Using a simple commodity coding structure to allocate each supplier to a main commodity group is recommended.
The sub-division of the suppliers into these groupings enables a more detailed analysis to be completed. For example, it will be possible to:
- Determine what areas of expenditure are well controlled and which are not
- See areas where you should be looking to set up a formal arrangement either at institutional or, perhaps, consortia level
- Identify where expenditure with an individual supplier or group of suppliers is close to, or above, the current EU thresholds. This should be investigated to determine if there is a compliance issue
A popular coding structure within HE is the Proc HE comodity coding and UNSPSC coding or you could use the CPV codes that are used by the EU Commission.