Services

Central procurement

At the year-end, Hansel had a total of 80 framework agreements (78 on 31 December 2016) and a total of 161 competitive tenders, including subcategories (192 in 2016). At the end of 2017, Hansel also had 380 contract suppliers (369 at the end of 2016). In addition to traditional framework agreements, Hansel prepared the first dynamic purchasing system (DPS) in late 2017, for long-term accommodation services in Finland. The aim is to prepare more dynamic purchasing systems in 2018.

Hansel’s largest framework agreement was for occupational health care services, which reached a procurement value of €61 million (€62 million in 2016). The second largest framework agreement was for electricity, which was worth €60 million (€74 million in 2016). The third largest was the framework agreement for computers, reaching a volume of €54 million (€45 million in 2016).

Measured in euros, the main users of Hansel’s framework agreements were the administrative branches of the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy. Utilisation of framework agreements is mainly promoted through marketing communications. In addition to face-to-face services, customers are offered diverse electronic services. Each year, Hansel organises customer and supplier events with the aim of promoting sales and exchanging experiences of framework agreements.

Government electricity procurement is handled centrally through Hansel’s framework agreement and involves derivatives that hedge against changes in electricity prices, in accordance with the government’s electricity hedging strategy. Hansel is responsible for the management of this portfolio and is the counterparty to the derivative agreements on behalf of its customers. For Hansel, electricity derivatives trading is a pass-through item, and all the related expenses and income are charged for in full from the Hansel portfolio customers (see Note 5.2).

Tendering services

In addition to traditional tendering services, in late 2016, Hansel also started offering its customers procurement development services. In 2017, these services became independent business operations, in compliance with the strategy.

The total value of tendering services sales in 2017 was €1.3 million (€1.3 million in 2016). The price for tendering services was lowered as of 1 June 2017, from €1,000 per day to €900 per day, and the price for the so-called MinikisaPlus service was reduced from €1,000 to €700 as of 1 April 2017. The MinikisaPlus service is a simplified tendering process within a framework agreement outsourced to Hansel by customers. The share of these services of the turnover was €157,000 (€104,000 in 2016).

There were 132 chargeable tendering projects in 2017 (162 in 2016) with a total value of about €500 million (€339 million in 2016). The largest customers in 2017 were Finnish Customs, the State Treasury, the steering group for the Finnish Government Shared Services Centre for Finance and HR (Palkeet), and the Finnish Transport Agency. While the majority of the tendering services were related to the purchase of information systems and other IT functions, they also included other societally significant purchases, such as rehabilitation services for veterans, including those with disabilities, by the State Treasury. Customer feedback on the unit has been favourable, with a score of 4.6 on a scale of 1–5 (4.6 in 2016, as well). In 2017, the unit started analysing the impact of the services. In addition to achieved savings, the purpose is to assess the societal importance of the projects.

Procurement development services

The procurement services got off to a good start in 2017, resulting in a turnover of €240,000 (€69,000 in 2016). As the name indicates, the purpose of the development services is to help customers develop their procurement activities. They can include, for example, various analysis services, services related to the planning and organisation of acquisitions or to corporate responsibility, or outsourced procurement management services. The unit is involved in the development of KEINO, a competence centre for sustainable and innovative public procurement.