
• Omaha Public Power District
•
2019-01-29 17:21:20
Hi. Your question may be broken down into many, differing categories: from template-generation, update and maintenance; internal legal/business review and approval process; to maintaining a library of precedents and exceptions to standard terms and conditions; to audit-ready contracts, etc.
I will instead focus on the generation of templates, of standard terms and conditions: primarily, your direction will be significantly influenced by your access to the latest and greatest software, application and document management system - or what is available to you, your budget constraints, the quality of your users, etc. More importantly, a very basic but effective process is your access to MS Word. Once you have a list of accepted standard terms and conditions (from Master Services Agreement, Master Procurement Agreement (Goods + Services), short terms and conditions (for purchase orders), NDAs, SOWs, etc., you should be able to now save these templates into a folder (managed/controlled by your IT department) and you should save each as a template (your IT folks should walk you to the process of saving/maintaining them each as a template). You may then grant your approved users a 'read only' access; this way, each time they go to the library folder to use a template, it should open in a new word document which they could then save, revise etc. as a new document specific for each user. As the administrator, you may at any time update (revise or delete) your templates - you may use a naming convention for each template to track the revision dates. You should also, at this time, be able to develop your own standard procedures for maintaining and managing your templates, for your approved users to know and perhaps adhere to. I can go on and on - but I think that this should get your started. If this is already a process you have in place, then please ignore these suggestions.
Lastly, below is part of the Best Practices I have developed/adhered to along the way in my career. Admittedly, I have taken heed of many valuable suggestions, tips, and resources made available to me. I modified [below] to remove any distinguishing lexicon and features; this is intended to supplement your document management and standard template-generation:
BEST PRACTICE: Highlight 'talking points' when rolling out Supply Chain templates
Supply Chain templates are easy to copy and work with, and encourages standardization where needed. In addition, these templates are consistently revised to stay current and to comply with all regulatory requirements. Unfortunately, rolling out Supply Chain templates present challenges to certain suppliers. They have this instinctive reaction to resist adopting our templates; they would instead counter with their own set of terms and conditions.
One of our objectives in our contracting process is to develop, if not preserve, buyer-supplier relationship. And developing best practices around Supply Chain contracting process in no way intends to undermine business relationship. Below are suggested 'talking points' when circulating our templates, whether to internal customers or industry supplier. These talking points highlight the appeal, the advantages to using our templates; it is a good segue from the perceived 'use it or lose it' option.
1) Favorable turn-around time - instead of reinventing the procurement document-creation wheel each time, our templates are easily tailored, product-specific templates that will save time on the contract (re)negotiation cycle.
2) Preferred supplier relationship - blanket agreements offer many areas for flexibility such as longer terms or auto-renewal options; or they away the need for both parties to go back to the drawing board and renegotiate on future, similar purchases. And they potentially could preserve reciprocity and good business relationship.
3) Increased productivity - when time spent on contract negotiation is reduced, focus is shifted to meeting project timelines and deliverables. Delivery schedules then translate into desired productivity for both parties.
While others may agree or disagree with some of these items, but the appeal of your predicament is that YOU get to decide on how best to proceed ...
Good luck.
Rose