City of Seinäjoki procurement path: small steps forward

In the City of Seinäjoki, procurement is seen as a strategic opportunity, and that is why procurement has been actively developed in recent years. Where should you start when there is so much to do? How do you find time for development work when you have to keep the day-to-day activities going?

The City of Seinäjoki actively develops procurement. In 2022 and 2023, the current state of procurement and key performance indicators were investigated in cooperation with Hansel’s development unit. The analysis resulted in a clear-cut action plan and plenty of improvement proposals. The development got a boost from the Seinäjoen modernit hankinnat (Seinäjoki modern procurement processes) project, co-funded by the European Union, which was launched in the autumn of 2023.

“We already had a lot of information, ideas and challenges to address at the beginning of the project. The project focuses on four different areas: sustainability, impact, inclusion and innovation,” says project manager Hanna Lindberg.

Alongside the important development, the day-to-day procurement activities need to keep on going, and there is not enough time and resources to do everything. That is why when the new project was being prepared, Lindberg and Tiina Penttilä, the City of Seinäjoki Director of Procurement, decided to continue the good cooperation with Hansel.

“Our expertise matched the project’s priorities, and we were happy to continue working with the procurement unit of the City of Seinäjoki. Seinäjoki is a trailblazer in taking sustainability and efficiency into account without forgetting the importance of the basics,” praises Kalle Pinni, Head of Unit in Hansel.

Openness benefits everyone

The basics and the trailblazing spirit went hand in hand in workshops organised in 2024, where operating models to support both the preparation and planning of procurement and the identification and promotion of sustainability and efficiency were created. In addition to the workshops, the City of Seinäjoki has been in active contact with businesses and educational institutions in the area and procurement colleagues from all over Finland.

“Whenever I have heard that another city is doing a good job in procurement, I have contacted them and asked for more information. Colleagues have been happy to share their experience and good tips,” Lindberg says.

Seinäjoki is a business-friendly city, and procurement creates opportunities for the local entrepreneurs. Lindberg has also discussed the sustainability of procurement with many businesses in search for concrete examples of how best to achieve it. The goal of the cooperation with educational institutions is to increase the understanding of future employees on procurement and its importance.

Plenty has happened in the past few years, but long-term change takes time and patience, both from the procurement team and the rest of the organisation.

“The development of one point often reveals issues in another. When this happens, you must prioritise and proceed piece by piece. If you do nothing, nothing will happen,” Director of Procurement Penttilä points out.

At present, the City of Seinäjoki is in the process of surveying the procurement volumes and future procurement needs of its different units. The aim is to combine procurement under a single contract or joint procurement procedure to avoid overlapping work, increase the procurement volumes and create more competition. The cooperation with Hansel will continue in this project.

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