Noosa Council moves to strategic procurement

Noosa Council was established in early 2014, following its de-amalgamation from Sunshine Coast Regional Council. To support the procurement requirements of the new body, Noosa retained access to many of the existing contracts that had been established by Sunshine Coast Regional Council, in a collaborative arrangement enabled by Unimarket.

Soon after, Executives at Noosa Council felt the organisation would benefit from an upgrade to its procurement systems and decided to fully implement Unimarket to reduce the time spent managing RFQs and to improve probity and governance.

Requirements

Ease of use was a high priority for Noosa, particularly given the demands on staff in setting up a new Council. Phill Parkman, Noosa Council Procurement and Fleet Manager, believes that the simplicity of the system, combined with enthusiastic buy in from leadership, contributed to the high adoption and early results. 

“It was important for us to select a tool that was easy to use, provided good reporting, and could be rolled out quickly in a new organisation. Having the leadership team on board right from the beginning resulted in people embracing it with open arms.”

Results

The team saw an immediate reduction in time spent on RFQs and soon found they had the bandwidth to focus their resources on higher purpose activities.

“Unimarket has ensured that procurement isn’t seen as an impediment; rather it is an enabler that enhances value for money and makes it easier for staff. We are now better able to provide advice to inform strategy and contracts.”

Looking ahead, Phill says Unimarket will become more valuable as the Council matures.

“With real transparency and the ability to monitor and report as volume increases, we will be able to use our data to identify trends and inform better decisions.”

Phill Parkman, Procurement and Fleet Manager Noosa Council