Helping to transform public sector procurement management in the age of AI

For many governments, meeting the needs of public authorities and meeting the needs of citizens and businesses are both essential for ensuring the procurement process is efficient, fair and transparent.

The procurement department of a government entity in a European region relied on manual processes and unstructured data for decision making. Given the volumes involved, this led to significant complexities and inefficiencies in managing the procurement cycle. And the lack of a unified information system made it difficult to analyse, compare and interpret procurement data effectively.

They needed an approach that would systematically collect, consolidate, and standardise their procurement needs, optimise tender management and support their planning decisions.

KPMG in Italy used a methodical approach to get a picture of the procurement departments' existing knowledge base, including data sources, storage practices, and information management systems. Generative AI was then deployed to organise the department's information in a more structured way and implemented based on two proofs of concept using Microsoft Azure Search and OpenAI services to streamline the department's information mining.

The first proof of concept focused on a prototype Medical Devices Catalogue that analysed tender documents by linking them with additional information in the execution and consumption phase. This led to a more streamlined organisation of product knowledge that could be identified and retrieved using a single system.

The second proof of concept was the development of a Supplier Categorisation tool where insights into past interactions provided the procurement team with a deeper understanding of the performance and competitiveness of their suppliers.

The client's procurement professionals now have greater support in the procurement cycle, and the tender management process has been optimised with improved access and retrieval of critical information. With a more streamlined process and unified database, the procurement team has increased their ability to analyse, compare and interpret data locally and centrally. The single information system is providing them with the necessary business intelligence for crucial planning.