Development of joint procurement
2024 was a more active year than 2023 in terms of the opening up of joint procurement to competition. A total of 23 new joint procurements entered into force (17 framework agreements, five dynamic purchasing systems and one small-scale procurement). A total of 495 contracts with suppliers were signed, and 324 requests to participate in dynamic purchasing systems were processed. There were 215 different types of contractual amendments.
At the end of 2024, we were able to offer 75 framework agreements and 57 dynamic purchasing systems to our customers. A total of 27 small-scale procurements were available. There were 1,110 contractual suppliers, of which 61% were SMEs. The contractual suppliers had a little over 2,400 subcontractors.
Joint procurement is typically divided into parts. At the end of 2024, the share of joint procurement procedures divided by customer group was 38%, by internal tendering 39%, by service group 10% and by region 4% of our total joint procurement. The share of undivided joint procurement procedures was 9%.
We received a good number of bids through our framework agreements. In 2024, the average number of bids received increased to eight. The average number of bids received by our customers in tendering within framework agreements and dynamic purchasing systems was 3.7.
New category for the procurement of healthcare and social welfare services
In line with our growth strategy, we launched a strategic project in early 2023 to prepare for joint procurement in the healthcare and social welfare services sector. In 2024, we established a category for the procurement of healthcare and social welfare services, recruited a category manager and worked actively with several wellbeing services counties to identify service needs.
In August 2024, a new dynamic procurement system for healthcare supplies and equipment was launched, which the National Emergency Supply Agency used in the autumn of 2024 for the procurement of its rescEU disaster response reserve funded by the European Union.
In December, the first joint healthcare and social welfare services procurement procedure on housing services for disabled persons was launched. The first purchases through this joint procurement procedure will take place in the spring of 2025.
We will also prepare preliminary reports on new healthcare and social welfare services procurement procedures with our customers.
Joint procurement by category
Joint procurement, top 15
Supporting the use of joint procurement
The more active tendering in joint procurement in 2024 was also reflected in the joint procurement support unit’s actions. We developed a more coherent and efficient operating model through which the unit’s specialists are involved in the setting up of dynamic procurement systems and the establishment of framework agreements involving mini-competitions. The aim is to continuously improve the availability of joint procurement and the customer-centred approach. The new process proved functional, and we were closely involved in the establishment of five joint procurement procedures in 2024.
To facilitate the use of joint procurement, we also realised other cooperation projects between units during the year. Among other things, we reorganised the documentation for mini-competitions in our e-service and harmonised the visual appearance and naming practices of documents.
The year was also exceptionally active in terms of customer support. We provided more comments on our customers’ mini-competition documentation than in the previous year and received more than 650 requests for advice. We also arranged 87 mini-competitions in cooperation with our customers. During the year, we also participated in several customer events to boost interaction and cooperation with our customers.
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