streamline its procurement processes to better support its humanitarian efforts.
Challenges Faced:
- Centralized Procurement: Despite having a dedicated procurement department, Care Kenya grappled with inefficiencies in its centralized procurement system, leading to delays and complexities in sourcing essential goods and services.
- Cumbersome Inventory Management: The organization struggled with cumbersome inventory and asset management processes, lacking visibility on the status and receipt of goods, hindering operational efficiency.
- Enforcing Procurement Savings: Care Kenya found it challenging to enforce procurement savings initiatives, hampering efforts to maximize resources and drive cost-effectiveness.
- Budget Control: Ensuring departments adhered to their budgets proved difficult, with limited oversight and control over spending activities.
Solutions Implemented
To address these challenges, Care Kenya embraced Procure.ke, a comprehensive procurement solution tailored to their unique needs. The implementation included the following solutions:
- Streamlined Procure-to-Pay Process: Internal requisitions are raised by employees, which undergo hierarchical approval by department heads. The procurement department then verifies the availability of items in stores. If unavailable, a purchase order (PO) is raised externally, initiating the procurement process.
- Enhanced Visibility: Procure.ke provided greater visibility for the procurement department, enabling real-time tracking of requisitions, purchase orders, and inventory levels, fostering informed decision-making and resource optimization.
- Increased Procurement Savings: Through improved inventory management facilitated by Procure.ke, Care Kenya experienced increased procurement savings. The platform allowed for better monitoring of stock levels, preventing overstocking and minimizing wastage.
- Approvals On the Go: Procure.ke facilitated approvals on the go, empowering decision-makers to review and approve requisitions and purchase orders anytime, anywhere, enhancing responsiveness and agility in procurement operations.
- Elimination of Paperwork: By digitizing procurement processes, Procure.ke eliminated paperwork, reducing administrative burdens and enhancing operational efficiency.
- Simplified Audit Process: The streamlined documentation and tracking capabilities provided by Procure.ke simplified the audit process, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies.
Results Achieved:
- Straightforward and efficient procure-to-pay processes.
- Greater visibility and control for the procurement department.
- Increased procurement savings through optimized inventory management.
- Facilitated approvals on the go, enhancing agility.
- Elimination of paperwork, reducing administrative burdens.
- Simplified audit processes, ensuring compliance and accountability.
Conclusion
- By leveraging Procure.ke’s advanced features and tailored solutions, Care Kenya successfully transformed its procurement operations, overcoming challenges and achieving significant improvements in efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and transparency. The partnership between Care Kenya and Procure.ke exemplifies the power of innovative procurement solutions in supporting humanitarian organizations’ missions to create a world of hope, tolerance, and social justice.