Procurement in aged care, healthcare, and group providers is evolving – from a give attention to transactional shopping for to strategic worth creation. An skilled within the area, August Consulting helps its purchasers flip procurement insights into measurable affect.
Based and led by managing director Tracey Shearer, August Consulting works with well being suppliers throughout the nation to enhance procurement effectiveness, scale back pointless spend, and construct smarter, extra agile provide chains.
“In lots of organisations, procurement continues to be seen as a back-office operate,” says Shearer. “We’re serving to purchasers reframe it as a lever for enterprise efficiency – one which helps service supply, compliance, and value sustainability.”
Getting go-to-market proper
One in every of key success elements for any type of procurement is establishing for achievement earlier than going to market. Too typically, organisations rush to tender with out defining what they really want. “The most important missed alternative is failing to outline success upfront,” notes Shearer. “We work with purchasers to make clear enterprise wants, have interaction stakeholders, and guarantee they’re not simply following course of – however fixing actual issues.”
“We assist our purchasers align their inner expectations, construct strong analysis standards, and interact early with the market, which allows them see stronger outcomes and keep away from expensive missteps.”
Making smarter selections
One other key perception from August Consulting’s work with purchasers throughout healthcare is that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all strategy. In some instances, a proper market course of is important. In others, direct negotiation delivers quicker – and higher – outcomes.
“It’s about selecting the best software for the job,” explains Shearer. “When you’re shopping for one thing extremely commoditised, going to market is smart. However for those who’re renewing a posh, high-performing provider association, negotiation could be the smarter path.”
August Consulting’s resolution framework helps organisations weigh business danger, market maturity, urgency, and relationship worth – making certain procurement choices help long-term outcomes.
The hidden price of poor contract administration
With an intensive observe report in contract administration, Shearer says that the agency’s expertise reveals that worth within the space is commonly misplaced not on the level of contract award – however after.
“We see too many organisations put within the work to safe a fantastic deal, solely to let it erode via lack of possession, visibility or poor implementation” says Shearer. “Sturdy contract administration will not be about micromanagement – it’s about ensuring you’re getting the worth secured.”
The agency advocates for structured evaluations, accountability, and higher use of knowledge to forestall leakage and guarantee provider efficiency is monitored and optimised.
Actual outcomes, actual affect
This strategy has helped August Consulting ship spectacular outcomes and obtain award-winning standing. In a single engagement with a big non-public healthcare supplier, the consultancy recognized over $5 million in procurement financial savings throughout classes equivalent to scientific consumables, capital, and pharmacy.
“We’re not simply writing studies – we’re on the bottom with purchasers serving to them implement change,” says Shearer. “Our aim is to go away them in a greater place than we discovered them: extra assured, extra succesful, and extra in management.”
“With our sector expertise and a dedication to sensible, insight-led strategy, at August Consulting, we’re serving to Australian organisations rethink procurement as a driver of worth – not simply price. Whether or not it’s aged care, healthcare or training, the challenges are the identical – restricted sources, rising expectations, and the necessity to do extra with much less. That’s the place good procurement makes all of the distinction,” concludes Shearer.
