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Lean Review of Commercial Procurement
Client: London Underground Ltd
Project Overview
As part of London Underground’s operational cost review, the Commercial Procurement function underwent a radical headcount reduction. This coincided with an expansion with in the department due to the recent merger with Metronet rail and it own commercial procurement team. The end result of the restructuring would see the department reducing from 300 to 180 staff. Consequently, a robust set of processes and supporting systems were required to support the new, reduced team structure.
CPC’s Role
CPC project managed the Process and Systems workstream to ensure the new organisational structure was supported by both fit for purpose processes and the introduction of a new procurement system (SAP). Using Lean principles, the CPC team were able to identify 25 major inefficiencies in the existing processes, all of which were addressed when designing the new processes in support of the organisational structure. The complex subject matter and aggressive timescales of this transformation project demanded daily interaction with the transformation Programme Management Office to ensure the project planning and dependencies were clearly understood and management accordingly.
Client Benefits
- ‘Fit for purpose’, Lean end to end processes to support the new organisational structure (40% reduction to the previous structure)
- Increased productivity of staff
- Automated processes will result in greater compliance against procurement regulations; reduced life cycle time and improved payment times for the organisation’s clients.
- Early, upfront stakeholder engagement Improved working relations between historic Metronet staff and London Underground
