Rouages: “Projecting an economic and social context”
Laure Vailhé is head of the purchasing and procurement department. Together with Natacha Seling, one of the team's six public purchasers, they implement the University's purchasing policy within the General and Institutional Affairs Department. They tell us about their work this month in the Rouages series produced by UM.
We are filming this new episode of Rouages on the second floor of the biology institute in downtown Montpellier. In this row of rooms, which houses part of the purchasing and markets department, twelve agents are working to implement the purchasing policy voted on by the UM's board of directors.
Under the auspices of the General and Institutional Affairs Department, Laure Vailhé, head of the service, coordinates operations with a view to continuous improvement: "The Purchasing and Contracts Department was one of the first processes to receive ISO 9001 certification in 2013. Continuous improvement is truly in our department's DNA," explains this lawyer, whose 19-year career in the civil service has taken her to: the Maison des Examens in Paris; Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne University ; and finally the purchasing department of the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, and Research joining the University of Montpellier in 2018. "After these positions in central administration, I wanted to get back to operations... and Montpellier, where I'm from."
A purchasing budget of 80 million
In this new challenge, the stakes are nothing less than providing the equipment and services essential to the smooth running of the University and offering expertise and advice on purchasing strategies. "We have three types of purchasing, " explains Laure Vailhé: " Recurring purchases that cover the university's needs: maintenance, security, office supplies, IT equipment, etc.; one-off requests such as the purchase of scientific equipment or services; and property management, including building work and maintenance."
All this for a total purchasing budget of around €80 million each year. "And even though my department 'only' handles purchases over €40,000, thatstill represents quite a few contracts,"comments the manager with a smile. So in her department, the watchword is clear: planning! "We are subject to regulatory deadlines, which often involve lengthy purchasing procedures, and my role is to plan this activity taking into account the workload.This requires flawless organization! "
Complete a purchase
To meet the needs of the university community, Laure Vailhé has surrounded herself with six public purchasers, including Natacha Seling. After ten years as an executive assistant and medical information technician in a private clinic, a stint in the medical archives at Necker Hospital, and a position as head of administration at a nursing school, she left Paris in 2016 to join the University of Montpellier. She started at Polytech, then moved to the HR department's staff training service, and finally to the purchasing and procurement service after passing a competitive exam. "It's a job that requires a lot of curiosity and quick thinking. You have to take a step back to get an overview of each need and respond to it in the best possible way," she explains.
As a buyer, her main mission is to help people who have a need to make their purchase a reality. "I work closely with project leaders to establish consistent specifications with them." Price, warranties, possible maintenance services, contract duration... Everything must be carefully drafted in order to publish the announcement that will make the contract accessible to future candidates. "We have to be concise, extremely transparent, and sufficiently precise so that companies understand our needs and can make us a suitable financial and technical proposal. Above all, we mustn't forget anything, because anything that isn't written in a contract cannot be implemented!"
Adaptability
This role can extend to analyzing applications and bids if the purchasing and procurement department is identified as a key player. Price, technical proposals, delivery times, and service delivery terms are all factors that are evaluated in order to establish a ranking and select the "right" candidate. " We manage many contracts at the same time,so it takes a great deal of adaptability and organizational skills to handle them all at once,"emphasizes Natacha Seling.
For services common to the entire university community, such as catering and security, Laure Vailhé and her team have been developing user satisfaction surveys for some time. " These surveys enable us to better monitor performance so that we can review our requirements when drafting the next contract," adds the public purchaser. Monitoring takes place both downstream and upstream with sourcing: "We meet with companies to ensure that our specifications are realistic and that what we are asking for is feasible for them, " explains the department head. " These meetings also allow us to discover new offers that we can then try to promote."
Openness and adaptation
For Laure Vailhé and Natacha Seling, it is this exposure to the economic world and society in general that is the main attraction of their chosen profession. "You have to be able to anticipate and project an economic and social context over three or four years. We see companies that look solid on paper but end up in liquidation, and in such cases, you have to be able to bounce back to ensure continuity of service," explains Natacha Seling. The inclusion of environmental and social clauses has also significantly transformed and enriched the profession, as Laure Vailhé points out: "We have moved from a very legal profession, where we drafted specifications with penalties, termination conditions, etc., to a profession that constantly seeks to adapt to the realities of today's world. It's much more intellectually stimulating!"