University of Saskatchewan Brochure 2019

University of Saskatchewan: transformation with a reliable team

University of Saskatchewan: TRANSFORMATION WITH A RELIABLE TEAM WRIT TEN BY

SOPHIE CHAPM AN

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PRODUCED BY

ARRON R A MPLING

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w w w.us a s k. ca

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As the University of Saskatchewan moves away from manual operations to new technologies, a skilled procurement team remains essential, says Director of Enterprise Procurement, Richard LeBlanc

R

ichard LeBlanc joined the

bought something that helped

University of Saskatchewan a

enhance their experience, their work,

year ago when a new position

or their research,” LeBlanc notes.

as Director of Enterprise Procurement

With the university spending

was created to modernize the estab-

approximately $400mn (CAD) per year,

lishment’s procurement operations.

effectively managing procurement is

Procurement supports diverse areas,

vital. The university has recently

enabling the day-to-day running of

released its strategic plan for 2025,

most of the campus’ administration.

featuring pillars and aspirations which

“From students in the classrooms and

are guiding the procurement team’s

lecture halls to labs and agricultural

ongoing efforts. As well as an almost

research, members of my team have

entire overhaul of how procurement

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processes are managed, the universi-

with the communities that support us

ty-wide strategy covers projects that

on the business side.”

align multiple departments. “Some of

As well as reconciliation efforts,

the key themes of our vision includes

the vision targets modernization and

the indigenization of the university;

the introduction of new technologies,

we’ve been working on a procurement

which marks a transition from manual

strategy for indigenous business for

processes within the procurement

several months,” says LeBlanc. “It

department. Several concepts have

aligns with the university’s main

been suggested as alternatives to the

objectives and helps us further

team’s current manual activities, with

advance the university’s reconciliation

a focus on automation and streamlining.

efforts, as well as strengthen our ties

These ideas, which LeBlanc stresses w w w.us a s k. ca

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“ From students in the classrooms and lecture halls to labs and agricultural research, members of my team have bought something that helped enhance their experience, their work, or their research” 07

— Richard LeBlanc, Director of Enterprise Procurement have all derived directly from the

being currently underway, others

team itself, have led to projects varying

are “a little bit broader in scope” –

in scale: from improving processes

however, even with an end in sight

and policy work to integrating a risk

LeBlanc stresses the importance of

framework. Communications and plan

always looking forward. “In regards

engagement functions will also be

to modernization, I think it is a journey

updated to improve the adoption rate

that should never end. If you look

of university-wide contracts. By modern-

back at the last five years, some of the

izing the process whereby stock is

enhancements, the new capabilities,

replenished in the facilities warehouse,

and the technologies have advanced

the team has successfully reduced

so much. You’ve always got to keep

buying time by approximately 20%.

growing and stretching in order to

Despite many of the team’s goals

take advantage of those advances, w w w.us a s k. ca

$1bn Approximate revenue

22,400 Approximate number of students

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1907 Year founded

CANADA

or else you will just stagnate.”

Essential to the university’s procurement transformation was the introduction of a procurement modernization working group, which has collected representatives from across campus. Through collaboration with the university’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) group, the team has been able to better collect and store financial data. With greater access to data, the university has noticed an increase in efficiency and improved objectives with clear targets. “They’ve managed to pull all this information together for us and make it easy to gather

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a complete picture, and then analyze that.

They’ve been working on improving some of the systems that we do use to make the team’s job easier and more efficient.”

With key targets in sight, it is easy to keep members of staff motivated, LeBlanc reveals. The department has identified 15 categories for improvement, with staff constantly highlighting developments that could be made within their operations. LeBlanc notes the importance of ensuring any new processes or technologies that are introduced are compatible with the department remarking that a fundamental aspect of his role it to “make sure the team feel like changes w w w.us a s k. ca

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“In regards to modernization, I think it is a journey that should never end” — Richard LeBlanc, Director of Enterprise Procurement

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w w w.us a s k. ca

are made with them, not to them”.

“They’ve come up with a ton of ideas to improve our operations, he continues. “A lot of these are just little things that make the client’s life a little bit easier or better, or eliminate the need to go back to the client and improve time efficiency. This allows us to get the job done right the first time. The team is a constant source of ideas and energy, and they’re very invested in the work that they do. If we have a good idea, they’ll help build it up. If we have a less than optimal idea, they’ll help us 12

strengthen it by identifying the challenges within it. They’re very engaged and committed and that makes it easy.”

“ You’ve always got to keep growing and stretching in order to take advantage of those advances, or else you will just stagnate” — Richard LeBlanc, Director of Enterprise Procurement

As well as the focus on efficiency and using technology to streamline, the university has highlighted sustainability as a key target under its vision. With operations underway to improve the procurement team’s environmental impact, such as focusing on the materials selected when sourcing in order to reduce the campus’ climate footprint, the university is also targeting financial sustainability and sustainable business practices. The establishment’s procurement operations have

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traditionally centered on a decentral-

from identifying issues to generating

ized model, with each business unit

the concepts. With a long way to go,

having its own supplier base. However,

LeBlanc looks forward to continuing to

in efforts to streamline buying and

build upon the department’s positive

costs, the team are turning to a more

energy and introduce new operations

centralized approach.

that complement them.

Working within the collegial environment of a 100-year-old campus, LeBlanc has a big task ahead of him to bring processes up to date. The director has attributed the successful changes within sustainability and technology to the work of the team, w w w.us a s k. ca

University of Saskatchewan 105 Administration Place, Saskatoon SK S7N 5A2.

Tel: +(01) 306-966-1212 www.usask.ca