This May, BFVK implemented Fluenta's procurement process management system. Though the partnership is still in its early stages, there have already been valuable insights to be gained. We sat down with Gergely Tóth, Deputy CEO of BFVK, to discuss their initial experiences.
While it's widely known that BFVK is a company under the Budapest municipal government, the specifics of its operations might be less familiar to most.
The Budapest Főváros Vagyonkezelő Központ (Budapest Capital Asset Management Center, BFVK) is a fully-owned subsidiary of the Budapest City Council. Our primary responsibility is to manage and operate the city's real estate assets on behalf of the municipal government.
Our operations are primarily divided into two key areas. The first focuses on real estate utilization, encompassing leasing, sales, and property appraisal. The second involves property management, including repairs, maintenance, renovations, and overseeing investments. Complementing these core functions is our portfolio management division, which actively manages the city's stakes in various business entities. This year, we've expanded our scope to include a housing agency initiative, aimed at addressing the ongoing housing crisis in the city.
When did BFVK's partnership with Fluenta begin?
Our Real Estate Utilization Department has been successfully using Fluenta's auction system for several years now. Given this positive experience, it was a logical step to expand our partnership to include a comprehensive procurement process management solution.
We implemented the Electronic Procurement Process Support System (called the Elektronikus Beszerzési Folyamattámogató Rendszer in our organization) just this past May.
In what ways does this system enhance the company's operations?
We now manage all our procurement processes through this platform. The primary objective is to streamline our procurement activities, making them more efficient, effective, transparent, and expeditious.
Have these objectives been realized?
Given that we only implemented the Electronic Procurement Process Support System in May, our partnership is still in its early stages. However, we're already seeing that it meets our expectations and is helping us achieve our set goals. Our procurement processes are inherently complex, primarily due to our commitment to transparency. Generally, the more transparent a company's operations, the more time-consuming its procedures become. That said, Fluenta's system has allowed us to significantly reduce our processing times, enabling us to consistently meet our deadlines. This improvement has been invaluable to our operations.
A key benefit of the system is its comprehensive visibility. We can now easily track each procurement's history, current status, and all involved parties. The entire process is mapped out in detail, allowing us to monitor the duration of each stage. This transparency gives us valuable insights into potential areas for improvement, helping us identify where and how we can further streamline our operations.
At BFVK, we have a workforce of 193 employees. For most staff involved in procurement, it's not their primary responsibility but rather a component of their broader role. This arrangement can sometimes lead to delays or bottlenecks in the process. One of the system's most valuable features is its ability to monitor workflows and send alerts when it detects potential issues or delays. This proactive approach helps us maintain efficiency across our diverse team.
BFVK made a unique request to have the system, which was originally designed with English in mind, operate entirely in Hungarian. This led to the creation of Hungarian equivalents for technical terms, such as "Elektronikus Beszerzési Folyamattámogató Rendszer" (Electronic Procurement Process Support System) instead of simply using "Workflow".
As a Hungarian company with a Hungarian workforce, working in our native language was a priority. This is not mere symbolism; it has practical implications. Using our mother tongue allows our team to work more efficiently; the common language ensures clear understanding of technical terms, which we believe is crucial in procurement processes.
Fluenta's willingness to fully localize their system was a significant factor in our decision to partner with them.
How customer-friendly is Fluenta as a partner? Are they reliable when issues or questions come up?
We've actually had very few occasions to test this, which is a testament to their service in itself. The key factor has been the thorough needs assessment and system configuration they conducted before launch. It really aligned the system with our requirements. Personally, I've only needed to reach out to their support team a handful of times, and each time, the response was almost instantaneous. All things considered, hats off to the team at Fluenta!
