If your agency is suffering from any or all of the above ills then it is probably time to review your purchasing by-law, the set of rules which governs the practice of your chosen profession and forms the basis of all of your procurement policies. This review should allow you to rethink many of these policies, so that you can make your procurement process more efficient. This is not excessive since business practices change as does technology - more frequently as the years go by. For example, during the past five years, it has become common practice to advertise tenders electronically on a regular basis and to use purchasing cards. Currently, Internet commerce is changing the way we do business and there is no doubt that this trend will continue.
Resistance is futile.
Therefore, we must adapt our procurement processes to these new technologies if we are to remain effective professional public purchasers. Your by-law is an excellent place to start. At the very minimum, your revised by-law should address the issues and contain the components below . A mission statement Definitions of various terms contained in the document Authorization of purchases at various dollar plateaus and rules that apply at each point. The disbursement of additional funds and purchase of additional goods and services.