Procurement

Summary

Procurement is the method of discovering and agreeing to terms and purchasing goods, services, or other works from an external source, often with the use of a tendering or competitive bidding process. The term may also refer to a contractual obligation to "procure", i.e. to "ensure" that something is done. When a government agency buys goods or services through this practice, it is referred to as government procurement or public procurement. Procurement as an organizational process is intended to ensure that the buyer receives goods, services, or works at the best possible price when aspects such as quality, quantity, time, and location are compared. Corporations and public bodies often define processes intended to promote fair and open competition for their business while minimizing risks such as exposure to fraud and collusion. Almost all purchasing decisions include factors such as delivery and handling, marginal benefit, and fluctuations in the prices of goods. Organisations whic

Official source

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procurement

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This paper presents a real-world application of stochastic programming in the Swiss hydro-based system. The seasonal hydrological conditions may cause insufficient market volume to an extent that security criteria (i.e., the criteria determining of reserve amount) may not be met. In this situations, the question arises to what extend the current pre-defined security criteria can be relaxed while respecting the current market properties. We provide a framework accounting for the trade-off between the expected procurement cost of reserves and security criteria. Additionally, this paper provides a risk-averse formulation of the current clearing model. The proposed approach is simulated using data of the Swiss reserve market to illustrate technical and economic aspects.

Ieee2016

Mastering flows: pre-requirement necessery to the integration of the procurement chain and moving towards the new economy

Francis-Luc Perret, Philippe Wieser

2001

Decision Framework to Balance Environmental, Technical, Logistical, and Economic Criteria When Designing Structures With Reused Components

Numa Joy Bertola, Jan Friedrich Georg Brütting, Corentin Jean Dominique Fivet, Célia Marine Küpfer

The reuse of structural components in new buildings has great potential to reduce the environmental impacts of the construction sector but remains uncommon practice. An obstacle to its wider implementation is the lack of robust assessment methods and decision-making tools that consider the full spectrum of benefits and drawbacks. This paper proposes a multi-criteria decision framework that builds on a simulated set of design alternatives with varying ratios of reused and new structural components. A set of performance criteria is presented, addressing procurement risks, construction technique complexity, environmental impacts, and project costs. As the independent criterion evaluations often deliver conflicting results, a multi-criteria decision analysis helps identify the most appropriate solution. The design of a steel Pratt truss is used as a case study to demonstrate the applicability of the framework. Different alternatives with reuse rates above 65% are recommended for each preference scenario, reducing between 35 and 45% of adverse environmental impacts in comparison to an equivalent design made of new elements only. The study underpins the principle that there is no trivial and unique best option when designing with reused components. Multi-criteria decision analyses applied to structures with varying reuse rates constitute a promising tool to support decision-makers.

2021