Mines are progressively needed to carry out programs showing good practice in local procurement, International standards - as well as local policy and regulation – provide requirements and guidelines, but what really works in the field? In this series, SRK Consulting’s Lisl Pullinger and Andrew van Zyl, together with Jeff Geipel from Mining Shared Value, explore five local procurement topics, highlighting good practice principles, providing case studies from mines and recommending practical initiatives mines can take to improve how they apply for local procurement programmes. This first article focuses on building capacity among suppliers.
As today’s procurement policies on mines aim to share more value with local providers, they require all collaborating stakeholders to create an enabling ecosystem if capacity is to be effectively built among existing and prospective suppliers.
Making a good procurement policy work is not easy, but success is more likely when all role-players are firmly embedded within a system that combines both the ‘top-down’ regulations and policy, and practical ‘bottom-up’ initiatives.
Local procurement only works when everyone is playing a role. Unless there is active and constructive involvement by mine management, government agencies, local government, financiers, business organisations and other relevant parties, achieving success is unlikely. Indeed, there is a range of types of expertise that applying good practice in procurement is likely to require. This could often include a role for bridge-builders and facilitators - experts with niche skills that help to address the gaps between what a mine wants to do and how best to do it.
External Contributor:
Jeff Geipel
