CIPS L4M2 Chapter 3 (3.1)

Question 1

What is a procurement specification?

Answer 1

A document that presents prospective suppliers with a clear, accurate and full description of the orgainsation’s needs and enables them to propose a solution to meet those needs

Question 2

What is a statement of needs?

Answer 2

The definition of a business problem or opportunity together with the criteria that define it

Question 3

What is a specification and its purpose?

Answer 3

A specification is a statement of needs to be satisfied by the procurement of external resources.

Its purpose is to present prospective suppliers with a clear, accurate and full description of the orgainisation ‘s needs

Question 4

What is a technical specification?

Answer 4

A detailed technical description together with acceptance criteria that forms the basis of a product design

Question 5

Define tolerances in relation to specifications

Answer 5

The permissable limit of a variable used to define a product - e.g. its physical dimensions

Question 6

Why should technical specifications be standardized and why is it beneficial to procurement?

Answer 6

Technical specifications should be standardized so that suppliers can make a product or deliver a service to an approved standard.

Prouduced by standarfds of a national or international body i.e. (IOS - International Organisation for Standardization)

The result is that a buyer can select from a wide range of suppliers knowing that it will receive the same quality from each of them.

Question 7

What is a design specification?

Answer 7

A detailed document that sets out the the precise way that a product must be built or a service delivered and includes any drawings, standards that must be met and dimensions

Question 8

Why are drawings important?

Answer 8

A drawing is complementary to a specification. It conveys to a supplier what the designer has in mind. It is usually supplemented with details and standards for all of the materials and components to be used

Question 9

What are functional and non-functional requirements?

Answer 9

Functional requirements describe what a product or service should do

Non-functional requirements describe how a product or service should operate

Question 10

What are the disadvantages for organisations to develop their own specificiations?

Answer 10

The disadvantage is that it often transfers risk from the supplier to the buyer as the organization is specifying factors such as tolerances

The reason an organisation may develop thier own specification is there may be too few suppliers of the standard product or the cost is too high.

Question 11

What is a performance specification?

Answer 11

A description of the outputs or outcomes that are expected with the detailed design of the product or service left to supplier to decide

There are three (3) major types

• Outcome specificitions
• Output specifications
• Statement of work specifications

Question 12

Define outcome-specification

Answer 12

Type of performance specification that describes the specific functions or performance that a product must fulfil. They require specific capabilities from suppliers. They identify what needs to be achieved and the capabilities that are required to achieve that outcome

They focuses on the question: Who benefits from this and why?

Outcome flow from outputs which in turn are delivered by inputs using a process

Outcomes⇒Outputs⇒Inputs⇒Capability

Question 13

Define business requirements definition (BRD)

Answer 13

It is the starting point for writing a specification and it sets out what the product or service needs to achieve if all stakeholders are to be satisfied

RAQSCI model - •Regulatory •Assurance of supply •Quality •Service •Cost •Innovation requirement

Question 14

What is a useful tool for establishing requirements?

Answer 14

The star-burst method - Six point star with the BRD in middle e.g. (service) → each point is labelled with the words what, why, how, who, where and when → questions are asked based on the six words→ when all the questions have been created they can be answered, and the answers then form the basis of the BRD (business requirement definition)

Question 15

What are the three (3) major difficulties with outcomes?

Answer 15

• How to measure them
• Time lag between the cause and effect - government service to improve the mental health of the elderly will take months to see impact
• More than one output can affect an outcome (sub-outcomes) - installation of a heating system provides heat and make staff comfortable →sub-outcome staff must operate the system properly if not the ovmerall outcome is not met

Outcomes should be at the heart of any good specification

Question 16

What are the key factors of outcome specifications?

Answer 16

• Outcomes are delivered by outputs which are the result of one or more processes that use inputs
• Outcome specifications provide suppliers with the greatest scope for using their skills and experience to produce products and deliver services that fully meet the end users’ needs and for reducing or eliminating any unnecessary costs
• Outcomes can be difficult to measure, so output specifications are often used instead in the belief that these outputs will deliver the outcome needed

Question 17

Define an output specification

Answer 17

An output specification defines specific deliverables that can be measured in terms of time to deliver, their quality and their cost

Question 18

What are the three (3) main types of specifications?

When might they be used?

Answer 18

•The three (3) main types are:

• Technical specifications
• Design specifications
• Performance specifications

Technical specifications and drawings can be used - •for a manufactured part •consturction of buildings

Design/conformance specifications can be used - •for information technology (specific software)

Performance specifications can be used - •for services e.g. call center and cleaning services

Question 19

Differences between technical, outcome- and an output-based specification

Answer 19

Example: Construction of a bridge.

• The technical specification - describes the materials to be used, the quality standards it must comply with, the volume of each material to use and the methods of preparing and using the materials using a detailed bill of materials
• The output specification - describes the need e.g. a 3m wide bridge with a hard surface that carries a warranty for both the workmanship and the materials used
• The outcome-based specification - provides an explanation as to why the bridge is needed e.g. to provide a convenient way for pedestrians to get from point A to point B that can cater for up to 1000 people using the bridge at the same time during specified peak times of the working day

Question 20

What is a statement of work (SOW)

Answer 20

A statement of work (SOW) - detailed description of the specific tasks or services a contractor must perform under the terms of a contract

It is commonly used in projects and services and supports both output and outcome specifications

Question 21

List the three (3) main types of statement of works (SoW)

Answer 21

• Design SoW - entails instructions as to how the work should be done, the quality levels required and the specifications of any materials used
• Level of effort and materials/unit rate SoW - specifies the main unit of delivery as an hour of work together with the materials needed to perform that activity and the number of hours of the activity needed
• Performance-based SoW - provides the purpose of the project or service but does not specifiy how the work will be done or what materials are to be used

Question 22

What is the definition of Standards?

Answer 22

Standards are the measures that show that the specifications (what is expected) of a product or service have been met e.g. •the level of performance •the quality of materials •safety levels

International Organization for Standardization (ISO) - an independent, non-governmental international organization witha membership of 162 national standards bodies

American National Standards Institute (ANSI)

Question 23

How can the internet be used to develop specifications?

Answer 23

The internet can be a very powerful tool for finding information to develop and find specifications

Information gathered from the internet should checked and tested - SAMOA → Source (of the information), Audience, Methodology (used to collect and analyse the data), Objectivity (not bias), Accuracy

Question 24

What is Early Supplier Involvemen (ESI) and what are the main benefits?

Answer 24

Early supplier involvement (ESI) is the involvement of a supplier in the product development process from a very early stage in order to use the supplier’s experience and expertise

The main benefits of Early Supplier Involvement are:•Cost reductions •Process improvements •Supply chain improvements •Reduced supply risk

Early supplier intervention (ESI) can improve quality and reduce costs using an improved product design, which makes it easier for suppliers to produce efficiently. It can also help to reduce the time taken to bring a product to market and also is a good way of building trust and long-term relationships between organisations

The key steps for ESI are: •Establish customer need •Identify a project •Develop target costs •Prepare project plans •Collaborate with operations •Produce list of potential suppliers •Engage in supplier workshops •Conduct value engineering studies