UK's NHS using Emptoris e-sourcing software in bid to better manage contracts, make better procurement decisions
Burlington, MA — November 12, 2003 — The United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) has selected a solution from Emptoris to automate a contracted amount of e-auctions as part of an e-sourcing project aimed at more efficiently managing purchasing contracts and making better procurement decisions, the solution provider has announced.
During the project, NHS will be able to evaluate the operation of e-auctions in practice throughout the organization. In addition to managing and evaluating their own e-auctions for national contracts, the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA) will provide support to NHS health trusts and purchasing confederations to help develop their own strategic sourcing systems.
"Following our successful e-auction for tea in December 2002, the objective of this project is to widely test the use of e-auctions in the NHS in order to learn how e-auctions can be used to deliver maximum benefit," said Eric Jackson, NHS PASA e-commerce director.
The Purchasing and Supply Agency is an executive agency of the Department of Health. It works with around 400 NHS trusts and health authorities in England and manages 3,000 national purchasing contracts, influencing nearly half of the $18 billion spent in the NHS on purchasing goods and services. The agency also has played a leading part in the promotion of e-commerce within the NHS.
Joe Jouhal, Emptoris' vice president and general manager for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, said that using the Emptoris Sourcing Portfolio, NHS will be able to automate its e-auction and electronic request for quote and request for proposal (e-RFx) processes and thereby reduce the cost of goods and services procured by PASA.
Emptoris was also selected as one of three vendors for an e-tendering project for the NHS.
