A faster, more economic purchasing system for the Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs

Streamlining processes in government purchasing
The Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs needed to create a simple, streamlined purchasing platform for all their employees and partners. Empowering people to have quicker access to assets means smoother work across the organization and less hassle in their procurement department.

The challenge of integrating multiple systems
In the old system, employees were used to checking each supplier’s database and manually cross-reference factors such as specification, price and delivery time. This led to a myriad of problems, since every supplier had its own interpretation of users' preferences. This means that crucial components like navigation and item specifications are located differently per supplier. Staff members had difficulty pinpointing the differences and the whole process took a long time, wasting precious time and resources.

Involving the user in the process provides much more input in regards to the cause of the problem, which speeds up the process of getting to the solution. Bert Bats, Ministry of Internal Affairs

A faster, more economic system

Using Design Thinking principles, which enable feedback from all stakeholders, Mirabeau set out to integrate a host of systems into a single platform. In only three weeks’ time, Mirabeau developed a Proof-of-Concept application that puts the user first, prioritizing the best combination of price and specification for each product above other factors such as supplier.

The result

We made a proof-of-concept for a new, universal purchasing system that used intuitive navigation to seek out the best supplier for each product. Bringing together the most crucial information at a glance was the main challenge. This is achieved by integrating different systems and using a consistent look and feel.

The new portal reduces the administrative burden for suppliers, to make it easier for their own employees to place orders and to be able to better manage, for example, sustainability and other aspects when contracts. Our proposition to focus on visual navigation based on smart filters made the employees feel understood and motivated, while saving them precious time.

30 minutes
saved on every purchase order
1
unified system for all orders
0
implementation processes for new suppliers

If you have questions regarding the purchasing system concept or about the possibilities of Human Centred Design and what it can do for your business, please contact Annemarie de Groot via Annemarie.deGroot@cognizant.com.

Cheryl van Scheppingen, Marketing Retail Innovation Day
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