A Library Transformation Case Study

This included a single supplier agreement to provide 90% of total items purchased, offering substantial discounts. Book preparation work is now done by the supplier. They have the ability to process books direct to shelf on the same day as they are received. The effort required to receipt items reduced from 3 minutes to 15 seconds. Twice the volume of items can now be handled in 50% of time previously taken and staff moved to front line service delivery to offer a better service to customers.

Ongoing savings of £140,000 per year were a major contribution to targeted efficiency improvements.

BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS

Q2 were responsible for the facilitation, project management and people change management aspects of the project, which involved council staff, book suppliers and the existing system supplier. The aims of the project were to: 

• Reduce the time taken from ordering to getting books/items on the shelf
• Reduce manual record keeping
• Provide more effective reporting
• Reduce the need for manual processes (other than for specialist purchases)
• Maximise the potential of the existing system
• Ensure staff support through effective culture change

PROCESS REVIEW

As well as considering pure cost savings and quality of the service, the Council's strategic objectives were also taken into account. An integrated approach was taken to ensure the supply chain was considered from initial order through to the items arriving on the shelves. The existing processes were reviewed and challenged to determine available options for service improvement. The options were assessed to determine impact on staff, working methods, existing technology and operational service costs.

SUPPLIER SELECTION

The business objectives and requirements were then used to renegotiate the book buying and supply contracts. The choice of supplier was determined by their ability to meet the bibliographical requirements of the council and their ability to help achieve savings in the back office processes. Most of the key suppliers were able to offer the additional services required (e.g. book processing, approvals, catalogs, EDI, etc.) however the final choice depended on the cost and service split, their future plans and financial stability. Q2 managed the formal procurement process to select a suitable supplier and led the subsequent implementation project.

IMPLEMENTATION

Q2 managed the implementation project using a structured and phased approach and were tasked with managing the following critical success factors:

• Achieve benefits as early as possible
• Ensure all affected staff were closely involved to increase acceptance of new ways of working
• Ensure the day to day business was not adversely affected during the changes
• Communicate with all parties to ensure alignment with project objectives
• Monitor tight project budgets
• Manage any resistance to change to ensure the targeted business benefits were actually achieved
• Minimise risk through effective monitoring and project management

Following implementation, Q2 performed a full review to confirm and quantify the actual business benefits achieved and to ensure that new processes were continuing to be effective.

BENEFITS

Q2 were able to identify more effective ways of managing the supply chain relating to bibliographical services. These included determining the best supplier mix, increasing efficiency, improving speed of acquisition, determining the most appropriate way to maximise any identified savings and to support service improvements.

The council benefited from greater discounts by moving towards one main supplier of bibliographical material. The council also achieved major improvements in the complete supply chain in terms of ordering, processing, receipting and related areas.

The council were also able to increase the overall spend on bibliographical material using fewer resources to process the purchases. This project has made a significant contribution to the councils ‘best value’ and e-government initiatives as well as making a major contribution to targeted efficiency improvements.