Fiotec concluded in October the migration of all supported projects to its Purchasing System, a tool developed to automate the process of acquisition of goods and services by the institution. The environment considerably reduces the time required for direct purchases, those up to R$ 40 thousand, besides promoting more autonomy to the project teams and transparency to the negotiations. "The development of this automated system aims to improve the work process, generating a higher level of efficiency," emphasizes administrative director Marcelo Amaral.

Now, the entire purchase process progress can be followed by the Fiocruz teams, through the Fiotec Coordinator Portal (PCF), from the requisition to the payment conclusion. Washington Gutemberg, Fiotec's acquisitions coordinator, explains that the system also registers in its history all the actions taken and documents inserted during the acquisition processes. Before automation, project coordinators only had access to the status of negotiations if they made a request to the Fiotec analyst. Now, e-mail notifications update the user on any progress or problems in their procurement process. "For our buyers, the benefit is being able to perform the entire process in a single environment, which will certainly bring more efficiency, with reduced deadlines and increased quality in procurement," adds Washington.

In addition to training sessions focused on the use of the tool, in the first half of the year Fiotec promoted interviews with groups of users of the Procurement System, formed mainly by coordinators and supporters of the supported projects teams. The questions addressed key points of the environment's operation and the users' experience, helping Fiotec to define goals for continuous improvement of the tool. "This survey opened doors for us to know the path to follow in our deliveries, exactly what we should take into consideration," commented Fiotec's Governance and Quality manager, Luanara Damasceno, at the time. According to her, the questionnaire that addressed the usability of the tool, the use of support documentation, time spent to finalize a purchase, among other aspects, was a key step in promoting a culture focused on the quality of the processes in the institution.

Efficient processes, good service

The result of the automated purchasing process is the provision of a satisfactory service to the Fiocruz project teams. The challenge taken on by Fiotec is part of the structuring of the Quality Management System (QMS) of the institution, which aims to achieve ISO 9001 certification. The idea is that the acquisition of goods and services becomes a standardized and agile process, transparent and with constant monitoring, in which all the professionals involved are trained. This way, Fiotec intends to achieve even better results in the shared management of projects and programs that are so important for the Brazilian population.