One-off award to statistics graduate may turn into regular event
A unique CIOB research scholarship bore fruit last month with a presentation from Mark Tozer, an estimator for York-based Shepherd Construction who investigated how the construction industry handles e-purchasing.

As a graduate in statistics rather than construction, Tozer was not eligible for the CIOB’s annual joint scholarship with the Worshipful Company of Constructors. However, the CIOB awarded him a special £2,000 scholarship as part of its drive to encourage graduates from other disciplines to enter the construction industry. Although awarded as a one-off two years ago, the scholarship may become a regular event.

“His research focuses on the pitfalls of e-purchasing for construction companies and how to avoid them,” said Clare Lemmy, CIOB innovation and research manager. “It explains where companies are and how they got there. It’s about the industry taking baby steps towards e-purchasing, perhaps over several years, to gain the advantages.”

Tozer interviewed 30 managers at internet portals and in the IT departments of major contractors to devise a questionnaire which was sent out to all branches of the supply chain. “The responses show that the industry is inching its way towards e-purchasing, hampered by its preference for the traditional in most things,” he said.

John Setra, MD of K2 Consultancy, agreed. “In the short term, e-purchasing is not a do-or-die issue, but when the marketplace does gear up, construction companies face immense damage if they’re not ready,” he said. “Other industries have leveraged savings of the order of 10-20% from e-business.”

According to Tozer, one of the bugbears for IT in construction is e-procurement (that is, tendering and sourcing as well as purchasing) because of the poor protection it offers intellectual copyright such as architects’ designs.

However, he points out that the problem is not peculiar to IT. “It can happen anyway. E-procurement just highlights the problem. Ripping off other people’s ideas goes on with or without it, although e-procurement will make it worse.”

Tozer’s 10,000-word report on e-purchasing is available from the CIOB.

Tozer’s e-purchasing tips

  1. Your IT people are unlikely to understand exactly what you need. Make sure business managers have plenty of input
  2. Incorporate your desired supply chain. Your biggest suppliers may already have an e-purchasing scheme in mind
  3. You still need to be able to buy materials and services the traditional way
  4. Don’t be sucked in by the sales patter. In particular, read the small print on charges

Source

Construction Manager