Alberta Infrastructure New VPM Program
A new Vendor Performance Management program (VPM) has been announced by Alberta Infrastructure which aims to ensure contractors and consultants do their best work on infrastructure projects for the Government of Alberta.
VPM is a contract management practice used to track, analyze, and manage the performance of a vendor in an effort to control costs, mitigate risks, and drive continuous improvement throughout the contract life cycle. It ensures that vendors are receiving informal feedback and formal evaluations on their performance at regular intervals, and that past vendor performance is considered in procurement decisions.
Currently, Alberta Infrastructure does not have a formal system for tracking and monitoring the performance of vendors. This has led to inconsistency in contract management and the inability to issue objective vendor references. Alberta Infrastructure has not been able to formally recognize vendors’ good performance.
To do this, Alberta Infrastructure is implementing a new program to manage the performance of its vendors. The VPM Program will:
- facilitate ongoing, regular communication with vendors, ensuring clarity of expectations and quality performance;
- encourage vendors to improve their performance, minimizing the need for corrective measures due to poor performance;
- enable better decision making on bidder selection through vendor past performance information;
- hold vendors accountable for their performance; and
- enable Alberta Infrastructure to provide objective vendor references.
Alberta Infrastructure’s VPM Program is implemented on new procurements and resulting contracts as of January 6, 2020. Main components of the VPM Program include: key performance indicators on which evaluation will occur; embedding two-way communication in the program, with a ‘no surprises’ approach; building performance history into procurement evaluations; considering corrective measures when issues are identified; ensuring 360 degree feedback opportunities; and suspension of bidding privileges as a last resort in the event of egregiously poor performance. A check and balance mechanism, where a vendor can request a review of their score, is also part of the VPM Program.
The VPM was introduced in a webinar with Alberta Construction Association providing opening comments.
The link to the webinar has been posted to the VPM Program website which links to YouTube.
For further information follow the links below: