A New Paradigm in Government Purchasing: Highways England and its Continuously Improving Supply Chain

[...]simply issuing requests for proposals and choosing the lowest qualified bids was not going to make up much of this difference either, as HE was already getting highly competitive prices. Deployment Strategy In The Highways England Delivery Plan 2015-20, HE spelled out how it intended to achieve its ambitious goals: "We will implement a lean deployment strategy that will build a culture of continuous improvement throughout Highways England and its supply chain to deliver increased customer value and efficiency saving in support of the Strategic Business Plan. The improved performance standard becomes the new base standard for the next round of contracts. Because all of the tier-1 suppliers need to meet the new higher standards, the 60 percent pool is shared using an interesting formula. The project achieved a 54 percent increase in resurfacing speed, resulting in saving £635,000 and a one-third reduction in completion time, which meant 18 fewer overnight road closures. * During a job on the M60 to upgrade the storm drainage system, a lean project explored the practicality of using pre-cast (factory-made) concrete drainage chambers (storm-sewer basins under drainage grates) rather than the standard practice of setting up forms and casting the concrete structures in place.