MERU UNIVERSITY
OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
SCHOOL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS AND
ECONOMICS
A REPORT ON SUPERVISED
INDUSTRIAL ATTACHMENT AT TIGANIA
EAST SUBCOUNTY
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OFFICES
PRESENTED BY:
KARANI MARTIN MWIRICHIA
REG. NO: BS104/1232/15
DATE: 11/1/2017
DECLARATION
STUDENT: KARANI MARTIN MWIRICHIA
I hereby
declare that this report on the industrial attachment at Tigania east Sub
county offices and presented to Meru University of science and technology,
school of business management, department of business economics as a partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Diploma in purchasing and
supplies management is the outcome of my investigation.
NAME: KARANI MARTIN MWIRICHIA
REG. NO:BS104/1232/15
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Many individuals have contributed to the fruition of my
Diploma studies and in extension, the attachment component. To them I owe a
debt of thanks for their support, moral or otherwise-in seeing me through.
First and for most, I am deeply indebted to the Tigani East Sub-county offices
staff for their tireless lesson to me, both in the field and office. My sincere
gratitude is equally extended to Mr. Gakuha the head of procurement department
and Mrs. Charity Naita the assistant procurement officer whose advice and
guidance have been timeless. The support received from HR manager Mr. S.Kirimi,
Mr. Okoth the D.O and the entire staff is immensely appreciated. I must also
thank the current staff of Business Management of Meru University of Science
and Technology, for their organized supervision and mentorship during the
entire period of my studies.
Finally, sincere thanks are due to my family for their
support, encouragement and perseverance during the entire length of my studies.
PREFACE
The need for an industrial attachment
creates the need for any discerning student to create a clear picture of what
he/she has done in the form of writing a report
This report contains information which
was gathered during my three months of industrial attachment at Tigania East
sub county supply chain management offices.
This include the activities carried out
at the Tigania East sub county supply chain management offices, the activities
I undertook, experience obtained and personal inputs.
INTRODUCTION
This report has been developed with the view of detailing the
activities carried out at Tigania East Sub County Supply Chain Office, during
the months of September to December 2016. It details the background information
on the inception of the organization. Also included in the report is detailed
write up of the actual work and experiences gained both at the office and
during the field work, a detailed description of the area of specialization and
its relevance to the supply chain management in Kenya. The data that has been
used for the report covers the period up to December 2016.
Tigania East Sub-county supply chain management office came
into existence in 2010 the regional office of supply chain management is found
at Muriri market at District headquarters offices.
MAIN FRAME OF THE REPORT
Tigania East Sub-county offices are a regional headquarter
established in July 2010 under provision of the devolved government in Kenya.
The Tigania East sub county office serves as a centre of
administration headed by the District county commissioner; it serves both
Tigania east and Tigania central administration issues. The sub county offices
were divided into various departments from the national to regional level. The
departments included are as follows:
a) The supply
chain management department.
b) The human
resource department.
c) ICT and
database management office.
d) The
accounts department.
e) Social
welfare department.
f)
Stores department.
I was attached at the supply chain department for the
internship the procurement department also controlled the flow of items and
commodities in and out of the store due to the limited procurement activities
in the sub county level.
GENERAL ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN IN THE ORGANISATION
a) Identification
of needs from user departments in the organization for the purpose of
centralizing the purchasing activity. The procurement identified the need from
other departments by requesting them to quote the items that they require in
their offices, after the need is identified the head of department carries out
the purchasing activity centrally together with his or her team mates.
b) Performing
procurement activities, that is vendor search and purchasing the items needed
and ensuring public procurement procedures are well followed.
c)
Inspection of delivered goods for the purpose of
ensuring proper quality and ensuring that goods delivered coincides with the
purchase order.
d) Maintaining
proper records of good in the store for the purpose of accountability in case
of theft.
e) Controlling
the flow of commodities in and out of the store, that is issuing and storage of
goods delivered.
f)
Disposal of obsolete or worn out items. The
procurement head is supposed to collect the list of all items that requires
disposal from other organization’s department.
SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES UNDERTAKEN AT THE ORGANISATION
For the entire period of training at Tigania East Sub county
supply chain department, I was exposed to opportunities of expanding my
knowledge in the field of procurement and supply chain management especially in
maintaining the flow of goods in and out of the organization, acquisition of
goods, identification of needs, supplier search, maintaining inventory records
and inspection of goods. And during the three months period of training, I
managed to acquire practical knowledge in the following areas:
a)
Learned various
activities and documents used in the procurement and in the stores.
b)
Learned how
to fill the LPO register.
c)
Learned how
payments are processed after the procurement activities and issued to the seller/
supplier.
d)
Learned to
calculate and regulate various stock levels at different times.
e)
Learned the
public procurement oversight act and the procedures followed during a public
procurement.
f)
Learned the
public procurement and disposal act, how items should be disposed and how to
calculate the depreciation rate.
g)
Learned how
goods flow from the stores to various departments.
h)
Learned how
the disposal of assets is made when they become obsolete or worn out.
i)
While at
attachment I gained skills on how to handle various commodities depending on
their nature.
j)
Data entry
in the data base for easier retrieval.
Activities and documents used in
procurement
On the inception of my training, I was attached to the stores
where i was acquainted with knowledge of the duties carried out ranging from purchase
order, delivery of goods, inspection, payment, maintaining inventory records,
issue of items to the storekeeper for storage and all the documents involved.
All the procedure involved are essential, first the need is identified from the
other organization departments, then the purchase order is made by the
procurement officer, when good have been bought they need to be inspected to
check whether they are of the right standard or whether they coincide with the
local purchase order. One is required to examine goods as per the delivery note
to ensure that the goods delivered are not in shortage or in excess in terms of
quantity. After inspection the goods are then recorded to respective bin cards
(bin cards are documents that a single item is recorded to show the exact
quantity delivered, the issuing and the balances remaining in the stores) so as
to know their flow later. The items are recorded to the counter receive voucher
so as to process the payments to the seller of the goods, finally the goods are
then taken to the stores ready for the issuing to the user departments.
Filling LPO register
After the purchase have been made and goods delivered the
copy of LPO is filled to the LPO register for the purpose of retrieval and
accountability, for instance it serves as an evidence that a certain purchase
was made at a particular period of time and the items involved.
Processing payments
The payment is done immediately after the goods have been
delivered into the organization. The head of procurement in partnership with
the head of accounts department makes the payment of the goods delivered or the
services offered.
Maintaining stock levels
While in training I
acquired various techniques of regulating stock levels, to avoid overstocking
and under stocking of materials, the management of has to decide about the
maximum level, minimum level, re-order level, danger level and average level of
materials to be kept in store.
a) Re-ordering
level: it’s also known as ordering level/ ordering point/ ordering
limit. It’s a point at which order for supply of material should be made. This
level is fixed somewhere between the maximum level and the minimum level in
such a way that the quantity of materials represented by the difference between
the re-ordering level and the minimum level will be sufficient to meet the
demands of production till such time as the material are replenished. It
depends mainly on the maximum rate of consumption. When this level is reached,
the store keeper will initiate the purchase requisition.
Re-order
level=maximum rate of consumption X
Maximum lead time
b) Maximum
level: it’s the level above which stock should never reach its
also known as maximum limit/ maximum stock. The relevance of maximum stock is
to avoid unnecessary blocking up of capital in inventories
Maximum stock
level=reordering level +reordering quantity
c)
Minimum level: it represents the lowest
quantity of a particular material below which stock should not be allowed to
fall. This level must be maintained at every time so that production is not
held up due to shortage of any material.
Minimum
level=re-ordering level – (normal consumption rate x normal delivery period)
d) Average
stock level: it’s determined by averaging the minimum and maximum
level of stock.
Average level=1/2 (minimum stock level+ minimum stock level)
e) Danger
level: is the level below which the stock should under no
circumstance be allowed to fall. Danger level is slightly below the minimum
level and therefore the purchases manager should make special efforts to
acquire to acquire materials in store.
Public procurement oversight
authority and the procedures of public procurement
While in training I learnt the public procurement oversight
authority, it dictates how any public procurement should be carried out; it
contains clearly stated guidelines and procedures to be used during procurement
activity. It also states the terms and conditions one should adhere to during
the procurement.
The procurement cycle or procedure is as follows as stated by
PPOA.
a) The need is
identified from the user departments.
b) The
procurement manager sorts out to find out whether the organization is financially
able to fund the purchase.
c)
The procurement sends a document by the name RFQ to
various suppliers for them to quote the prices of the listed commodities.
d) The
procurement officer then chooses the best supplier and sends purchase order to
request him or her to supply the products.
e) The
supplier supplies the goods, and then the procurement officer inspects the
goods as per the purchase order and the delivery note.
f)
After the inspection the procurement officer processes
the payment, and supplier is paid for delivery of his or her goods.
REPORT ON ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT DURING ATTACHMENT
PERIOD.
During the attachment period I engaged myself in a number of
activities which I employed my skills for the benefit of the organization.
Below is a list of the activities that I engaged into:
a) Identifying
the needs
While in training I worked hand in hand with my supervisor so
as to gain competency in my area of specialization. I helped in collecting
needs from the other user departments for the purpose of centralizing the
purchases.
b) Filling the
local purchase order register.
The supervisor delegated this task to me; I helped in filling
the LPO register. I recorded each and every local purchase order to the LPO
register I was exposed to various methods of retrieving information for
accountability reasons.
c) Inspection
of goods.
While at training I enhanced knowledge, I engaged myself in
inspecting goods delivered to the organization by this I realized the relevance
of inspection of goods. Some goods were underweight while others were of low
quality, inspection immediately after delivery helped to trace all those goods
that were not of the right quality and standard. Inspection also helps to
determine whether the goods delivered are of the right quantity as per the
ordered quantity. Faulty items are discovered in time hence decisions are made
in time to avoid losses.
d) Data entry
into database.
This is the process whereby raw data is keyed into the
computer systems for the purpose of storage and retrieval. During the
attachment period I helped in typing raw data to computer systems, I gained
experience in typing and using computer systems to store data.
e) Vendor
search.
This is the process of searching for a competent, reliable
and a right source to buy items or to seek services. Through this activity I
gained knowledge about the qualities of a good supplier or seller:
i.
Has the value for money.
ii.
He is reliable.
iii.
His deliveries are always in time.
iv.
He has a competent and qualified staff
v.
Offers his commodities at a fair cost.
vi.
Has the right quality.
The above are some of the qualities I identified through the
activity. A qualified and competent supplier is attained by issuing requests
for quotation (RFQ) to different suppliers and then they submit back after
quoting their prices, you select the supplier with the best price.
f)
Maintaining inventory records.
During the training period I employed skills to maintaining
the proper inventory record to ensure that the organization does not make
excess purchases or have shortage of stock, which reduces the amount of capital
held in stock and disruption in operation.
g) Storage of
goods in the store.
While at attachment I learned various ways to handle
different types of goods depending on their nature, some goods needs special
care while handling them they might be hazardous or delicate. I enhanced my
know how through engaging in such activity and in the benefit of the
organization.
WEAKNESS IN PERFORMANCE OF TIGANIA EAST SUBCOUNTY
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OFFICE
ABBREVIATIONS:
T.E.S.C.S.C.M-TIGANIA
EAST SUBCOUNTY SUPPLY CHAIN MGT
TESCSCM ensures
proper management and proper flow of items throughout the entire organization,
for the current and future needs of the organization. However it does not have
all the data necessary and resources, because of inadequate information and
flow of activities the planning component of TESCSCM’s function is weak. The planning does not seem to have been
placed in its appropriate priority and capacity for this is underdeveloped.
Understaffing has also viciously hampered the performance of TESCSCM. A good example is insufficient
commodities and less employees in the organization, indeed the amount of work
that is expected to be handled in the procurement and store department is far
much than to be handled by one staff. This is also alike across other
departments in the organization
SUGGESTION FOR IMPROVEMENT OF TESCSCM
a) Financial
self-sufficiency of operations
The current gap between revenues and expenditure, given the
apparent aims of also financing some obsolete and non-functioning
infrastructure within TESCSCM has
led to great financial strains for TESCSCM. TESCSCM
needs to make progress towards self-financing to realize the effective
management of the departments in the organization.
b) Building
staff capacity
A glaring of
inefficiency, incompetence and ignorance of staff was noticed during my
attachment period, insufficient knowledge and outright dalliance in the
execution of duties, some of the staff had little to no knowledge of their
roles, while others lacked the proper information technology skills to aid in
handling of assignments. Moreover understaffing was serious problem in most
departments more so in procurement department, the procurement officer was
still running the stores department. More must be done to recruit able,
motivated and well educated individuals to execute duties.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
The industrial attachment is good for students more so,
personally I appreciate the chance of attending the field attachment program
from September to December 2016. The program helped me in enhancing and expanding
my knowledge through the exposure, to learn how thing work and operate
practically apart from the theory in class the field attachment helps one to
gain skills and practical bit of his studies.
In conclusion the supervised industrial attachments gives
student the opportunity to apply knowledge in the real work, exposing the
students to work method not taught in the class and provide access to products equipment
not available in the intuitions well as assessing students’ interests in the
occupation he/she undertakes.
Undoubtedly, the impact of this attachment has made me gain
some practical knowledge and experiences in my field of stud (procurement) as
well as enriching me with the interaction with the business world. It also
instilled in me some more integrity especially punctuality, being submissive to
and taking the views of superiors, more tolerant, respectful and hardworking,
the programme should therefore be maintained and the period extended.
Since the attachment is supervised programme, visiting supervisors
should please visit students on their places of attachment to ensure proper
assessment of students.
