Showing papers on "Procurement published in 2022"

A risk-averse two-stage stochastic model for planning retailers including self-generation and storage system

Abstract: Retailers are intermediaries between producers and consumers and supply electricity to consumers which are not willing or are not permitted to take part in wholesale markets. In retailer planning, optimal mix of electricity procurement resources as well as optimal price of demands are determined. In this research, a risk-averse two-stage stochastic model is proposed for short-term scheduling of retailers, while contract with withdrawal penalty (CWP) and contract with option (CWO) are the new resources which are used for electricity procurement of retailers. Pool market, dispatchable distributed generator and photovoltaic unit are other resources of electricity procurement. The results show that CWP and CWO are only activated in scenarios with high demand; in other scenarios, the retailer prefers to pay the withdrawal/option fee and withdraws from CWP/CWO. The effect of different procurement resources on retailer profit, risk and retail prices are investigated. Residential, commercial and industrial demands with distinct price-quota curves are used. Retail pricing is done for different tariffs including flat, time-of-use (TOU) and real-time pricing (RTP) tariffs and the effect of tariff type on retailer profit, risk and prices is investigated. The effect of price-quota curves on retailer profit, risk and retail prices are also investigated.

Local Energy Communities in Service of Sustainability and Grid Flexibility Provision: Hierarchical Management of Shared Energy Storage

Abstract: Local Energy Communities (LECs) can facilitate the transition towards sustainable and clean energy system infrastructure. In this work, we construct a novel hierarchical energy management framework for an LEC equipped with a community energy storage (CES) installation. The proposed two-stage approach involves end-users making self-driven, cost-optimal decisions (first stage) and said decisions being further coordinated through the CES in service of boosting the LEC’s self-consumption and self-sufficiency (second stage). By complementing the approach with a real-time, predictive, envelope-based methodology for LEC flexibility quantification, a rigorous cost structure for flexibility procurement is established. The LEC is further considered to be providing higher-level ancillary services to the wider power grid, through the load flexibility provision and CES capacity sharing. The efficacy and superior performance of the proposed approach are demonstrated in an exhaustive case study. This includes a detailed comparison with conventional centralized approaches and a comprehensive analysis of the financial and environmental benefits that this envisioned LEC variant can ultimately achieve.

E-Procurement System In The Mechanism Of Procurement Of Goods And Services Electronically

Abstract: In the implementation of State Life, the government is always required to promote public welfare. Because there is no country that does not have a purpose and diverse purposes of that country. To carry out this obligation, the government has an obligation to provide the needs of the people in various forms in the form of goods, services and infrastructure development. on the other hand, the government also needs the goods and services in implementing the government, for that it is necessary to procure goods and services. Procurement of goods and services is essentially an effort by the user to obtain or realize the goods and services he wants by using certain methods and processes in order to achieve an agreement on price, time and other agreements. In order for the nature and essence of the procurement of goods and services can be carried out as well as possible, then both parties, namely the users and providers, must always be based on the philosophy of procurement of goods and services, subject to the ethics and norms of procurement of goods and services that apply, follow the principles, methods and processes of procurement of goods and services that are standard. In the system of procurement of Good Goods and services is a system of procurement of goods and services that are able to apply the principles of good governance and Clean Governance (Good Governance and Clean Governance), encourage the efficiency and effectiveness of public spending, as well as structuring the behavior of the three pillars (government, private and public).

AI and Procurement

Abstract: Problem definition: In this research, we study how buyers’ use of artificial intelligence (AI) affects suppliers’ price quoting strategies. Specifically, we study the impact of automation—that is, the buyer uses a chatbot to automatically inquire about prices instead of asking in person—and the impact of smartness—that is, the buyer signals the use of a smart AI algorithm in selecting the supplier. Academic/practical relevance: In a world advancing toward AI, we explore how AI creates and delivers value in procurement. AI has two unique abilities: automation and smartness, which are associated with physical machines or software that enable us to operate more efficiently and effectively. Methodology: We collaborate with a trading company to run a field experiment on an online platform in which we compare suppliers’ wholesale price quotes across female, male, and chatbot buyer types under AI and no recommendation conditions. Results: We find that, when not equipped with a smart control, there is price discrimination against chatbot buyers who receive a higher wholesale price quote than human buyers. In fact, without smartness, automation alone receives the highest quoted wholesale price. However, signaling the use of a smart recommendation system can effectively reduce suppliers’ price quote for chatbot buyers. We also show that AI delivers the most value when buyers adopt automation and smartness simultaneously in procurement. Managerial implications: Our results imply that automation is not very valuable when implemented without smartness, which in turn suggests that building smartness is necessary before considering high levels of autonomy. Our study unlocks the optimal steps that buyers could adopt to develop AI in procurement processes.

COVAX, vaccine donations and the politics of global vaccine inequity

Abstract: In 2021, donor countries, the pharmaceutical industry, and the COVAX initiative promoted vaccine donation or "dose-sharing" as a main solution to the inequitable global distribution of Covid-19 vaccines. COVAX positioned itself as a global vaccine-sharing hub that promised to share doses "equitably, effectively and transparently," according to rational criteria overseen by independent scientists. This article provides a critical analysis of the principles and practice of "dose-sharing," showing how it reveals the politics at play within COVAX.Donated doses were an important source of COVAX's vaccine supply in 2021, accounting for 60% of the doses the initiative delivered (543 million out of 910 million). However, donations could not compensate fully for COVAX's persistent procurement struggles: it delivered less than half of the two billion doses it originally projected for 2021, a fraction of the 9.25 billion doses that were administered globally in 2021. Donor countries and vaccine manufacturers systematically broke COVAX's principles for maximizing the impact of dose-sharing, delivering doses late, in smaller quantities than promised, and in ad hoc ways that made roll-out in recipient countries difficult. Some donors even earmarked doses for specific recipients, complicating and potentially undermining COVAX's equitable allocation mechanism.COVAX's pivot from global vaccine procurement mechanism to dose-sharing hub can be seen as a "win-win-win" solution for COVAX itself (who could claim success by having access to more doses), for donor countries (who could rebrand themselves as charitable donors rather than "vaccine hoarders"), and for the pharmaceutical industry (maintaining the status quo on intellectual property rights and protecting their commercial interests). Although dose-sharing helped COVAX's vaccine delivery, its impact was undermined by donors' and industry's pursuit of national security, diplomatic and commercial interests, which COVAX largely accommodated. The lack of transparency and accountability mechanisms within COVAX's overly complex governance structure as a global public-private partnership enabled these practices.

Robust Screens for Noncompetitive Bidding in Procurement Auctions

Abstract: We document a novel bidding pattern observed in procurement auctions from Japan: winning bids tend to be isolated, and there is a missing mass of close losing bids. This pattern is suspicious in the following sense: its extreme forms are inconsistent with competitive behavior under arbitrary information structures. Building on this observation, we develop systematic tests of competitive behavior in procurement auctions that allow for general information structures as well as nonstationary unobserved heterogeneity. We provide an empirical exploration of our tests, and show they can help identify other suspicious patterns in the data.

Public Procurement in Law and Practice

Abstract: We examine a new dataset of public procurement laws, practice, and outcomes in 187 countries. We measure regulation as restrictions on the discretion of the procuring entities. We find that laws and practice are highly correlated with each other across countries, and better practice is correlated with better outcomes, but laws themselves are not correlated with outcomes. A closer look shows that stricter laws correlate with improved outcomes, but only in countries with low public sector capacity. We present a model of procurement in which both regulatory rules and public sector capacity determine procurement outcomes. In the model, regulation is effective in countries with low public sector capacity, but not in countries with high capacity because it inhibits the socially optimal exercise of discretion to exclude low quality bidders. (JEL D73, H11, H57, K12, K42, O17)

Reactive Power Markets: a Review

Abstract: Liberalization of the energy system sets the way towards market-based solutions for ancillary service provision. Local reactive power markets are envisioned to achieve more economically and technically efficient reactive power provision to solve voltage control problems in future distribution and transmission grids. However, market-based reactive power procurement is a difficult and yet unsolved problem. This survey provides a comprehensive overview of the characteristics and hardships of reactive power markets. That is followed by a literature overview of reactive power market design, including local markets and markets on system operator level. Further, methods how to analyse reactive power markets are discussed, focusing on market power, game theoretical approaches, Reinforcement Learning, and manipulation of reactive power markets. From this overview, trends and current research gaps are derived and some general research recommendations are given to serve as a guideline for future research in the field of reactive power markets.

Interpretive case study to understand online communication in an e-tendering project implementation

Abstract: The presence of social media has encouraged the merger of online communication between the government and the community. This phenomenon provides an opportunity for researchers to simultaneously understand the process of government communication online and offline by using an interpretive case study approach. This study aims to demonstrate the use of a qualitative interpretive case study approach to explain the effectiveness of local government communication with local business people in the online context regarding implementing the e-tendering system. This study used a qualitative interpretive method. We conducted both offline and online research to compare the consistency of the data in our study. Using the case study of government and contractors' communication in implementing e-tendering in a regency in South Sulawesi, we gathered data through face-to-face interviews and observed online communication on social media. This study's results indicate an inconsistency in government communication between the online and offline contexts regarding the perception of e-tendering issues. Our findings can be used to increase our understanding of the government's communication strategy with local business people in an online and offline context. Our study also shows that using new media in qualitative interpretive studies can reduce challenges in participant recruitment and access to research sites. However, our study faced challenges on ethical issues regarding communication material shared on social media. Future studies should focus on how ethical issues can be reduced.

SDG-Oriented Supply Chains: Business Practices for Procurement and Distribution

Abstract: This paper aims at analyzing sustainable practices that can be implemented within supply chains, linking them to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in order to show the performance achieved by SDG-oriented supply chains. Sustainable practices were collected from the repository “Business Process Framework for Sustainability” owned by the Department of Industrial Engineering of the University of Salerno (Italy). By using literature research and descriptive statistics, there emerges a positive relationship between sustainable development and SC performance enhancement. From the study of the practices that can be implemented for cooperation activities with upstream and downstream supply chain partners, it emerges that companies have many opportunities of both supporting the 2030 Agenda and enhancing their market and organizational performance. The research demonstrates that both procurement and distribution processes could be reengineered by implementing sustainable approaches considering all three dimensions of sustainability. Differences emerge in terms of number of opportunities, depending on motivations for implementing them, industry and supply chain processes, performance achieved, and SDGs pursued.

Performance Measurment and Lead-Time Reduction in EPC Project-Based Organizations: A Mathematical Modeling Approach

Abstract: To characterize the process of lead-time reduction in EPC project-based organizations, including the engineering, procurement, and construction activities, various elements such as organizational issues, firm resources, used methods and techniques, and performance measuring tools are important. In this study, the four mentioned elements are evaluated through a survey in different EPC project-based organizations. The survey is sent to only experts and managers who are involved in EPC projects, and the obtained data is used to test the relationship between the mentioned variables and the lead time of developing new products. This evaluation is followed by a set of generalized lessons learned and courses of action to improve the development process. Additionally, the attributes of performance measurement in such projects are scrutinized. Therefore, to analyze the impacts of the mentioned variables and their variations on the performance measurement, a mathematical model based on the fuzzy approach is developed. The results show that all of the four considered variables are correlated to the lead time and affect the quality perceived by the main client and the cost of the project. Moreover, data obtained from the proposed mathematical formulations illustrated that the fuzzy modeling approach is an effective method to predict the performance measurement level when the levels of the input variables are given.

Clinical implementation and scientific development of photodynamic therapy in Russia in 2010-2020

Abstract: In recent years, the development of methods of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photodynamic photodiagnostics (PD) in Russia is characterized by an intensive rise, steadily growing interest of specialists from various medical specialties in the method of specialists from various medical specialties, an increase in the level of equipment number of hospitals with the necessary equipment for performing PD and PDT, the and the emergence of new photosensitizers on the pharmaceutical market, and an increasing increase in the level of patients’ confidence in these methods. This study analyzes the dynamics of the development of the clinical application and scientific developments of PD and PDT over the past decade in Russia in terms of the volume of public procurement of photosensitizers, as well as the activity of research work in the field of PD and PDT, the number of candidate and doctoral dissertations theses on this topic and the number of scientific publications in the RSCI. 688 contracts for the supply of photosensitizers for clinical use were analyzed. The analysis showed a stable annual growth in the volume of public procurement of photosensitizers, an increase in the number of subjects of the Russian Federation and clinical centers that purchase photosensitizers through the portal www.zakupki.gov.ru. From 2014 to 2020, the total volume of public procurement of all photosensitizers increased by 8 times (from 36.42 million rubles (3.58 thousand packages) to 307.37 million rubles (18.99 thousand packages)). The annual increase in the volume of public procurement in numerical terms over the previous 6 years ranged from 9.4% to 63.2% in different years. The main share of state purchases of photosensitizers falls on Moscow and St. Petersburg, h. However, in recent years there has been a noticeable trend towards an increase in sales of photosensitizers in the regions. Thus, in recent years, the share of purchases of photosensitizers in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation with a population of less than 1 million people has significantly increased (from 2.9% of the total number of purchases in 2014 to 25.3% in 2020). Also, in recent years, there has been a significant increase in the activity of research work activity in the field of PD and PDT. The number of defended candidate and doctoral dissertations theses defended in the field of PD and PDT photodynamic therapy and fluorescent diagnostics has been steadily high in recent years and, in some scientific specialties, reaches 2-3% of the total number of defended dissertations theses defended in these specialties. The increase in the total number of publications over 10 years according to the RSCI was 224% (from 218 publications in 2014 to 489 publications in 2019), according to the RSCI. The results obtained confirm the growing demand for photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy and fluorescence diagnostics in clinical practice, the expansion of the geography of the use of methods, as well and the stable interest in this topic in the research environment.

The Impact of SIPOC on Process Reengineering and Sustainability of Enterprise Procurement Management in E-Commerce Environments Using Deep Learning

Abstract: In order to better promote the healthy and long-term development of enterprise procurement management process, under the background of e-commerce environment, Suppliers-Inputs-Process-Outputs-Customers (SIPOC) model, deep learning and related theories of enterprise procurement management are expounded and proposed. Then, D electric power enterprise is studied as samples. After understanding the current situation of procurement management of the enterprise, there are a series of problems in the enterprise, such as complex process, and no correlation between procurement management process and overall strategic planning. Finally, through the analysis of the early warning indicators of the enterprise by the deep learning algorithm, the procurement management process has caused certain risks to the financial management level of the enterprise, and the procurement management process of the enterprise needs to be adjusted. The material record and consumption scheme of the enterprise is optimized by using the SIPOC organizational system model.

TheyBuyForYou platform and knowledge graph: Expanding horizons in public procurement with open linked data

Abstract: Public procurement is a large market affecting almost every organisation and individual; therefore, governments need to ensure its efficiency, transparency, and accountability, while creating healthy, competitive, and vibrant economies. In this context, open data initiatives and integration of data from multiple sources across national borders could transform the procurement market by such as lowering the barriers of entry for smaller suppliers and encouraging healthier competition, in particular by enabling cross-border bids. Increasingly more open data is published in the public sector; however, these are created and maintained in siloes and are not straightforward to reuse or maintain because of technical heterogeneity, lack of quality, insufficient metadata, or missing links to related domains. To this end, we developed an open linked data platform, called TheyBuyForYou, consisting of a set of modular APIs and ontologies to publish, curate, integrate, analyse, and visualise an EU-wide, cross-border, and cross-lingual procurement knowledge graph. We developed advanced tools and services on top of the knowledge graph for anomaly detection, cross-lingual document search, and data storytelling. This article describes the TheyBuyForYou platform and knowledge graph, reports their adoption by different stakeholders and challenges and experiences we went through while creating them, and demonstrates the usefulness of Semantic Web and Linked Data technologies for enhancing public procurement.

Supply Chain 4.0 performance measurement: A systematic literature review, framework development, and empirical evidence

Abstract: Companies require a greater understanding of the Supply Chain (SC) benefits that can be gained from industry 4.0 (I4.0) and, more specifically, which technologies and concepts that can improve certain SC performance measures. A state-of-the-art systematic literature review (SLR) has been done on supply chain performance measurement linked with various industry 4.0 technologies. Based on the findings of the review through content analysis, this paper presents a framework for exploring the usage of I4.0 technologies to identify the potential supply chain performance measures. This framework includes the dimensions of Procurement 4.0, Manufacturing 4.0, Logistics 4.0, and Warehousing 4.0. As a scientific contribution, this study has validated the proposed framework through case studies, where the existing studies are limited. Finally, several fruitful future possible extensions have been discussed based on the proposed framework.

Does green public procurement trigger environmental innovations?

Abstract: Green public procurement has gained high political priority and is argued to be an effective demand-side policy to trigger environmental innovations. However, the empirical evidence on its innovation impact is limited. We construct a novel firm-level dataset to investigate the effect of winning public procurement tenders with additional environmental award criteria on firms’ introduction of environmental innovations. Employing cross-sectional difference-in-differences methods, we find that winning public procurement awards with environmental selection criteria increases a firm's probability of introducing more environmentally friendly products on average by 20 percentage points. We show that this effect is driven by small and medium-sized firms and is not statistically significant for larger firms. Furthremore, there is no statistically significant effect on the introduction of more environmentally friendly processes.