Stage Four: Contract management

“When discarded equipment is handled carefully, it increases re-use potential.”
Ton Huisman. Director, DRZ

 

Aim By the end of this stage you will have: Established the monitoring and reporting criteria required to assess the successful delivery of the circular procurement contract. Continually assessed the delivery of the contract to ensure it meets the required quality standards.

Whether a pilot or a full scale procurement project, public procurement contracts vary hugely in scope, volume, length of contract and nature of goods and services provided.

It is important to ensure that the forecasted benefits, costs and risks are in line with the contract. Setting key performance indicators as part of the contract management process is, therefore, critical.

How to guide

Step One

Identify monitoring and reporting criteria
Identify the monitoring and reporting criteria required to successfully review the delivery of your circular procurement contract against the specification document. Ensure the required monitoring and reporting criteria, and key performance indicators are embedded within the contract to evaluate the performance of the:

• circular procurement business model;
• goods and services supplied; and
• supplier.

Step Two

Flexibility is key
Be prepared to be flexible when implementing a new approach. Mitigate risks by starting on low risk projects if necessary. Active asset management is a useful approach as, over time, business requirements change. This is important when considering resource efficient business models based on take-back, lifetime optimisation and managed disposal.

Monitor whether the agreement is still required and fit for purpose, what can be learnt from the process and how this can be incorporated to improve the process next time.

Consider surveying stakeholders who are using the product and/or service, as well as those that did not, to further develop the opportunity. Be flexible where possible.

Step Three

Forward planning – your next procurement project
Start to think about requirements for your next procurement. Can the approach taken be replicated across other similar projects, as in the REBus 50 Locks reconstruction project, or can it be scaled up or applied more broadly, as in the Rapid Circular Contracting example (from beverages to construction)?

 

Learning Embed KPIs in the contract to monitor the performance of the new approach as well the supplier and the performance of the products. Ensure you capture what works and what doesn’t to enable a full and transparent review.

Case Study examples

REBus circular procurement examples relevant to this stage include:

• Re-use and recycling of ICT appliances, Ministry of Finance, the Netherlands
• Pay-per-use for flooring, ProRail, the Netherlands

The case studies will be published on the REBus website as soon as they have been completed.