Have you heard about the National Change Agent programme? It was initiated ten years ago in 2005 by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister in response to the Gershon Efficiency Review and focus on the improving the delivery of social housing. The outcome of report led to the formation of the Supply Chain Management Group (SCMG) which subsequently became one of the first trial projects testing the proposals stated in the Government Construction Strategy.
You can read the case study at your leisure, but before you do I want you to think about the following points:
- Do you want to engage your supply chain to work with you to deliver for value for you and your customers?
- Do you want to develop a culture of collaborative working that enables innovation to flourish and for quality to improve?
- Do you want to improve customer satisfaction whilst at the same time reducing costs and doing more for less?
If you do, then the case study will tell you the SCMG trial project has delivered this and more; it has won awards for the Building Lives Training Academy, established in response to the need for more local labour to be engaged on the projects.
However, what do you have to do achieve similar outcomes for you?
The approach adopted by the SCMG is called Two-stage Open-Book; the link provides further guidance and the project has used the PPC 2000 form of contract.
However, we know it’s not as simple as following the guidance provided and change was not been easy for those involved in the SCMG. It has taken, amongst other things, effective client leadership and embracing the principles of integrated team working to establish the foundations of a different way of working. Moreover, the role of the main contractor has evolved; most significantly enabling clients to gain greater transparency over how their money is spent. This in turn engaged the supply chain, improving quality and customer satisfaction. The feedback from the supply chain speaks volumes for the way the programme operates and delivers; quotes are in the case study.
John Prescott as Deputy Prime Minister realised that improvement in social housing delivery had to change and instigated the National Change Agent Programme. The result is the development of a proven approach to delivering a programme of work. We know what does not work and we now have options for what does. And therefore I would encourage you to seriously consider how this programme of work has improved the way the local authorities involved in the SCMG operate and the benefits it has realised. You too, could be achieving the same.
This blog is the tenth in a series prepared by members of the Constructing Excellence Procurement Theme Group to provoke debate and seek to provide thought leadership on a crucial aspect which we see as a major barrier to improving the productivity of the sector. Comments are welcomed on the Constructing Excellence LinkedIn page or on Twitter using the hashtag #CEProcurement.
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