Title
a. Receive a report on Countywide contract development and process improvements; and
b. Adopt the written Standard Operations Procedures associated with the Contracts & Purchasing Academy (C&PA). (ADDED VIA ADDENDUM)
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
a. Receive a report on Countywide contract development and process improvements; and
b. Adopt the written Standard Operations Procedures associated with the Contracts & Purchasing Academy (C&PA).
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION:
On December 2012, the Board along with County Department Heads collaborated in a one-day workshop to develop Strategic Initiatives for the County of Monterey. During the workshop collaboration process, departments expressed the need to improve the internal processing and tracking methods currently in place with regards to the contract process within the County. A team was created with members from eight (8) departments including the County Administrative Office (CAO) to examine the existing processes. The team worked collaboratively in reviewing current practices within the various departments of the County.
The CAO's Budget and Analysis Division analyzed the work performed by the team and formulated the recommendations which were presented to the Board on December 3, 2013. The Board approved the development and implementation of a Contract Processing Workflow Tracking System (RQN). In addition, the Board approved the creation of a Contracts & Purchasing Academy (C&PA) in order to improve and create greater efficiency in the contract development and management process.
On February 25, 2014, the Board approved an Agreement with Darryl L. Sink & Associates, Inc. (DSA), for the development of a Monterey County Contracts & Purchasing Academy. The development of the academy focused on developing solutions to assist in resolving high-level organizational needs; such as increasing productivity and efficiency throughout the contract and purchasing lifecycle, increasing the consistency of contracts and related documents across the County's twenty-seven (27) departments, minimizing the development and approval processing time for contracts, and to increase the likelihood of more favorable pricing and terms in county-wide contracts. The development of the C&PA also identified the need to create and implement Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) to assist staff in the development of contracts in a more formal and consistent manner. The process also identified the need to develop new processes and procedures to assist County employees in developing the necessary skills and knowledge required for the development and accountability of the contract process. The milestones have been complete and the HR/Learning and Organizational Development Unit with Contracts Purchasing is ready to launch the C&PA first pilot session on August 4, 2014.
Attempting to build upon the County's Advantage ERP system, a Workflow Tracking System (RQN) has been developed and tested through multiple users in a test environment, with refinements made through such testing. The system is intended for document tracking purposes only. The County intends to utilize the current CGI software package which provides a simple system to generate tracking reports. Although an advantage of this system is that is it already purchased and is available for use, it does not provide an exact fit for the application and requires usage of software toggles such as "Approval" to move documents through the County departmental review process. The use of the term "Approval" presents some risk of possible misinterpretation of use and purpose of tracking system. To mitigate this risk of possible misinterpretation, proper training and documentation will provide notice to users that the software is purely for purposes of tracking and no approval authority is vested by its use.
Provisional approvals/reviews of documents by reviewing departments will continue to be effective only by actual "wet-ink" document signature of those reviewing and approving departments. Ultimate execution of contracts will require the final authorized signature, usually by the Purchasing Officer or under formal authority of the Board of Supervisors.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
This has been a countywide collaborative process, with major participation from certain key departments, including the County Counsel's Office, the Office of the Auditor-Controller and departments with heavy contracting responsibilities.
FINANCING:
The required funding for this project was previously approved by the Board at its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, February 25, 2014.
Prepared by: Debra Bayard, Contracts/Purchasing Supervisor, x4995
Approved by: Dewayne Woods, Assistant CAO, x5309
Attachments: Exhibit-A, Contract Processing Workflow Tracking System PowerPoint
presentation
Exhibit-B, Contracts & Purchasing Academy Standard Operating Procedures
Please note: Attachments are on file with the Clerk of the Board.