Streamline Procurement Processes
Transforming Procurement to Support Growth, Compliance and Operational Efficiency
Grosvenor partnered with a Commonwealth entity to redesign procurement processes, improve governance, strengthen compliance with Commonwealth Procurement Rules, and create a scalable future-state operating model supporting more than $240 million in annual investments. This project was a strong example of transforming procurement in a complex government environment. In recent years, transforming procurement has become increasingly important for government organisations aiming to drive effective change.
Situation
The client is a corporate Commonwealth entity responsible for driving innovation that improves the productivity, profitability, and long-term sustainability of Australia’s grain industry. The client invests heavily in research, development and extension (RD&E) across 25 leviable grain crops, with most research delivered by third-party partners overseen by the client’s investment managers through a formal procurement process. The goal of transforming procurement in this context was to create sustainable, compliant processes to help support sector growth.
Following several higher-than-average harvest seasons, the client experienced a significant increase in levies and subsequent revenue. To maximise impact, the client increased its number of research projects undertaken, with investment managers managing $240 million in investments in a single year.
To maintain performance while managing increasing demand, the client recognised the need to streamline and standardise its procurement processes. Key priorities included improving consistency, rethinking the existing approach to procurement, freeing up investment managers’ time, reducing manual effort, clarifying roles and responsibilities, enabling decisions at the lowest appropriate level, and ensuring strong compliance with Commonwealth Procurement Rules (CPR) while removing unnecessary complexity. In summary, transforming procurement was essential to achieving these objectives effectively and efficiently.
Task
The client sought external support from Grosvenor, drawing on our experience conducting similar assessments and comprehensive reviews of the procurement function, spend data and designing of streamlined future models.
Approach
Grosvenor’s approach combined structured project governance with a multi‑method evidence base to ensure recommendations were practical, aligned to CPRs and tailored to the client’s operating environment.
After mobilising the project, Grosvenor undertook current state assessment and discovery work, to understand strengths, pain points and inconsistencies and identify opportunities to improve efficiency. As a result, the team emphasised the importance of transforming procurement for sustained operational excellence.
Drawing on multiple evidence sources, Grosvenor built a robust picture of current practice:
› Workshops and interviews: sessions with investment managers, contract administrators and procurement system users revealed what works well and where support, consistency and guidance are needed
› Process and documentation review: assessment of pathways, procedures and tools highlighted variation between documented and actual practice
› Workload and procurement data analysis: we analysed volumes, complexity and role clarity, revealing imbalances in task distribution and opportunities for more structured support. Procurement data was cleansed and categorised to provide insight into supplier engagement and compliance
Result
Grosvenor identified 21 key recommendations to address the four key gaps identified through the current state analysis.
These insights informed the future state target operating model, supported by improved and therefore streamlined processes, tailored Procurement Decision Matrix and RACI charts , accelerated pathways, clearer governance, and a roadmap that sequenced the 21 actions for implementation.
The review identified a future state that moves the client toward a centre-led procurement model which allows for better strategic direction and governance. The future state report recommended strong enforcement of available governance across the investment management functions to significantly free up investment managers for more strategic planning, enabling faster sourcing and delivering ongoing procurement capability uplift. Grosvenor developed a phased roadmap outlining quick wins and longer-term structural changes to help the client transition to a more efficient, scalable, and strategically aligned procurement function.
Explore this for your organisation
Start a conversation with Nicholas Leask, Procurement Lead