Journal articles on the topic 'Centralised procurement system'

Accounting information systems (AISs), the core module of any enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, are usually designed as centralised systems. Nowadays, the continuous development and applications of blockchain, or more broadly—distributed ledger technology (DLT), can change the architecture, overcome and improve some limitations of centralised systems, most notably security and privacy. An increasing number of authors are suggesting the application of blockchain technologies in management, accounting and ERPs. This paper aims to examine the emerging literature on this field, and an immediate result is that blockchain applications can have significant benefits. The paper’s innovative contribution and considerable objective are to examine if blockchain can be successfully integrated with AIS and ERPs. We find that blockchain can facilitate integration at multiple levels and better serve various purposes as auditing compliance. To demonstrate that, we analyse e-procurement systems and operations using case study research methodology. The findings suggest that DLT, decentralised finance (DeFI), and financial technology (FinTech) applications can facilitate integrating AISs and ERP systems and yield significant benefits for efficiency, productivity and security.

It has been noted that prior to the introduction of public procurement reforms, Zimbabwe’s procurement system was centralised, vulnerable to corruption, inefficient and bureaucratic. In 2018, the new decentralized public procurement reforms were introduced to address the shortcomings of the previous procurement regime by giving procurement powers to procuring entities. The aim of this paper is to highlight the implications of the reforms in implementation by rural local authorities in Zimbabwe. This paper adopted a qualitative research design with desktop approach being used to review related literature. The findings reveal that the plethora of reforms are a welcome development in public procurement. It has also been noted that there are many challenges militating against rural local authorities’ propensity to implement the new set of reforms. These challenges affect the ability of rural local authorities to deliver services timeously to communities thereby retarding realization of sustainable development in rural areas in Zimbabwe.

Conflict caused by payment issues are common in construction industry. A lengthy payment process issue is a common phenomenon especially in public work projects, which commonly opt for conventional contracts. Delay in payment process have caused many contractors not being able to receive payment within the stipulated time. In turn, it may affect the contractor’s cash flow and eventually ended up causing delays in project completion. The effect of technological advances has brought significant changes to the construction industry, which is year after year becoming increasingly complex. Therefore, in the era of technology and digital, there are many management systems which have been established and introduced amongst construction players for the convenience of managing and administering construction projects. The introduction of Building Information Modelling (BIM) is to establish a centralised information system, which improves the collaboration, communication and integration between interdisciplines in construction industry. The development of digital technology of Intelligent Contracts will bring great potential as an automate support system in BIM management process. These combinations create possible solutions towards payment conflicts in the construction project, through integration of BIM and Intelligent Contracts that may help to reduce the unnecessary procedure and interference that prolong the payment process. The analysis revealed that the adoption of BIM and Intelligent Contracts attributes in payment process under conventional procurement could improve the efficiency and reduce the time by eliminating unnecessary procedure and third parties interference along the process.

Improving access and rational use of psychotropic medications in low- and middle-income countries is an important factor in reducing the public health burden resulting from mental illness. This paper considers each component of the medications management cycle to identify current barriers to improvement. Selection is hindered by a lack of up to date local essential drugs lists, while procurement and distribution can be affected by the type of system used: centralised or decentralised, government-run or independent, push or pull. Rational use involves patients, prescribers and policy-makers and requires consideration of who is able to prescribe, how prescribing decisions are made and how to ensure patient-centred care. We include a number of recommendations based on these issues, while emphasising the importance of ensuring the broader context of mental illness and its management is not overlooked when improving access to psychotropic medications.

The Building Information Modelling (BIM) implementation is to create a centralised knowledge sharing resource that contains all the necessary design and operational information about the project. BIM is a collaborative approach and integrated project delivery to design and delivery embraced by various construction teams in the construction projects. In the context of the most suitable project delivery to be used, with regards to the use of BIM, the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) approach is highlighted as the best method which correlates building procurement of the design-to-construction business process through literature review analysis. IPD is developed as project delivery system that integrates people in effective collaborative approach between the key players in the project. IPD is going to be particularly beneficial for BIM because the contracts relation between the contractor, designers, consultants, constructors, sub-contractors and suppliers were binded and expressly determined at earlier stage. This relationship between these two subjects will helped the project team to achieve the project goals in terms of timely schedule, life cycle costs, quality and sustainability in construction project. Therefore, this study investigates on the propensity of the best methodology of project delivery system which can correlate with procurement adoption for projects adapt BIM concept. This is a descriptive study and the method used is based on review of the literature in relation to BIM and IPD. The analysis revealed that propensity of adopting IPD project delivery and the adoption of BIM are based on these factors: improve the communication, closer collaboration; liability and legal relationships are specifically determined, the best quality outcome; and lastly with reductions in design and construction period, it provides a cost effectiveness and a saving in overall construction period.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate driving factors that improve the project management efficiency (PME) in centralized public procurement systems. Design/methodology/approach Employees in four public-sector organizations in China were surveyed. The structural equation modeling was employed to examine the relationship amongst those variables. Findings Organizational culture (OC) is an effective method to improve PME, and employee quality is the most critical factor of OC in this system. Job satisfaction (JS) is another significant contributor to PME and satisfaction with fairness of salary in this system being the key factor of JS. Job analysis (JA) has indirect influence on PME through JS and OC, whereas the job structure in this system is the most critical factor for JA. Practical implications An operational way to improve PME is to implement it from the perspectives of employee, organization and technique. At the organizational level, it is imperative to strengthen the OC by a well-structured recruitment system and to improve PME via well-design training. At the person level, both financial (i.e. income and welfare) and career incentives (i.e. promotion opportunities and a sense of belonging) are proposed to achieve employees’ JS to improve PME. At the technique level, JA approach (i.e. job rotation) is recommended to enlarge the positive influence of OC and JS on PME. These can not only ensure the management professionalism in a centralized public procurement system but can also motivate employees and maximize PME. Originality/value PME in a centralized public procurement system will be improved by addressing these key factors and their interrelationships. This provides detailed pathways for the centralized public procurement system to achieve better PME via optimal OC and JS and reasonable JA in China. In addition, the institutional and administrative traditions may vary significantly across cities, regions and countries. Therefore, such contextual differences should be taken into consideration for the improvement of PME in a centralized public procurement system.

The article presents the questions of reviewing models and mechanisms of public administration in the procurement of goods, works and services in the field of construction. A comparative analysis of the types of public procurement mechanisms in construction, based on a set of features, has shown the superiority of a centralized type of mechanism that facilitates the introduction of efficient and flexible procurement methods, for example, the conclusion of framework agreements. The author’s vision of the mechanism of state building purchases, in the form of a conceptual model and system differences, is proposed. It is determined that a decentralized model of public procurement management involves the independent implementation by purchasers of procurement, that is, allows each customer to procure goods, works and services in the field of construction. The centralized model of public administration is characterized by the implementation of public procurement in order to provide the general needs of a single body on public procurement, that is, customers commission the implementation of public procurement on their behalf, a centralized body. According to the combined model of management, public procurement in the construction industry takes place under contracts implemented under the centralized model, and the direct ordering and receipt of goods, works, or services takes place according to the rules of a decentralized model. It is noted that according to the system-wide understanding of the mechanism of public administration in the procurement of goods, works and services in the field of construction, it represents a set of specialized management technologies (methods, techniques and tools) that ensure the organization of the process of public procurement of construction products by authorized agents. The direction of this process is determined by the need to implement the principles of vali- dity and innovation, fair choice of the best bidding, prevention of corruption and ensuring the high efficiency of the implementation of public public procurement.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to present and analyze the different concepts of centralized and decentralized procurement methods; identify the advantages and disadvantages of each method and the two methods of public procurement applied in the Arab Republic of Egypt in an attempt to overcome the disadvantages of the Egyptian system; and introduce a new framework for government procurement in Egypt. Design/methodology/approach The descriptive approach was used in the framework of the presentation and analysis of the concepts of centralized public procurement and decentralized public procurement. The comparative approach was used for presenting some of the experiences of countries in using public procurement methods. The legal approach was also used in the analysis of the legal frameworks governing the public procurement methods in the Arab Republic of Egypt. In addition, the case study methodology was used to study the role of the General Authority for Governmental Services in Egypt in the centralized public procurement processes. Findings This paper attempts to find the ideal method of public procurement in general and what is the method to be followed in the Egyptian case through the data presented and analysis of the Egyptian public procurement system. Research limitations/implications This paper attempts to present a model or a theory on how to determine the public procurement methods that should be used in a given country and give sufficient flexibility for the conformity between the two methods upon application depending on the ecological factors of each country. Practical implications This paper contributes to the development of the public procurement method in the Arab Republic of Egypt by showing the gap between the use of the centralized approach and the decentralized approach at all levels and providing solutions to bridge this gap. Social implications This paper provides implications to reduce corruption, increase transparency and give the opportunity to the largest number of private shareholders to participate in public procurement. Originality/value Although there is some literature on centralized and decentralized public procurement, there is a lack or scarcity of research and academic articles on this subject (Patrucco et al., 2017). This paper attempted to do so by filling this gap in this area of research.

Introduction. The agrarian sector of most countries is developing with large state support. Its directions are different and depend on the priorities of intergovernmental policies, such as the Common Agricultural Policy of the EU and strategic goals that are in line with national interests. At the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly, a Resolution United Nations Decade of Family Farming (2019–2028) is approved. The importance of farming problems on the international level aims to provide the basis for promoting a more effective state policy in the field of family farming and contributing to the achievement of food security as the part of sustainable development goals. Methods. The monographic method (the analysis of Ukrainian scientific researches concerning the issues of increasing the efficiency of sales of agricultural products), scientific knowledge and logical generalization (as regards the harmonization of farmers' production capacities and the needs of budgetary organisations in agricultural products), expert assessments (to justify the mechanism of attracting farmers to public procurement systems), abstract and logical (theoretical generalizations and formulation of conclusions) are used in the process of research. Results. The direction of state support of farming through the improvement of the regulatory mechanism for the represent of farms agricultural products to the public procurement market is substantiated. The need of budget organisations in agricultural production is assessed, the mechanism of facilitating access of farmers to the system of public procurement is proposed. The potential opportunities of the united territorial communities in promoting the sale of farm products are substantiated. They are outlined the directions of application of non-price criteria for public procurements of food. It is proposed to establish preferences for farm products in trade networks (supermarkets). Discussion. Proposals on the organizational and economic mechanism of marketing of farm products through the public procurement market will contribute to the formation of additional stable channels for agricultural products sale. Centralized purchasing of food products for budget organizations will be a significant factor in the development of farming, as well as the direction of providing the population with quality accessible food products. Keywords: farms, public procurements, sale of agricultural products.

The article explores the mechanism of public procurement in the sphere of providing the remote sensing services to public entities. Authors emphasize on the benefits of the centralized procurement of remotely sensed data that will lead to cost savings of state funds through the avoidance of duplicate purchases. Authors give special consideration to the difference in products obtained within the Earth observation (EO) process, the purchase of which can be carried out according to different procedures, as well as the duality of the status of the National Center for the Management and Testing of Space Facilities (NCMTSF) as a supplier and intermediary in public procurement legal relations. It is determined that NCMTSF as a centralized procurement organization will collect requests from contracting authorities (public consumers) for remote sensing services, analyze them for the possibility of satisfying it with products from the existing own fund or the need to purchase remote sensing data. It is argued that in case of impossibility to provide relevant services from the available resources of the remote sensing fund, but economic feasibility of purchasing raw remote sensing data, considering the consolidated application of public consumers, NCMTSF will act as a centralized procurement organization. It is emphasized that, unlike other centralized procurement organizations, the procurement contract with the winner of the procurement will be concluded by NCMTSF. NCMTSF will provide free of charge public authorities, enterprises, institutions, and organizations with raw data information products which were purchased at the expense of state budget according to their requests. It is suggested that in case of impossibility and economic inefficiency of providing data processing services, NCMTSF as a centralized procurement organization organizes procurement in the interests of public consumers. The procurement contract is concluded between the public consumer and the winner of the procurement. That is, in this case, the NCMTSF performs an intermediary function of procurement organization, which can professionally qualify the participants and determine the most economically advantageous tender. In addition, several procedures have been discovered that will unify suppliers’ offers according to contracting authorities’ technical requirements and optimize budget spending, that was based on an analysis of domestic legislation on public procurement and models for the procurement of remote sensing products in space states such as the USA, Australia and India. The article provides an in-depth analysis of the implementation of multi-use supplier list as prequalification system for potential economic operators of remote sensing services.

One of the important elements in the procurement management system in the city of Chelyabinsk is the practice of centralized procurement staff training, which is based on the Municipal Budgetary Institution (MBI) “Chelyabinsk Training and Consulting Center for the Professional Development of Procurement Personnel”. The Institution provides training services in accordance with the requirements of the Federal law, dated 05.04.2013, No.44-FZ “On the contractual system for the procurement of goods, works and services for the state and municipal needs” and the Federal law, dated 18.07.2011, No. 223-FZ “On the procurement of goods, works and services by the different types of legal entities”. The article considers the successful experience of procurement centralization in Chelyabinsk, aimed at ensuring quality compliance the requirements of Russian procurement legislation, growing the efficiency of procurement processes and reducing the risks of ineffective funds’ spending.

A description of the current system of centralized milk provision is considered. The shortcomings of forecasting methods of resource requirements for project implementation are presented. The method of forecas-ting the need for resources for the implementation of centralized milk provision projects has been developed and its features have been described. The order of determination of periods of life cycle of projects of centralized milk provision is substantiated. The results of determination of characteristic periods of the life cycle of centralized milk provision projects for various resource parameters are presented. On the basis of the performed researches, it was established that for a given project environment (conditions of the PJSC «Brody factory of skimmed milk powder» (Brody, Lviv region), the duration of characteristic periods of the life cycle of centralized milk provision projects and the need for resources (the number and number involved in transportation cars) depend on its parameters and volume of milk provision.

Procurement is the most important part of the pharmaceutical logistic cycle. It is the process of acquiring supplies after a properly selected list of products. The procurement system or model depends on the type of organization weather it is governmental or private, centralized or decentralized, autonomous or semiautonomous. The objectives of procurement system is to make available the right drug in an appropriate quantities of adequate quality from a reliable supplier at the right time with the lowest possible prices through an ethical and legal procedures. Prequalification of suppliers is the successful quality assurance activity. Needs and funds can be reconciled and a rational cut can be done by using ABC- VAN matrix technique. Purchasing should be by transparent competition through open tender, restrictive tender, restricted competition or in certain cases by direct negotiation by transparent committee leading to transparent contract. One of the most important procurement practice for the system to succeed is the reliable payment and efficient financial management and monitoring the supplier performance. The system should have an efficient quality assurance program with annual auditing and regular reports.

According to the current actual situation of informatization in Commercial Vehicle Company of DF Motor Co., Ltd. , there exists such a problem as the incomplete parts data of S-BOM, which fails to provide complete parts data of the department of procurement and sales. In order to solve the problem, this paper designs and develops the parts of DF Motor Co., Ltd. Data Management System. The system uses Delphi 7.0 as the development tools and Oracle 9i as the back-end database，which implements the function of centralized management, maintenance and query of S-BOM parts data by means of parts state management, structured data management, parts data query and other function modules. The system meets Commercial Vehicle Company's requirements of centralized procurement by addressing some of the key issues in the original parts management. Fund Project: Key Projects of Science and Technology Research of Hubei Department of Education (No. D200723003 ); Projects of National Natural Science Foundation, 2010(No. 51006132)

The article is devoted to the problems and prospects of the existing model for the contract system of procurement. The Russian Federation, like most countries of the world, faces a key challenge today in formulating policies to address the economic recession caused by the emergence and spread of the COVID–19 virus. Sound and coherent public policies are needed to effectively stabilize and restart the economy as a whole. At the same time, Russia’s system of public procurement, which is under constant reform, cannot today be used as a tool of fiscal policy. This area has long evolved into an autonomous branch of government and needs to be transformed especially in public administration. At the same time, the basis of the «re-engineering» of the contract system should be the transition to a centralized procurement model based on the institution of centralization of procurement already successfully carried out in the public procurement sector.

Purpose The paper aims to investigate challenges facing small-, medium- and micro-sized enterprises (SMMEs) in public procurement in Botswana from the view of a buyer. Design/methodology/approach The researchers conducted consultative workshops, succeeded by focus groups and follow-up telephone interviews, to collect and validate data. A total of 75 procurement officers from central government ministries and local governments participated in the study. Findings Results indicate that SMMEs find it difficult to deal with public procurement because of lack of capacity, unfair bias against SMMEs, inefficient government payment systems, unfair competition from their larger and established counterparts and centralized public procurement. The paper recommends a comprehensive integrated framework, improvement of SMME capacity and adopting policies to ensure greater public procurement market access.

The purpose of the article is to determine the specifics of purchasing management in conditions of total digitalization. Based on the synthesis of concepts and research trends, activities in the management of pro-curement of material resources are identified, which contribute to the effective activities of business entities, digitalization priorities and effects in the procurement process. The article summarizes the advantages, ad-vantages and disadvantages of centralized, decentralized and mixed models of the organization of the pro-curement management system, taking into account the timing, identity of contracts, delegation of procurement functions, accuracy of order satisfaction, reduction of risks of bureaucratization and corruption. Vector zones of digital transformation of conditions and scope of procurement, intensity of climate change in the company, integration of intellectual, technological and efficient procurement process for the business as a whole are defined. It is emphasized that the system of digital procurement through machine training significantly trans-forms the procurement process, contributing to the prompt selection of the right type of competition, the iden-tification, definition and recognition of proven (law-abiding), customer-oriented suppliers, the identification of criteria for the optimal market price and the formation of conditions for effective purchase.

Abstrak: Dalam pengadaan barang atau jasa pada Inspektorat DKI Jakarta dilakukan pada sistem E-Katalog, namun sistem tersebut tidak mengakomodir keseluruhan prosesnya. Selain itu, pembuatan dokumen pendukung masih dibuat secara manual menggunakan Microsoft Office sehingga dinilai tidak efektif, efisien dan berkasnya menjadi rentan hilang. Serta kesulitan dalam pembuatan laporan pengadaannya dikarenakan berkas hilang dan berkas yang disimpan tidak tersentralisasi. Metode yang dipakai dalam mengembangkan dengan Rapid Application Development (RAD). Sistem informasi pengadaan menghasilkan dokumen pengadaan lebih terstruktur dan instan dalam mengolah hasil pengadaan dalam bentuk laporan. Hasil pengembangan ini menciptakan alur kerja yang lebih tertib dan terdokumentasi dengan baik, serta memberikan pengamanan terhadap data pengadaan. Dengan adanya sistem informasi ini, proses pengadaan barang dan jasa pada Inspektorat Provinsi DKI Jakarta menjadi lebih tertib. Kata kunci: DKI Jakarta, e-katalog, pengadaan, RAD, web. Abstract: In procuring goods or services at the DKI Jakarta Inspectorate, the E-Catalog system is carried out, but the system does not accommodate the entire process. In addition, supporting documents are still created manually using Microsoft Office, so they are considered ineffective, efficient and the files are vulnerable to loss. As well as difficulties in making procurement reports because the files are lost and the files that are stored are not centralized. The method used in developing with Rapid Application Development (RAD). Procurement information systems produce more structured and instant procurement documents in processing procurement results in the form of reports. The results of this development create a more orderly and well-documented workflow and provide security for procurement data. With this information system, the process of procuring goods and services at the Inspectorate of DKI Jakarta Province becomes more orderly. Keywords: DKI Jakarta, e-katalog, procurement, RAD, web.

Management of the state power structures? organizational units for materiel and technical support requires the use of effective tools for supporting decisions, due to the complexity, interdependence, and dynamism of supply in the market economy. The corporate nature of power structures is of particular interest to centralized procurement management, as it provides significant advantages through coordination, eliminating duplication, and economy of scale. This article presents optimization models of the supply of state power structures? organizational units with centralized procurement, for different levels of simulated materiel and technical support processes. The models allow us to find the most profitable options for state power structures? organizational supply units in a centre-oriented logistics system in conditions of the changing needs, volume of allocated funds, and logistics costs that accompany the process of supply, by maximizing the provision level of organizational units with necessary material and technical resources for the entire planning period of supply by minimizing the total logistical costs, taking into account the diverse nature and the different priorities of organizational units and material and technical resources.

The contract system requires the development and adoption of management decisions to improve and optimize in order to increase the efficiency of budget expenditures at all different levels and stimulate the development of the real sector of economics. The subject of the study is the innovative approach based on the introduction of management by category. The article substantiates the need and shows the advantages of introducing category management in the procurement system of companies, describes its methodology, shows the process of developing and implementing the category strategy, including the following main stages: planning needs for the subject of procurement with the allocation of the category; forming a document with basic data; market analysis; strategy development, its implementation and monitoring; approaches to calculating the expected and actual effect of implementing this strategy; results of approbation of the management approach to the categories on the example of centralized procurement of vehicles. Restructuring the management system from the standpoint of category management is the most relevant for large companies with an extensive regional network and a large number of internal customers of goods, works and services.

Purpose – Fleet management is a key function in humanitarian organizations, but is not always recognized as such. This results in poor performance and negative impacts on the organization. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrates how the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) managed to substantially improve its fleet management through the introduction of an Internal Leasing Program (ILP), in which headquarters procures vehicles and leases them to field offices. Design/methodology/approach – This paper develops a framework for fleet management based on a longitudinal case study with UNHCR. It compares fleet performance indicators before and after implementation of an ILP. Findings – At UNHCR, vehicle procurement was driven by availability of funding. Fleet management was highly decentralized and field offices had limited awareness of its importance. These systems and behaviors led to major challenges for the organization. The introduction of the ILP positively impacted fleet management at UNHCR by reducing fleet size, average age of fleet and procurement costs. Practical implications – This paper provides fleet managers with a tool for analyzing their fleet. The frameworks and actions described in this paper contain practical recommendations for achieving a well-performing fleet. Originality/value – This paper is the first to analyze fleet management before and after introduction of an ILP. It describes the benefits of this model based on empirical data, and develops frameworks to be used by researchers and practitioners.

AbstractThe volume of food purchased by the American military makes it perhaps the single largest intermediated market for food in the USA. Consequently, it is not surprising that those seeking to enhance the economic viability of small and mid-scale farms may view military bases as a promising market for locally produced foods. This is a challenging prospect, however, due to the centralized structure of military command, the nature of the military procurement system and federal mandates to obtain products that maximize value at the lowest available cost. This paper describes the US military food procurement system and the work of a 3-yr initiative to increase the amount of locally produced, source-identified products used at a North Carolina military installation. Our experiences serve as a cautionary tale, with this paper designed as both a primer on ‘how it works’ for food procurement at the federal and base level, and a description of our largely unsuccessful attempts to increase the volume of local food products from small-/mid-scale producers moving through the supply chain into base dining halls and restaurants. Based on our experiences, we also make recommendations on possible entry points for local food and farm advocates to work within the existing system to localize food procurement.

The paper studies the historical and legal background of the formation and development of government procurement in Ukraine. It analyzes the essence and significance of public procurement for the effective development of budgetary enterprises, institutions and organizations in different historical periods. It has been established that public procurement took various forms long before the independence of Ukraine. State orders are considered in the context of the broader problem of state regulation of the economy, namely one of the most serious and ambiguous economic problems is the rational interaction of the state and the market system in the process of public procurement. It is substantiated that a full-fledged national economy largely depends on how transparent and economically justified public expenditures on the maintenance of institutions financed from the state budget. Detected that one of the most promising ways to implement the concept of rational and efficient use of budget funds is the widespread introduction of a single structured system in the procurement of goods, works and services for public needs, based on competition, transparency, non-discrimination and decentralization. The paper reviews specifics of legislative regulation of public procurement in the relevant periods. The stage of transition of the system of centralized production planning, distribution of material and technical resources, the function of the state order as an absolute state regulator in the production of products and services to the means of meeting the needs of material resources, products, works and services of consumers supported by the state budget. It identifies the main differences in the approaches to understanding the essence of public procurement. The paper provides a detailed description of the influence of factors and circumstances on the development of the legal framework of public procurement. It determines and substantiates government procurement development periods. The paper analyzes the negative effects of omissions and non-finalization of the legal framework of each respective period. It studies the methods of and reasons for changing the terminology in the formation of the conceptual apparatus of the modern legal framework. Conclusions on changes, additions and adjustments to the legal framework of public procurement are provided. The paper assesses the main differences between the adopted public procurement laws.

Purpose This paper aims to explore public procurement frameworks during disasters in Chile and New Zealand, identifying the factors that affect government procurement performance in disaster response. Design/methodology/approach This research adopted a case study methodology following a qualitative approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with government officers from Chile and New Zealand who had practice-relevant knowledge of public procurement and disaster management. Data was complemented by document reviews, including government reports and the records of disaster management organizations. Findings This paper finds public procurement to be negatively affected by several factors during disasters, including celerity and flexibility of response; market and supplier restrictions; pressures over procurement teams; centralism of procurement structures; lack of technical knowledge; competition and crossover of agreements; corruption; and price variations. Practical implications This paper includes policy recommendations on how to increase the effectiveness of disaster management and public procurement systems in countries at high risk of earthquakes and other disasters. Social implications This paper can help public procurement officers to provide a better response during disasters, supplying the goods and services required to the affected population in a timely and effective manner. Originality/value This paper addresses a gap in research by identifying factors which negatively impact government procurement and response during a disaster.

This paper investigates a decentralized assembly system that consists of one assembler and two independent suppliers; wherein one supplier is perfectly reliable for the production, while the other generates yield uncertainty. Facing the random market demand, the assembler has to order the components from one supplier in advance and meanwhile requires the other supplier to deliver the components under VMI mode. We construct a Nash game between the supplier and the assembler so as to derive their equilibrium procurement/production strategies. The results show that the channel’s performance is highly undermined by the decentralization between players and also the combination of two supply modes. Compared to the centralized system, we propose an advance payment contract to perfectly coordinate the supply chain performance. The numerical examples indicate some management implications on the supply mode comparison and sensitivity analysis.

In 2019, the Chinese government implemented the first round of the National Centralized Drug Procurement (NCDP) pilot (so-called “4 + 7” policy) in mainland China, in which 25 drugs were included. We conducted this study to examine the impacts of NCDP policy on drug utilization and expenditures, and to clarify the main factors contributing to drug expenditure changes. This study used drug purchasing order data from the Centralized Drug Procurement Survey in Shenzhen 2019. Drugs related to the “4 + 7” policy were selected as study samples, including 23 “4 + 7” policy-related varieties and 15 basic alternative drugs. Driving factors for drug expenditures changes were analyzed using A.M. index system analysis (Addis A. & Magrini N.’ method). After the implementation of the NCDP policy, the volume of “4 + 7” policy-related varieties increased by 73.8%, among which winning products jumped by 1638.2% and non-winning products dropped by 70.8%; the expenditures of “4 + 7” policy-related varieties decreased by 36.9%. Structure effects (0.47) and price effects (0.78) negatively contributed to the increase in drug expenditures of “4 + 7” policy-related varieties, while volume effects (1.73) had positive influence. NCDP policy successfully decreased drug expenditures of “4 + 7” policy-related varieties with structure effects playing a leading role. However, total drug expenditures were not effectively controlled due to the increasing use of alternative drugs.

V preteklosti je Slovenska vojska (SV) uporabljala različne načine zagotavljanja uniform in športne opreme. Trenutni centralizirani sistem za oskrbo z uniformo v SV ni učinkovit. V prispevku predstavljamo rezultate raziskave o vzrokih za njegovo neučinkovitost. Čeprav je vzrokov več, menimo, da sta dva bistvena: nezadostna finančna sredstva za nabavo potrebnih količin uniform in zapletenost postopkov javnega naročanja. Težave ne bi rešilo ponovno uvajanje intendantskih servisov v vojašnice SV. Centraliziran sistem oskrbe z uniformami v SV je edina racional- na rešitev in odgovor na ekonomske izzive. Prispevek ponuja ukrepe za odpravo ugotovljenih pomanjkljivosti in izboljšavo učinkovitosti sistema. Predlagamo tudi uvedbo točkovnega sistema dodeljevanja uniforme (že uveden v policijo in kaže pozitivne rezultate), oblikovanje mobilnega (potujočega) intendantskega servisa, nakup 3D-telesnega snemalnika ter vzpostavitev delovanja trgovine oziroma trgovin z vojaško opremo. Prispevek je namenjen širši javnosti, odgovornim osebam v SV pa ponuja izhodišče za odločanje o prenovi sistema oskrbe z uniformami v SV. In the past, the Slovenian Armed Forces (SAF) used different methods of providing uniforms and sports equipment. The existing centralized uniform supply system, however, is not effective. The present paper presents the results of research, which focused on the causes for the inefficiency of the existing system. Despite a larger number of causes, we believe that there are two crucial ones: insufficient financial resources to purchase the necessary quantities of uniforms, and problems with the implementation of public procurement procedures. The reintroduction of commissa- ry services in the barracks would not solve the problem. Centralized uniform supply system in the SAF is the only rational solution and answer to the economic challen- ges. This article provides appropriate steps for the renovation of the uniform supply system in the SAF. The authors recommend the measures necessary to abolish the identified shortcomings and improve its effectiveness. We thus propose the introduc- tion of a debit points system for uniform allocation (already introduced in the police and showing positive results), the establishment of a mobile commissary service, the purchase of a 3D body scanner and the establishment of store or a chain of stores selling uniforms and military equipment. The article is mainly intended for the general public, but it provides the responsible authorities in the SAF with a starting point for the decision-making on the reform of the uniform-supply system.

In this study, we investigated the trends and patterns of antibiotic consumption (macrolides and lincosamides) in China’s healthcare institutions from 2015 to 2017. The China Drug Supply Information Platform (CDSIP) was officially launched in 2015. We collected records from this national centralized bidding procurement system between 2015 and 2017. The use of J01F antibiotics (macrolides or lincosamides) was calculated in a defined daily dose per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID).Purchase data from 70,366 national medical facilities included in the CDSIP were collected. The procurement data of 66,007 medical facilities have not changed over 3 years. There is a slight decline in the consumption of J01F antibiotics, which decreased from 3.03 DID in 2015 to 2.91 DID in 2017. Azithromycin (20.6%) was the most commonly used antibiotic in 2017 among all classes, followed by clindamycin (17.9%) and erythromycin (13.7%). Parenteral antibiotics accounted for 32.0% of total antibiotic consumption and 59.6% of total antibiotics expenditure in 2017. The overall consumption of most antibiotics decreased slightly over the 3-yearstudy period. This may be owing to China’s health-related policies in the past few years. A gap still exists in antibiotic use between regions and dosage forms. Further studies are needed to optimize antibiotic prescribing and reduce antibiotic resistance.

Just over three decades ago Joseph Berliner, in his book Factory and Manager in the USSR, explored the world of the socialist manager. Drawing on interviews with Soviet emigres, he illuminated a world of informal management behaviour hidden beneath the seemingly formidable confines of a highly centralized system. The Soviet manager of the 1930s and 1940s employed a number of deceptive strategies made rational by a taut system of output planning and by chronic supply shortages: hoarding of plant capacity, labour and inventories; “storming” at the end of plan periods, in order to meet quotas; neglect of customer needs in favour of products easy to produce; and an overriding concern with the procurement process, relying heavily on procuring agents (tolkachi) who employed personal connections (blat) at other plants in order to secure inputs. Despite extensive social and economic change in the Soviet Union since that time, this pattern of managerial behaviour has survived, albeit in slightly altered form, into the 1980s.

Compared with the ordinary merchant ship building, the concentralized distribution in cruise building is more complex. Plan change is a common phenomenon in cruise building, and it is easy to lead to mismatch between production and logistics, resulting in risks such as production schedule delay and inventory backlog. In order to reduce the adverse effects of plan change on the shipyard, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth study on the risks of a centralized distribution logistics plan. Based on the analysis of the composition of the centralized distribution logistics planning system, risk factors in different plan links are identified in this paper. A system dynamic model is constructed to simulate the propagation of five basic types of planning risk, including procurement plan, warehousing plan, pallet concentralization plan, distribution plan and production plan. In the case study of HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) materials, the values of risk factors are estimated though consulting experts with questionnaire. The weight of each risk factor in each subsystem is calculated by a method combined with analytic hierarchy process and coefficient of variation method. Through the simulation experiments carried out in Vensim, it is found that both inventory backlog risk and cruise construction schedule delay risk increase with the increasement of estimated values of risk factors, which is an effective proof of the rationality of the model, and that the most sensitive risk factor for both the two kinds of risk is production planning risk.

Environment Structuring is an important factor in settlement improvement efforts. As an indicator of clean and healthy neighborhoods that continuing environmental improvement quality can be measured by the presence or not, and good or poor infrastructure such as residential areas. The settlement Palangka Permai is located between the street G. Obos and Yos Sudarso Palangka Raya. It indicates that there are some drawbacks in terms of infrastructure feasibility aspects. Problems and objectives set out in this study are to determine the condition, causes and alternative systems of infrastructure arrangement residential area which is managed by the developer in the Palangkaraya city, as a basis for making alternative arrangement of the infrastructure systems to prevent neighborhoods from becoming a slum in Palangkaraya city. The results calculated scores to gauge the feasibility of infrastructure categories shows that the environmental aspect and location aspects of ordinary uncategorized. Aspects of road infrastructure, water and drainage, social facilities, buildings and technical of liquid and solid waste disposal have deserved fewer categories. The alternative system proposed settlement infrastructure is on Road infrastructure by optimizing the way the existing environment, create a new road axis, providing an environment of interconnected roads, procurement of drainage on either side of the road with a width and height of > 10% from width of pavement, optimizing the public open space, private open space, trees, and green layout, landscape and green belt areas as social facilities, oversight, and action on changes in appearance of buildings, by evaluating the ownership of the IMB and to make special rules to regulate of the building function, waste solid management (waste) needs to form an organization for the handling of waste. For the liquid wastes, handling is the local provider is to disposal wastewater system (on-site system) with system or septic tank and cubluk disposal centralized (off-site system) to create a closed channel to a combination of wastewater and surface water

In the public sector the agents have the responsibility of being accountable to the exploitation of the resources towards service delivery. The public sector expenditure has been characterised with wasteful and fruitless, irregular and unauthorised expenditures. Therefore governance embraces the engagements set to certify that the anticipated upshots for stakeholders (citizens) are limpid and realized. This study is grounded on agency theory as it seeks out to analyse public expenditure and governance in South Africa’s public sector. The research study followed a qualitative research approach based on an interpretative philosophy which examined meaningful and symbolic content of qualitative data from 24 General Reports on The Provincial Audit Outcomes for the three periods (2012-2013; 2013-2014 and 2014-2015). The research results propose that public sector financial governance in South Africa is pitiable as the public agencies perpetrate an act of financial misdemeanour as they continue to errantly make irregular expenditures, unauthorised expenditures and, fruitless and wasteful expenditures. Public finance management reform is a necessity as it can aid governments move to single accounting systems across the public sector, permitting centralised planning and budgeting, as well as the capacity to observe the expenditure of funds centrally. It is recommended that governments should implement integrated financial management systems which allows for integrated budgeting, financial management, procurement and supply chain management.

During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the UK government took the decision to centralise the procurement, allocation and distribution of mission-critical intensive care unit (ICU) medical equipment. Establishing new supply chains in the context of global shortages presented significant challenges. This report describes the development of an innovative platform developed rapidly and voluntarily by clinical engineers, to mobilise the UK’s shared medical equipment inventory, in order to match ICU capacity to dynamically evolving clinical demand. The ‘Coronavirus ICU Medical Equipment Distribution’ platform was developed to optimise ICU equipment allocation, distribution, collection, redeployment and traceability across the National Health Service. Although feedback on the platform has largely been very positive, the platform was built for a scenario that did not fully materialise in the UK and this affected the implementation approach. As such, it was not used to its full potential. Nonetheless, the platform and the insights derived and disseminated in its development have been extremely valuable. It provides a prototype for not only optimising system capacity in future pandemic scenarios but also a means for maximally exploiting the large amount of new equipment in the UK health system, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This early stage innovation has demonstrated that a system-wide pooled information resource can benefit the operations of individual organisations. It has also generated numerous lessons to be borne in mind in innovation projects.

IntroductionEvidence supporting the use of pacemakers is well established. However, evidence about the optimal use of pacemaker telemonitoring for disease management in heart failure is not. Health Technology Wales (HTW) held a national adoption event to encourage implementation and best practice in use of pacemaker telemonitoring in the National Health Service (NHS) Wales to improve patient outcomes in heart failure.MethodsMulti-stakeholder national adoption workshop using a mixture of expert presentations, case studies and interdisciplinary group and panel discussions to agree key actions to understand the value and promote optimal use of pacemakers for remote disease monitoring in patients with heart failure in Wales.ResultsThe workshop was attended by forty-five senior professionals with an interest in improving care of patients with heart failure. Actions to progress included: providing a centralized Welsh system to support technical issues that arise with telemonitoring; considering interoperability with other NHS Wales systems; encouraging value-based procurement with collection of a core outcome set; agreeing implementation issues with both professionals and patients; audit to understand experience, resource use and outcomes; and sharing manufacturer evidence on the accuracy of telemanagement algorithms. It was suggested that these actions be progressed via an All-Wales multi-stakeholder approach, led by the Welsh Cardiac Network.ConclusionsDeveloping a more agile, lifecycle approach to technology appraisal is currently advocated; recalibrating the focus from technology assessment to technology management across the complete technology lifecycle. HTW will endeavour through regular adoption events to facilitate such a paradigm shift that aims to understand value and optimise use of evidence-based technologies.

Introduction. The introduction of digitalization of the economy will help to centralize the control over the activities of economic entities by various government agencies. On the other hand, the contractor of the enterprise, or other persons who are interested in the activities of a particular enterprise can get acquainted with the rating of the enterprise and draw the necessary conclusions for themselves. Purpose. It consists in a thorough study and analysis of international and domestic experience in rating business activities of enterprises in Ukraine to develop harmonized and unified guidelines for ranking business entities in the European integration of Ukraine. Results. Technologically, the rating should be based on blockchain technology. This technology will avoid one-way storage of information on the server and will allow many participants in the ranking to store it in encrypted form. This situation will not allow hackers to falsify information or hack the server. What are the main criteria for ranking corporate entities? Of course, implementing a large number of criteria will be both problematic and cumbersome. Therefore, it is proposed to rank enterprises at the initial stages according to five main criteria: assessment of taxes and customs duties; evaluation of social indicators; evaluation of the implementation of economic measures; evaluation of the main economic indicators of the enterprise; evaluation of other indicators. Conclusions. The proposed guidelines for digital rating of enterprises will improve the regulatory and legal support for determining the rating of the enterprise to obtain a scale of reliability of the enterprise as a business entity, eliminate significant problems of corruption in the system of public procurement and procurement, double interpretation of the business entity, activism in evaluating the activities of enterprises, etc.

Background. The introduction of innovative drugs has significantly increased the treatment effectiveness in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM), but the question of whether these expensive options can be financially secured remains open.Objective: to assess the cost of triplets of targeted drugs ixazomib, carfilzomib, elotuzumab and daratumumab with lenalidomide and dexamethasone used in the treatment of RRMM, and to determine possible payment options for this therapy at the level of the Russian Federation subjects.Material and methods. The cost of an annual course of treatment with the studied regimens with centralized purchases and the cost of targeted drugs per hospitalization case were calculated based on the maximum registered prices, recommended doses and treatment regimens. The normative legal acts regulating the payment of drug therapy for multiple myeloma were analyzed and possible financing channels and their limitations were identified. Using the example of the Volgograd and Saratov Regions, tariffs under the compulsory medical insurance system were calculated and their sufficiency in covering the cost of targeted therapy was estimated.Results. The cost of an annual course of triplet therapy per patient in the case of centralized procurement of drugs ranged from 5.51 million rubles (regimen with ixazomib) up to 8.03 million rubles (regimen with carfilzomib). The cost per hospitalization, depending on the number of doses, ranged from 80,667–242,000 rubles (ixazomib, 1–3 doses) in the Saratov Region up to 239,618–958,472 rubles (daratumumab, 1–4 doses) in the Volgograd Region. Possible reimbursement channels are High-Cost Nosologies (HCN), Obligatory Medical Insurance (OMI) and Regional Drug Coverage (RDC) programs, nevertheless triplet therapy cannot be purchased via the single channel and the combination of them is required. It has been shown that, in most cases, the costs for a case of targeted drug treatment in studied regions are covered by the average tariff for the corresponding diagnosis-related group (DRG), except for cases with a maximum duration in a day hospital setting. An analysis of the RDC lists and the procurement of drugs in the studied regimens at the expense of regional budgets showed that lenalidomide, ixazomib, carfilzomib, elotuzumab and daratumumab are included in the restrictive list in regions 77, 74, 66, 63 and 47, but they are purchased only in regions 15, 24, 6, 4 and 6, respectively.Conclusion. The use of a triplet with ixazomib is characterized by the lowest costs, which indicates its greater economic attractiveness relative to carfilzomib, daratumumab and elotuzumab in the treatment of patients with RRMM. The tariffs established in the current DRG model retain the possibility of paying for treatment with the high-cost medicines at the expense of the OMI funds in combination with the HCN or RDC programs. There are reasons to believe that the expansion of the list of 14 HCN program will increase the provision of patients with highly effective therapy and also reduce the financial burden on the regions.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a framework for integrating construction supply chain in order to resolve the data heterogeneity and data sharing problems in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach – Standardized web service technology is used in the proposed framework for data specification, transfer, and integration. Open standard SAWSDL is used to annotate web service descriptions with pointers to concepts defined in ontologies. NoSQL database Cassandra is used for distributed data storage among construction supply chain stakeholders. Findings – Ontology can be used to support heterogeneous data transfer and integration through web services. Distributed data storage facilitates data sharing and enhances data control. Practical implications – This paper presents examples of two ontologies for expressing construction supply chain information – ontology for material and ontology for purchase order. An example scenario is presented to demonstrate the proposed web service framework for material procurement process involving three parties, namely, project manager, contractor, and material supplier. Originality/value – The use of web services is not new to construction supply chains (CSCs). However, it still faces problems in channelizing information along CSCs due to data heterogeneity. Trust issue is also a barrier to information sharing for integrating supply chains in a centralized collaboration system. In this paper, the authors present a web service framework, which facilitates storage and sharing of information on a distributed manner mediated through ontology-based web services. Security is enhanced with access control. A data model for the distributed databases is also presented for data storage and retrieval.

Background. Blood safety is a system of measures to organize equal and timely access of citizens to high-quality and safe components of donated blood in the required quantity, their safe and proper use, as well as the safety of donors and patients. Objective. To describe the state and prospects of the development of national blood system. Materials and methods. Analysis of available regulatory documents and literature sources. Results and discussion. In Ukraine, there is a need to create a sustainable self-sufficient national blood system, which could include both the provision of services by medical institutions and the supervision of their provision. This system should be based on voluntary gratuitous donation. It is also necessary to coordinate and standardize such processes as blood procurement, processing, testing for transfusion-transmission infections, determination of blood group and rhesus, storage, distribution, transportation of blood and its components, monitoring of adverse reactions. The hospital transfusion committee (HTC), the hospital blood bank (HBB) and the transfusion immunological laboratory should be the part of the transfusion service of health care facilities. The functions of HTC are to determine the algorithms for the organization of transfusion care, to establish the rules for the appointment of blood and its components, and to assist in education and training of personnel and more. In turn, the functions of HBB include centralized receiving, accounting, storage and dispensing of blood or its components, control of transportation and storage of blood, introduction of alternative therapeutic transfusion methods, control of clinical efficacy assessment, hemovigilance, control of the records and documents of transfusion assistance. It is recommended to allocate four rooms for HBB: for receiving, storage and distributing blood; for collecting and processing applications; for immunohematological examinations and for the staff. Requirements for the provision of blood transfusion services in a health care facility include the organization of the listed above units, inventory management, guidance on the proper use of blood components, quality management, reporting system, and staff training. The blood centre and health care facility must work together to manage blood supplies. When transporting blood, it is extremely important to adhere to the cold chain from the moment the blood is received from the donor to the transfusion of its components to the recipient. Blood and erythrocyte-containing blood components should be stored at 2-6 °C to prevent hemolysis and microbial contamination. Plasma blood components need to be stored frozen (-30 °C), and platelet-containing – in a thermoshaker at a temperature of 20-24 °C. Depending on the type of preparation, plasma, erythrocyte and platelet preparations may have different clinical efficacy. Before transfusion, the doctor must perform a macroscopic assessment of the suitability of the blood product, determine the blood group and rhesus of the recipient, compare the result with the patient’s medical record, determine the blood group and rhesus of the donor, compare the result with plastic container label, perform blood compatibility tests, perform clinical and biological test. Reports on the serious hazards of transfusion (SHOT) indicate that there are adverse transfusion reactions that cannot be prevented, as well as reactions that can be avoided by improving practice and control, and human-related reactions. An important role in the functioning of the blood system is played by hemovigilance. The advantages of hemovigilance are to identify trends in adverse reactions, to reveal the areas for improvement in transfusion medicine, to stimulate research, to raise awareness of risk factors, and to increase the safety of transfusions for patients. Conclusions. 1. In Ukraine there is a need to create a stable self-sufficient national blood system. 2. It is necessary to coordinate and standardize such processes as procurement, processing, testing for transfusion-transmission infections, determination of blood group and rhesus, storage, distribution, transportation of blood and its components, monitoring of adverse reactions. 3. Hemovigilance plays an important role in the functioning of the blood system.

IntroductionChina is one of the twenty-seven countries with a high burden of Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in the world. Of the new TB patients in China in 2017, about 63,000 are MDR-TB patients, accounting for one-third of the number of new MDR-TB patients worldwide.In the latest “China's 13th Five-Year Plan” national TB prevention and control plan promulgated in 2017, it is clearly emphasized that all regions should gradually incorporate TB into the payment catalogue of special outpatient medical insurance, according to local conditions. However, for this special group of MDR-TB patients, there is no specialized prevention and control policy at the national level, and there are also blind spots in the medical security policy.Responding to the drug needs of MDR-TB patients, it is necessary to provide patients with stable and affordable second-line anti-TB drugs. It is also necessary to understand the overall drug demand for second-line drugs nationwide to guide further policy formulation and budget research.MethodsThrough semi-structured group interviews and key informant interviews, five provinces and cities were investigated. Qualitative analysis was conducted based on stakeholder theory selected doctors and staff from Centers for Disease Control.ResultsThrough investigations in this study, problems like low purchasing price, insufficient purchasing volume, low drug supply efficiency, and monopoly producers were found. Through the analysis of roles and relationships among the major stakeholders in the second-line drug supply system, together with the motivation and resistance factors, it was found that all stakeholders have the motivation to solve the problem and face their dilemmas and obstacles at the same time.ConclusionsPatients with MDR-TB still have difficulties in obtaining medicines. The interests of various stakeholders need to be balanced to improve drug accessibility and affordability. It is recommended to take advantage of the country's centralized procurement, encourage the development and listing of new anti-tuberculosis drugs and generic drugs, and improve the supervision system to ensure the supply of drugs to benefit more patients with tuberculosis.

The article studies the situation with food supply in the Kalinin region in 1943. It aims to reveal the reasons for a considerable decline in delivery and distribution of food products at the local level and to analyze the actions of the local authorities in their efforts to solve the problems of food shortage. The research rationale consists in touching upon a subject that hasn’t yet drawn the local historians’ attention and hasn’t been highlighted in regional historiography. The study is based on the analysis of archival sources and on the implementation of microhistorical approach. The data from various documents reveals a decline in local residents’ food consumption in the studied period. There were problems with food supply in Eastern and front line areas, but the situation was most severe in the areas freed from occupation. The mortality rate due to starvation was registered in a number of areas. Apart from objective necessity to send some part of food supplies to the front line, there were also subjective factors affecting the situation with food supply in the region. Among them were malfunctioning of regional procurement, inability of trade units to achieve proper planning, timely delivery of goods, and effective control over their distribution. Food shortage was aggravated by looting, self-supply that heads of organizations and authorities practiced. Personnel issues were an acute problem. The senior posts in the kolkhozes, village Soviets, and party bodies were held by citizens who lacked managerial skills, were prone to influence peddling and often callous to the people. Therefore, mismanagement and malconduct of some administrators resulted in a situation when the potential of centralized food supply system aimed at giving help to the most vulnerable and insuring their survival under the conditions of war was not fulfilled.

Background Food fortification began in Ghana in 1996 when legislation was passed to enforce the iodization of salt. This paper describes the development of the Ghanaian fortification program and identifies lessons learned in implementing fortification initiatives (universal salt iodization, fortification of vegetable oil and wheat flour) from 1996 to date. Objective This paper identifies achievements, challenges, and lessons learned in implementing large scale food fortification in Ghana. Methodology Primary data was collected through interviews with key members of the National Food Fortification Alliance (NFFA), implementation staff of the Food Fortification Project, and staff of GAIN. Secondary data was collected through desk review of documentation from the project offices of the National Food Fortification Project and the National Secretariat for the Implementation of the National Salt Iodization in Ghana. Results Reduction of the prevalence of goiter has been observed, and coverage of households with adequately iodized salt increased between 1996 and 2006. Two models were designed to increase production of adequately iodized salt: one to procure and distribute potassium iodate (KIO3) locally, and the second, the salt bank cooperative (SBC) model, specifically designed for small-scale artisanal salt farmers. This resulted in the establishment of a centralized potassium iodate procurement and distribution system, tailored to local needs and ensuring competitive and stable prices. The SBC model allowed for nearly 157 MT of adequately iodized salt to be produced in 2011 in a region where adequately iodized salt was initially not available. For vegetable oil fortification, implementing quantitative analysis methods for accurate control of added fortificant proved challenging but was overcome with the use of a rapid test device, confirming that 95% of vegetable oil is adequately fortified in Ghana. However, appropriate compliance with national standards on wheat flour continues to pose challenges due to adverse sensory effects, which have led producers to reduce the dosage of premix in wheat flour. Conclusions Challenges to access to premix experienced by small producers can be overcome with a central procurement model in which the distributor leverages the overall volume by tendering for a consolidated order. The SBC model has the potential to be expanded and to considerably increase the coverage of the population consuming iodized salt in Ghana. Successful implementation of the cost-effective iCheck CHROMA rapid test device should be replicated in other countries where quality control of fortified vegetable oil is a challenge, and extended to additional food vehicles, such as wheat flour and salt. Only a reduced impact on iron deficiency in Ghana can be expected, given the low level of fortificant added to the wheat flour. An integrated approach, with complementary programs including additional iron-fortified food vehicles, should be explored to maximize health impact.

Abstract Consumers and institutional kitchens, as well as traders, have shown increasing interest towards local food. This is particularly due to the transparency and traceability characteristic of a short supply chain and social aspects related to food origins. The trend has been increasingly common during the past decade in Europe and North America, and it is strongly evident in the case area of this study in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland. In general, ease of access to food is highly important for consumers and crucial for institutional kitchens, in addition to quality aspects and price. However, regardless of proximity, poor accessibility is one of the key issues preventing the further growth of local food markets. Due to scale economics in food value chain, food transport is presently organised mainly by centralised, large-scale logistics companies directed via hubs serving millions of consumers. Accordingly, production volumes required to enter large-scale markets are often unattainable for disjointed small-scale local food producers. In this study, geographic information system (GIS)-based accessibility analyses are applied for analysing potential for integral networking of local food production and transport companies. Berry production was selected as a case study because it has a relatively strong role in Northern Ostrobothnia, while its logistics are notably underdeveloped. Spatial data of primary production volumes consists of register records of farm-specific cultivation areas and average yields in Northern Ostrobothnia and Finland. Accessibility computations are based on the digital model of the Finnish road network, Digiroad. Two surveys were also implemented to farmers and food processing companies to seek views on food processing, sales, logistics and procurements regarding local food. Data from the surveys was used in accessibility analysis, which enables exploration of opportunities for establishing ‘local food’ clusters integrating small producers into a more effective and competitive network. Information about favourable conditions for cooperative networks in the local food sector may help in establishing companies and their growth. Again, successful networking may increase scale economies in local production in transport, processing and marketing.

<p><strong>English</strong></p><p>Integrated Crop Management Field School (ICM - FS) performance is less optimal due to some problems, especially centralized seed procurement and distribution, low quality of seeds, lack of coordination, and inappropriate technology introduced. Objectives of this study are t o obtain policy strategies and to get indicative programs of ICM - FS to support the promotion of the national rice production. The study was conducted in five rice agro - ecosystems, i.e. irrigated (West Java, East Java and South Sumatra), insufficient rainfe d drainage (West Java), good rainfed drainage (Banten), swamp (South Sumatra), and dryland (Yogyakarta). Primary data was collected through structured interviews in 2012 from 262 respondents consisting of policy maker s , program implementers, participants an d non - participants of ICM - FS. Analysis tool used was SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), logical framework matrix programs, as well as ICM - FS development indicative program . The results showed that ICM - FS programs in irrigated and drylan d areas we re quite strong and potential to be successful in increasing rice national production. ICM - FS programs in rainfed and swamp areas deal with some weaknesses but still possible for further production improvement. Farmers in irrigated and rain - fed a gro - ecosystems have already adopted newly improved varieties (VUB) before the program ICM - FS implemented. Thus, newly - improved seed aid for farmer groups w a s less effective. Seed delivery was also delayed along with its low quality. It is necessary to imple ment seed price subsidy through involvement of local seed producers and seed retailers at village level. Improved technologies required are adaptive hybrid rice and efficient cropping systems such as direct seeding and potential dwarf varieties. In the fut ure, ICM - FS should include integrated management of rural - base rice agribusiness area supported by easy better to capital, inputs, and marketing</p><p> </p><p><strong>Indonesia</strong></p><p>Kinerja SL-PTT selama ini dinilai belum optimal di mana banyak permasalahan terutama dalam pengadaan dan distribusi benih yang sentralistik, kualitas dan jenis benih yang tidak sesuai kebutuhan, kurang koordinasinya pengawalan, kurang layaknya teknologi yang diintroduksikan, yang kesemuanya secara simultan menyebabkan peningkatan produktivitas padi relatif masih rendah. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah menghasilkan rekomendasi strategi kebijakan dan program-program indikatif SL-PTT untuk menunjang peningkatan produksi padi nasional. Penelitian dilakukan di lima agroekosistem, yaitu di sawah irigasi (Jawa Barat, Jawa Timur, dan Sumatera Selatan), sawah tadah hujan drainase baik (Jawa Barat), sawah tadah hujan drainase buruk (Banten), lahan pasang surut (Sumatera Selatan), dan lahan kering (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta). Data primer digali tahun 2012 melalui wawancara terstruktur dari 262 responden yang terdiri dari penentu kebijakan, pelaksana program, peserta, dan nonpeserta SL-PTT. Alat analisis yang digunakan adalah analisis SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) dan matriks program kerangka kerja logis (logical framework) serta program indikatif pengembangan SL-PTT. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa pengembangan SL-PTT di lahan sawah irigasi dan lahan kering cukup kuat dan berpeluang besar untuk lebih berhasil dalam peningkatan produksi nasional. Posisi SL-PTT di lahan tadah hujan dan pasang surut walaupun masih banyak kelemahannya, berpeluang untuk lebih berkembang meningkatkan produksi padi nasional. Petani di agroekosistem sawah irigasi dan tadah hujan sudah menggunakan varietas unggul baru (VUB) sejak sebelum program SL-PTT, sehingga BLBU untuk kelompok tani ini dianggap kurang efektif dan bahkan berdampak negatif berupa keterlambatan penyaluran dan rendahnya kualitas benih. Implikasi kebijakan dari penelitian ini adalah perlunya perubahan sistem pengadaan benih BLBU menjadi benih subsidi harga yang melibatkan penangkar lokal dan kios di desa. Upaya peningkatan produktivitas padi perlu ditingkatkan dengan teknologi terobosan antara lain pengembangan padi hibrida yang adaptif dan sistem tanam yang efisien (tanam benih langsung dan varietas berumur pendek). Kelembagaan SL-PTT ke depan hendaknya diarahkan pada pengelolaan terpadu kawasan agribisnis padi pada hamparan wilayah desa, yang didukung dengan kemudahan akses modal, pemasaran, dan ketersediaan saprodi.</p>

Constant demand for new naval and commercial vessels has created special conditions for the Government-owned Soviet shipbuilding industry, which practically has not been affected by the world shipbuilding crisis. On the other hand, such chronic diseases of the centralized economy as lack of incentive, material shortage and poor workmanship cause specific problems for ship construction. Being technically and financially unable to rapidly improve the overall technology level and performance of the entire industry, the Soviets concentrate their efforts on certain important areas and have achieved significant results, especially in welding and cutting titanium and aluminum alloys, modular production methods, standardization, etc. All productivity improvement efforts are supported by an army of highly educated engineers and scientists at shipyards, in multiple scientific, research and design institutions. Discussion Edwin J. Petersen, Todd Pacific Shipyards Three years ago I addressed the Ship Production Symposium as chairman of the Ship Production Committee and outlined some major factors which had contributed to the U.S. shipbuilding industry's remarkable achievements in building and maintaining the world's largest naval and merchant fleets during the five-year period starting just before World War II. The factors were as follows:There was a national commitment to get the job done. The shipbuilding industry was recognized as a needed national resource. There was a dependable workload. Standardization was extensively and effectively utilized. Shipbuilding work was effectively organized. Although these lessons appear to have been lost by our Government since World War II, the paper indicates that the Soviet Union has picked up these principles and has applied them very well to its current shipbuilding program. The paper also gives testimony to the observation that the Soviet Government recognizes the strategic and economic importance of a strong merchant fleet as well as a powerful naval fleet. In reviewing the paper, I found great similarity between the Soviet shipbuilding productivity improvement efforts and our own efforts or goals under the National Shipbuilding Research Program in the following areas:welding technology, flexible automation (robotics), application of group technology, standardization, facilities development, and education and training. In some areas, the Soviet Union appears to be well ahead of the United States in improving the shipbuilding process. Most noteworthy among these is the stable long-and medium-range planning that is possible by virtue of the use and adherence to the "Table of Vessel Classes." It will be obvious to most who hear and read these comments what a vast and significant improvement in shipbuilding costs and schedules could be achieved with a relatively dependable 15year master ship procurement plan for the U.S. naval and merchant fleets. Another area where the Soviet Union appears to lead the United States is in the integration of ship component suppliers into the shipbuilding process. This has been recognized as a vital step by the National Shipbuilding Research Program, but so far we have not made significant progress. A necessary prerequisite for this "supplier integration" is extensive standardization of ship components, yet another area in which the Soviets have achieved significantly greater progress than we have. Additional areas of Soviet advantage are the presence of a multilevel research and development infrastructure well supported by highly educated scientists, engineering and technical personnel; and better integration of formally educated engineering and technical personnel into the ship production process. In his conclusion, the author lists a number of problems facing the Soviet economy that adversely affect shipbuilding productivity. Perhaps behind this listing we can delve out some potential U.S. shipbuilding advantages. First, production systems in U.S. shipyards (with the possible exception of naval shipyards) are probably more flexible and adjustable to meet new circumstances as a consequence of not being constrained by a burdensome centralized bureaucracy, as is the case with Soviet shipyards. Next, such initiatives as the Ship Production Committee's "Human Resources Innovation" projects stand a better chance of achieving product-oriented "production team" relationship among labor, management, and technical personnel than the more rigid Soviet system, especially in view of the ability of U.S. shipyard management to offer meaningful financial incentives without the kind of bureaucratic constraints imposed in the Soviet system. Finally, the current U.S. Navy/shipbuilding industry cooperative effort to develop a common engineering database should lead to a highly integrated and disciplined ship design, construction, operation, and maintenance system for naval ships (and subsequently for commercial ships) that will ultimately restore the U.S. shipbuilding process to a leadership position in the world marketplace (additional references [16] and [17]).On that tentatively positive note, it seems fitting to close this discussion with a question: Is the author aware of any similar Soviet effort to develop an integrated computer-aided design, production and logistics support system? The author is to be congratulated on an excellent, comprehensive insight into the Soviet shipbuilding process and productivity improvement efforts that should give us all adequate cause not to be complacent in our own efforts. Peter M. Palermo, Naval Sea Systems Command The author presents an interesting paper that unfortunately leaves this reader with a number of unanswered questions. The paper is a paradox. It depicts a system consisting of a highly educated work force, advanced fabrication processes including the use of standardized hull modules, sophisticated materials and welding processes, and yet in the author's words they suffer from "low productivity, poor product quality, . . . and the rigid production systems which resists the introduction of new ideas." Is it possible that incentive, motivation, and morale play an equally significant role in achieving quality and producibility advances? Can the author discuss underlying reasons for quality problems in particular—or can we assume that the learning curves of Figs. 5 and Fig. 6 are representative of quality improvement curves? It has been my general impression that quality will improve with application of high-tech fabrication procedures, enclosed fabrication ways, availability of highly educated welding engineers on the building ways, and that productivity would improve with the implementation of modular or zone outfitting techniques coupled with the quality improvements. Can the author give his impressions of the impact of these innovations in the U.S. shipbuilding industry vis-a-vis the Soviet industry? Many of the welding processes cited in the paper are also familiar to the free world, with certain notable exceptions concerning application in Navy shipbuilding. For example, (1) electroslag welding is generally confined to single-pass welding of heavy plates; application to thinner plates—l1/4 in. and less when certified—would permit its use in more applications than heretofore. (2) Electron beam welding is generally restricted to high-technology machinery parts; vacuum chamber size restricts its use for larger components (thus it must be assumed that the Soviets have solved the vacuum chamber problem or have much larger chambers). (3) Likewise, laser welding has had limited use in U.S. shipbuilding. An interesting theme that runs throughout the paper, but is not explicitly addressed, is the quality of Soviet ship fitting. The use of high-tech welding processes and the mention of "remote controlled tooling for welding and X-ray testing the butt, and for following painting" imply significant ship fitting capabilities for fitting and positioning. This is particularly true if modules are built in one facility, outfitted and assembled elsewhere depending on the type of ship required. Any comments concerning Soviet ship fitting capabilities would be appreciated. The discussion on modular construction seems to indicate that the Soviets have a "standard hull module" that is used for different types of vessels, and if the use of these hull modules permit increasing hull length without changes to the fore and aft ends, it can be assumed that they are based on a standard structural design. That being the case, the midship structure will be overdesigned for many applications and optimally designed for very few. Recognizing that the initial additional cost for such a piece of hull structure is relatively minimal, it cannot be forgotten that the lifecycle costs for transporting unnecessary hull weight around can have significant fuel cost impacts. If I perceived the modular construction approach correctly, then I am truly intrigued concerning the methods for handling the distributive systems. In particular, during conversion when the ship is lengthened, how are the electrical, fluid, communications, and other distributive systems broken down, reassembled and tested? "Quick connect couplings" for these type systems at the module breaks is one particular area where economies can be achieved when zone construction methods become the order of the day in U.S. Navy ships. The author's comments in this regard would be most welcome. The design process as presented is somewhat different than U.S. Navy practice. In U.S. practice, Preliminary and Contract design are developed by the Navy. Detail design, the development of the working drawings, is conducted by the lead shipbuilder. While the detail design drawings can be used by follow shipbuilders, flexibility is permitted to facilitate unique shipbuilding or outfitting procedures. Even the contract drawings supplied by the Navy can be modified— upon Navy approval—to permit application of unique shipbuilder capabilities. The large number of college-trained personnel entering the Soviet shipbuilding and allied fields annually is mind-boggling. According to the author's estimation, a minimum of about 6500 college graduates—5000 of which have M.S. degrees—enter these fields each year. It would be most interesting to see a breakdown of these figures—in particular, how many naval architects and welding engineers are included in these figures? These are disciplines with relatively few personnel entering the Navy design and shipbuilding field today. For example, in 1985 in all U.S. colleges and universities, there were only 928 graduates (B.S., M.S. and Ph.D.) in marine, naval architecture and ocean engineering and only 1872 graduates in materials and metallurgy. The number of these graduates that entered the U.S. shipbuilding field is unknown. Again, the author is to be congratulated for providing a very thought-provoking paper. Frank J. Long, Win/Win Strategies This paper serves not only as a chronicle of some of the productivity improvement efforts in Soviet shipbuilding but also as an important reminder of the fruits of those efforts. While most Americans have an appreciation of the strengths of the Russian Navy, this paper serves to bring into clearer focus the Russians' entire maritime might in its naval, commercial, and fishing fleets. Indeed, no other nation on earth has a greater maritime capability. It is generally acknowledged that the Soviet Navy is the largest in the world. When considering the fact that the commercial and fishing fleets are, in many military respects, arms of the naval fleet, we can more fully appreciate how awesome Soviet maritime power truly is. The expansion of its maritime capabilities is simply another but highly significant aspect of Soviet worldwide ambitions. The development and updating of "Setka Typov Su dov" (Table of Vessel Classes), which the author describes is a classic example of the Soviet planning process. As the author states, "A mighty fishing and commercial fleet was built in accordance with a 'Setka' which was originally developed in the 1960's. And an even more impressive example is the rapid expansion of the Soviet Navy." In my opinion it is not mere coincidence that the Russians embarked on this course in the 1960's. That was the beginning of the coldest of cold war periods—Francis Gary Power's U-2 plane was downed by the Russians on May 1, 1960; the mid-May 1960 Four Power Geneva Summit was a bust; the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961 and, in 1962, we had the Cuban Missile Crisis. The United States maritime embargo capability in that crisis undoubtedly influenced the Soviet's planning process. It is a natural and normal function of a state-controlled economy with its state-controlled industries to act to bring about the controlled productivity improvement developments in exactly the key areas discussed in the author's paper. As the author states, "All innovations at Soviet shipyards have originated at two main sources:domestic development andadaptation of new ideas introduced by leading foreign yards, or most likely a combination of both. Soviet shipbuilders are very fast learners; moreover, their own experience is quite substantial." The Ship Production Committee of SNAME has organized its panels to conduct research in many of these same areas for productivity improvement purposes. For example, addressing the areas of technology and equipment are Panels SP-1 and 3, Shipbuilding Facilities and Environmental Effects, and Panel SP-7, Shipbuilding Welding. Shipbuilding methods are the province of SP-2; outfitting and production aids and engineering and scientific support are the province of SP-4, Design Production Integration. As I read through the descriptions of the processes that led to the productivity improvements, I was hoping to learn more about the organizational structure of Soviet shipyards, the managerial hierarchy and how work is organized by function or by craft in the shipyard. (I would assume that for all intents and purposes, all Russian yards are organized in the same way.) American shipyard management is wedded to the notion that American shipbuilding suffers immeasurably from a productivity standpoint because of limitations on management's ability to assign workers across craft lines. It is unlikely that this limitation exists in Soviet shipyards. If it does not, how is the unfettered right of assignment optimized? What are the tangible, measurable results? I believe it would have been helpful, also, for the author to have dedicated some of the paper to one of the most important factors in improvement in the labor-intensive shipbuilding industry—the shipyard worker. There are several references to worker problems—absenteeism, labor shortage, poor workmanship, and labor discipline. The reader is left with the impression that the Russians believe that either those are unsolvable problems or have a priority ranking significantly inferior to the organizational, technical, and design efforts discussed. As a case in point, the author devotes a complete section to engineering education and professional training but makes no mention of education or training programs for blue-collar workers. It would seem that a paper on productivity improvement efforts in Soviet shipbuilding would address this most important element. My guess is that the Russians have considerable such efforts underway and it would be beneficial for us to learn of them.

Abstract Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) represents a global commitment and is part of the Sustainable Development Goals. The UHC Political Declaration states 'high prices for some health products, and inequitable access to such products within and among countries, as well as financial hardships associated with high prices of health products continue to impede progress towards achieving UHC'. The rapid rise and cost of new therapies has led to polarised discussions on what constitutes a fair price, whether R&D costs justify the prices, and whether the current intellectual property protection framework is appropriate for global public health goods. In this light, we are progressively moving from value-based pricing to fair and sustainable pricing; fair pricing carries the notion of just proportion of value to all involved parties. To render this possible, all relevant stakeholders need to be involved in transparent processes characterized by democratic representation, with communication and information exchanges safeguarded to establish what is fair and what is sustainable. HTA can help towards this as it is a tool to inform pricing and planning decisions, potential investment or disinvestment decisions, decisions on cross-country collaboration for price negotiation, and state decisions to invest in R&D or in manufacturing, or to negotiate supply. HTA allows capturing the needs and preferences of users of the health system and carries the potential to determine societal value in relation to public reimbursement. Governance mechanisms allowing HTA to be organised as a continuous evidence-informed deliberative process could function as the necessary exchange platform for all relevant stakeholders. For an interdisciplinary examination of deliberation in HTA, and to establish the key attributes the notion of fairness can carry, it is important to bring together different perspectives. Evidence-informed decision-making, and processes which ensure transparency and legitimacy, may require changes in evidence generation, but, also, in the legislative, regulatory and pricing frameworks. What is already feasible will be discussed, e.g., cases where information exchange and centralised procurement resulted in improved negotiation, along with how sound governance structures could support stakeholder representation and involvement. The principal objectives of the workshop are 1) to explore notions of fairness and approaches deemed feasible and relevant, and 2) to identify, through multistakeholder dialogue, key attributes for ensuring legitimate decision-making, and UHC incl. through fair pricing. Academia, HTA agencies, incl. from Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs), the World Health Organization, payers, and patients are represented in the panel. Each speaker will make a 12-min presentation, followed by a 30-min discussion between panel and audience. An interactive element will allow the audience to respond to Yes/No statements and submit questions. Key messages Deliberative processes can contribute to establish multi-stakeholder agreement on what constitutes fair pricing. HTA as a deliberative process can critically contribute towards legitimate decision-making.

In recent years, the procurement of drugs in public health facilities is mostly done in the form of bidding. In particular, the concentrated bidding form at the Department of Health brings advantages to the process of drug supply as well as safe, appropriate and effective management of drug use. In the period 2014-2019, at the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health (DoH), the number of drugs in the concentrated bidding list increases year by year, from 92 (2014) to 101 (2019). The number of winning drugs on the list promulgated by the Ministry of Health has increased year by year. DoH focuses mainly on purchasing drugs under generic packages when the quantity of drugs is in the range of 67-70% higher than the quantity of drugs in the original brand name package (30-33%). In terms of value, compared to the total planned value, the generic package decreased by 65% (2017-2019), while the original brand name package only decreased by 35%. Bid prices and winning prices of each commodity decrease over the years. The difference between bid prices and winning bid prices ranged from 20% to 40%. DoH's locally concentrated list of tenders has not yet fully met the needs of local health facilities, so there is still planning to add new drugs out of the list. Therefore, it is advisable to conduct a further survey on drug use needs in each health facility through data from open bidding at hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City. From there, consider which drugs should be added to DoH's centralized procurement list. Keywords: Centralized bidding, generic bidding package, original brand name bidding package, drug price, HCMC Department of Health. References [1] World Health Organization, How pharmaceutical systems are organized in Asia and the Pacific, OECD Publishing, 2018.[2] Government of Vietnam, The World Bank, Fiscal Policies towards Sustainability, Efficiency, and Equity, World Bank Washington DC, 2017.[3] Ministry of health, Circular 09/2016/TT-BYT promulgation of list of drugs for procurement through bidding, list of drugs for concentrated procurement, list of drugs for procurement through price negotiation, 2016 (Vietnamese).[4] Ministry of health, Circular 21/2013/TT-BYT prescribing organization and operation of the drug and treatment council in hospitals, 2013. (Vietnamese).[5] Xuan-Phuoc Nguyen-Thi et al, Analysis of drug bidding results in the form of centralized drug bidding at the Nghe An Province Health Department, Pharmaceutical journal 59 (7), 2019, 03-07 (Vietnamese).[6] Ministry of health, Circular 11/2016/TT-BYT bidding for supply of drugs for public health facilities, 2016 (Vietnamese).[7] Ministry of health, Joint Circular 01/2012/TTLT-BYT-BTC guiding bidding of drugs procurement in the medical facilities, 2012 (Vietnamese).