Leaner, Smarter Purchasing Helps Reading Borough Council Cut Costs and Meet Government Targets

Reading Borough Council wanted to cut purchasing administration overhead, reduce buying cycle times, and encourage the use of approved, best-value suppliers and increase the use of purchasing orders to enforce encumbrance accounting, enhance budgetary control, and avoid overspend. The challenge was to cut paper use in line with environmental policies. Reading Borough Council used Oracle iProcurement to purchase office stationery and janitorial supplies and to order contractors and agency staff and automated ordering, budget coding, approval, purchase order generation, receipting, and supplier payment for hundreds of frequently used goods and services.