Regional Procurement - April 2014

By: Regional Procurement Coordinator, Amanda Hancock...

Wow – what a busy first month!

I am pleased to have had the opportunity to meet a number of our member Council representatives during the month, together with some of our suppliers.  I am now putting some faces to names and whilst I am conscious that there are still a number of people I have not yet met, I am sure there will be plenty of opportunity in the coming months.  Thank you to those of you who I have met for making me feel so welcome!

Scrap Metal Recycling

You may recall that the Regional Waste Management Group (RWMG) previously identified scrap metal recycling as an area where there may be a potential opportunity for a collective arrangement.  At the beginning of the month I delivered a presentation to the group, summarising the market research and analysis conducted by FNQROC so far.  This research included feedback from our member Councils together with the experience of other Local Governments and suppliers and it focused on the identification of barriers to an effective scrap metal management program together with potential opportunities.  The presentation was very well-received and it certainly stimulated much debate amongst the group, with everyone in agreement that further investigation was warranted.  A Project Steering Committee (PSC) has since been nominated by the group, with the first meeting taking place in early April.  The group will first look to complete the research analysis and thereafter begin to develop an appropriate strategy for the management of scrap metal in our region.

As part of our research, Steve and I were kindly welcomed to Mareeba Shire Council's Transfer Station by Rex Russell, Waste Supervisor, where we were able to see the scrap metal operation first hand.  Thank you to Rex for facilitating this visit which was very informative.

Rex Russell of Mareeba Shire Council (left) and Steven Cosatto of FNQROC inspect Mareeba's transfer station 

Bitumen Reseals/Asphalt Overlay

As is no doubt the case with other works programs, the Bitumen Reseal program is currently being affected by the adverse weather across the region.  A scheduled contract meeting took place on Friday 28 March where progress was discussed and the supplier provided assurances they will be back on track fairly promptly as soon as the dry weather returns.

Following the Bitumen Reseal contract review meeting there was a Reseal/Asphalt Steering Committee meeting wherein options for the second year of the Bitumen Reseal program were discussed together with the possible development of a collective Asphalt Overlay program.

In true newsletter fashion, whilst writing this piece I was looking for an interesting fact or fun anecdote relating to procurement that I could share – I have to admit that this was a little harder than I first imagined, but I did stumble across the following definition of ‘procurement’ on ‘Investopedia’ which I thought I’d share as it made me smile…

‘To attain possession of something, usually after exerting a substantial effort to do so.’  Source: www.investopedia.com/terms/p/procurement.asp

 Too true!