Procurement terms: S

Sanctions are the ‘sticks’ that can be used to motivate performance of suppliers; they are the opposite of incentives, the ‘carrots’. Examples of sanctions include penalty clauses, claims for damages, litigation and termination, or at least the issue of a ‘default’ notice or ‘show cause’ notice. If there is a performance bond, exercising the right to claim the bond is an example of a sanction. All of these examples are contractual sanctions. They may be express terms within the contract, allowing the buyer to act in defined circumstances. Commercial sanctions include the introduction of another supplier, for example through dual sourcing, or the suspension of a supplier from future bids for similar work scopes. When there is a payment profile agreed in the contract, including retention, the buyer may legitimately withhold payment if work is not completed satisfactorily. However, in some circumstances buyers may refuse to pay for work that has been completed, but not to the satisfaction of the buyer. The most common sanctions are to simply raise the performance issue with the supplier at a regular feedback session, or to issue a corrective action notice so that the performance issue is recorded. See also Contract, Termination of, Incentives and Performance Regime.

Savings are financial measures of procurement effectiveness is often based on quantifying cash releasing and non-cash releasing benefits. Non-cash releasing benefits include cost avoidance and ‘value adds’. Cash-releasing benefits are typically real cost savings or ‘hard dollars’. For example, the last price paid for an item was $1.00 and 10,000 units were bought, next time 10,000 units were bought but the unit price was $0.90, so the saving was 10,000 x $0.10 = $1000. This is a ‘hard dollar’ saving as the saving went directly to the budget holder’s bottom line. In contrast, cost avoidance savings are less tangible, and cannot be spent on other things. These savings do not involve lowering the price of products or services, but rather avoid additional costs that may have been incurred had the process been managed differently. For example, the supplier in the example above applied for a 10% price increase that would have taken the price from $0.90 to $0.99. If the price increase were negotiated down to $0.95, would that be a saving? The actual expenditure would increase by $500, but would have increased by $900 had the proposed increase not been resisted. That $400 is not a hard dollar saving, but is money that is now available that may not otherwise have been. Other examples of cost avoidance include negotiating a saving off a supplier’s quoted price, negotiating services or goods that would otherwise have been paid for on a non-billable basis, or negotiating fixed prices rather than a rise and fall clause in times of inflation. Given the focus on strategic procurement, the two classes of measures mentioned above are quite tactical and cost/price focused. Value adds address all those other benefits that may not be cash releasing but represent a business benefit, for example, improved value from quality, delivery or service. These are value adds, improvements in value for the business which are intangible and non-cashable but have an intangible benefit. See also Benefits Realisation Plan, Cost Avoidance, Value and Value Added.

A form of contingency planning in which possible futures are explored based upon specific combinations of events. For example, if a global pandemic caused the cancellation of all international air travel, what would be the impact on the organisation’s supply chains? The approach allows the identification of what might happen and the development of appropriate contingency plans. See also Contingency Planning. Take the Contract Management Scenario evaluation at Skills Gap Analysis.

A schedule of rates is a table of rates for specific activities that can be used to negotiate commercial terms when the broad activities are known but not the precise quantities. Schedule of rates contracts lend themselves to be used in two different situations. First, when the precise quantity of work cannot be assessed up front in order to allow a lump sum price to be quoted, and second, where there is ad-hoc work which can be undertaken against a standing order at an agreed rate without the need for lump sum quotations. For example, a maintenance contractor may be engaged to undertake periodic painting work. Rather than ask for a price on a job-by-job basis, the contractor may be invited to submit a quotation per square metre for the work. The client can then measure each job and calculate the agreed price. See also Contract, Time and Materials.

Uncontrolled expansion or addition of project deliverables, tasks, or requirements beyond what was originally defined and agreed upon in the procurement contract or project scope. It occurs when there are unauthorized changes, modifications, or additions to the project scope, often driven by client requests, evolving needs, or misunderstandings during the course of the procurement process

The range of activities to be undertaken as part of a contract for services. The scope of work may specify what has to be done and by when. See also Specification.

One of the levels of classification in the United Nations Standard Products and Services Code [UNSPSC] hierarchy. The other levels of classification are ‘Family’, ‘Class’ and ‘Commodity’ and Business Function (optional). As an example, Segment 44 is Office Equipment, Family 10 is Office Machines, Class 15 is Duplicating Machines and Commodity 01 is Photocopiers.

The analysis of large groups into smaller subsets that share similar characteristics. For example, when profiling supply markets, sub-sections of the market may be segmented to allow for specific strategies to be developed for manufacturers, distributors and retailers. Categories may also be segmented by cost and risk, and stakeholders may be segmented by power and interest. Market Segmentation training is available at Academy of Procurement.

The practice of deliberately bypassing the procurement department by a salesperson that seeks to sell directly to the budget holder in order to circumvent competitive processes or to undermine existing procurement arrangements. See also Maverick Purchasing.

A service level defines the standard of performance required from a service provider and allows measurement and reporting against the agreed standard. Service levels may address responsiveness, timeliness, reliability, and/or uptime. For example, the engineer shall attend to the machine within four hours of receiving a call-out, and shall fix the machine so that it is operational within four hours of arrival on site. See also Performance Regime and Specification

A service-level agreement [SLA] is an agreement between client and service provider which defines what services are to be provided, and to what standard, and the ways that the relationship will be managed - the rights and obligations of the parties. Typical contents of an SLA include the parties, the key contacts, the intent of the agreement, the services, priorities, service standards, metrics and review mechanisms, responsibilities, guarantees, and warranties. The SLA may specify availability, uptime, serviceability, performance, operation, or other attributes of the service, so that the parties are clear about what is to be delivered. In this sense the SLA may be an informal document that is not intended to be legally binding - especially if it stipulates the obligations of the client - or a schedule to a legally binding contract. What separates SLAs from contract schedules is the focus on defining and measuring service levels. Maximum, target and minimum service levels may be defined, together with mechanisms that apply if service levels are not met, such as joint problem solving, escalation, arbitration, and termination. See also Performance Regime. Contract Management e-Learning courses are available at Academy of Procurement.

The specific and measurable performance expectations or benchmarks that govern the quality of services to be provided by a service provider (contractor, vendor, or supplier) to the client or purchaser

The development of an internal cost model to allow for comparison with externally provided offers. Cost estimators may use appropriate insight into the processes around design, procurement, manufacture, or assembly and installation to allow the client to develop a realistic estimate of what the project ‘should’ cost. ‘Should-cost’ estimates are useful when dealing with markets with high levels of transparency regarding processes, rates and timescales. For example, a team involved in profit, price and cost analysis might commission a ‘should-cost’ estimate on a piece of capital equipment by ‘reverse engineering’ the supplier’s solution into a bill of materials, and then pricing each component. The estimate will be wrong, but it will give the buyer an ‘order of magnitude’ of what the actual manufacturing cost may be. This can be valuable in negotiations where the supplier’s pricing strategy is value based rather than cost based. The supplier is pricing on the basis of the value their solution will create for the buyer, rather than the cost of manufacture, and the ‘should-cost’ estimate allows the buyer to use logical persuasion to change the pricing basis. See also Logic, Pricing Strategy and Profit, Price and Cost Analysis.

When exercising a right to terminate a contract, the buyer is obliged to comply with the provisions in the agreement between the parties as to how the contract may be terminated. Contracts often include an obligation on the buyer to issue a formal default notice to alert the contractor to any perceived breach of a condition of the contract. The contract may afford the contractor a reasonable period of time to rectify the breach. The formal notification from the client to the contractor signalling that the client believes a breach of contract has occurred is sometimes described as a ‘show cause’ notice, as the contractor is invited to show cause why the contract should not be terminated. As the Courts adopt a ‘non-technical’ approach to the wording of the ‘show cause’ notice the precise wording is not critical, though the recipient should be in no doubt that right to terminate is being exercised. See also Contract, Termination of

Six Sigma is a suite of quality management initiatives designed to reduce variability in process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects. A process that achieved a Six Sigma rating would produce only 3.4 defects per million cycles. Six Sigma projects have much in common with lean programs, but they have a clear focus on achieving quantifiable financial returns and are often led by champions in the approach who are accredited in the use of Six Sigma tools and techniques, e.g. ‘black belts’.

Small and medium sized enterprises [SME] employ between 10 and 150 staff, with 50 employees denoting the threshold between a small and medium-sized business. There are over 1 million SMEs in Australia representing 96% of all businesses, so most procurement processes engage SMEs for some categories.

Refer to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises or Subject Matter Expert

A social enterprise is an organisation which has economic, social, cultural or environmental goals focused on public or community benefit. The organisation engages in commercial activities in order to achieve its mission, and invests the proceeds of its commercial activities in fulfilment of its mission. Social enterprises can be structured as being for profit or not-for-profit.

Socially responsible procurement occurs when organisations design their procurement processes to deliver social outcomes as well as, or as an alternative to, normal economic measures of value. For example, supply chain partners internationally may be encouraged to observe international standards for employment conditions and to allow free association of workers. The definition of value for money may be configured so that social outcomes such as the use of local labour, or the engagement of apprentices, or the participation of disadvantaged groups is given a weighting in the bid evaluation. Social & Sustainable Procurement training is available at Academy of Procurement.

Sourcing describes all those activities within the procurement process concerned with identifying and evaluating potential suppliers, engaging with selected suppliers and selecting the best value supplier(s). The outcome of the sourcing process is usually a contract or arrangement that defines what is to be procured, on what terms and from which suppliers. The phrase ‘strategic sourcing’ may be used to describe the application of the sourcing process to significant acquisitions, or the team that manages the sourcing process on behalf of the organisation. The scope of the sourcing process usually includes the following key activities: understanding the need; evaluating the supply market; developing an appropriate strategy; executing that strategy, usually involving market interactions such as the issue of an RFP and/or negotiation; selecting supplier(s); and developing a contractual agreement. See also Sourcing Strategy. Sourcing e-Learning courses and Masterclass - Strategic Sourcing training is available at Academy of Procurement.

A structured and formalized process through which an organization or business seeks to identify, evaluate, and select suppliers or vendors to fulfill specific procurement needs

A planned approach to sourcing over time. There are a variety of different strategies that organisations may adopt in respect of sourcing goods and services. The selection of the strategy will depend on the particular circumstances of each acquisition such as the value of spend, risk in the category and the supply market character. Below is a non-exhaustive selection of possible sourcing strategies: Sales Skills for Procurement Professionals and Strategic Sourcing training is available at Academy of Procurement.

The description of the requirement that needs to be met. Specifications fulfil two basic purposes: to communicate what is needed to the supplier, and to allow measurement as to whether the goods or services delivered meet the required standard. There are two broad types of specification: input and output. Input specifications describe the technical standards which need to be met, and are sometimes called detailed specifications. Output specifications, such as performance or functional specifications, describe the function that needs to be performed and the outcomes that need to be met by the solution. See also Specification, Functional, Specification, Performance and Specification, Technical.

Drafting Specification and Offers training is available at Academy of Procurement.

A functional specification is a type of specification which defines what the product or service has to be able to do. Together with performance specifications, functional specifications are output specifications, as the focus is on what the solution needs to do, rather than how the solution should be designed, which would be an input or detailed specification. For example, a functional specification for a kettle might read ‘design a portable system which can boil water’. Functional specifications encourage suppliers to show innovation, though evaluation of alternative solutions may be more difficult as we may not be comparing ‘apples with apples’. See also Specification.

Refer to Specification

A performance specification is a type of specification that defines the standards that the product or service must be able to meet. Together with functional specifications, performance specifications are output specifications, as the focus is on what the answer needs to be, rather than how the answer should be designed. For example, a government roads authority would traditionally design a new highway including input specifications for the design, materials and method of construction. An alternative would be to provide the contractor with performance specifications for elements of the build, like skid resistance and then allow the contractor to evaluate various solutions and implement the most suitable solution, according to the specifications. See also Specification.

A technical specification is a form of input specification that provides a detailed description of the requirements. A technical specification seeks to describe precisely what is needed, perhaps including detailed plans, designs, blueprints and technical drawings. A technical specification contrasts with an output specification in which the performance required is described, and the means by which the output is achieved is left to the bidder’s discretion.

Detailed and specific requirements or criteria that define the quality, features, performance, and other characteristics of goods, services, or works that an organization or buyer intends to purchase

Spend analysis is the part of the procurement process focused on reviewing expenditure data to allow exploration of the opportunities which may exist to create value in a category. The key activities include acquiring the data, cleansing the data, and analysing the data.

The spend cube describes a particular multidimensional review of spend data. At least three dimensions are usually reviewed: which sub-categories or variants that are purchased across the organisation, and in what values; which stakeholders or departments buy the category, and in what values; and what the spend is with different suppliers, and in what values.

Leakage refers to the extent to which category spend is placed with suppliers other than the agreed suppliers. Generally expressed as a percentage of total spend, leakage usually affects ‘indirect categories’ where stakeholders choose to place business with alternate sources.

Spot buying is the practice of buying to meet immediate requirements, rather than for stock or to meet future demand. Frequent orders are raised at the prevailing price at the time the order is placed. When a commodity price is falling, spot buying may minimise total expenditure.

A stakeholder is a person, group or organisation affected by a project or initiative. Procurement projects often affect many stakeholders, both within the organisation and in the supply chain.

Stakeholder analysis involves profiling potential stakeholders in terms of relevant dimensions, for example influence and impact. Impact appraises how the project will affect the stakeholder and influence considers the potential effect the stakeholder may exert on the project.

Stakeholder management refers to a range of differentiated approaches deployed in order to engage, consult, influence and inform different groups of stakeholders. Stakeholders are differentiated, based on stakeholder analysis, and a variety of approaches are deployed in terms of engagement, consultation and communication, based on this analysis. Stakeholder Influencing and Management training is available at Academy of Procurement.

Standards are the specifications and norms applicable across a trade, industry or nation that are designed to ensure buyers and suppliers share common expectations about minimum requirements for quality, safety and technical performance.

Refer to Scope of Work

Quantities of materials which are ordered in excess of immediate needs and stored for future use; also known as inventory. Good practice is to minimise stock levels consistent with providing appropriate service levels to customers.

The counting of physical stock and the reconciliation of the actual stock quantity against the book quantity. Most systems use perpetual counts, keeping accurate records of receipts, issues and returns, so that the book quantity and the quantity of physical stock are more likely to coincide.

Stock control is the process of managing stock levels to ensure that the value of stock is minimised consistent with offering customers an appropriate service level. Control is affected by setting appropriate targets for minimum, reorder, safety stock and maximum stock levels, and adjusting reorder quantities and timing. Inventory Control e-Learning courses are available at Academy of Procurement.

A system for managing the physical location of inventory within a warehouse or stock compound. Stock items are segregated by issue frequency, size, issue quantity, attractiveness or type and placed in dedicated locations within a warehouse or compound. Locations may be fixed, meaning that the same item is always located in the same location, or random.

Stock turn, stock turnover or inventory turn all refer to the average number of times stock is replaced in a year. The total value of issues is divided by the average stock value in the period. In general, the higher the figure the better, as the stores’ overheads are amortised over a greater value of stock. A low stock turnover can indicate the line is held as a contingency, or that stock levels are excessive because demand has fallen or the line has become obsolete.

Stock that has been requested by a customer but not yet picked or issued. There may be physical stock on the shelf, but it is not ‘free stock’ as it is already allocated to an existing customer.

In inventory control, available stock refers to the physical stock on hand which is available for issue to customers.

Also known as safety stock, buffer stock represents a contingency against variation in demand and/or supply. As an example, if a buyer is importing spare parts from overseas and the lead time varies between four and eight weeks, it would not be prudent to set stock levels based on holding a maximum of six weeks stock (being the average lead time). Factors influencing the quantity of buffer stock typically include the variability of demand, the lead-time, the desired service level to the customer and the organisation’s risk tolerance.  For example, if the organisation set a target service level of 98%, the average lead time was 42 days and monthly demand varied between 20 and 25 units, then the buffer stock would be about 14 units, or about two weeks stock. See also Stock.

Holding stock is expensive and estimates on the annual cost of holding stock vary from 25% to 75% of the stock value. These costs are made up of four broad cost areas: the capital cost of the money tied up in stock; the costs of servicing that stock, such as insurance and materials handling; the warehouse and storage costs; and the cost of damage, losses and shrinkage. The capital cost of the stock includes the opportunity cost of what that money could have done if it wasn’t sitting on a pallet, and may be estimated at about 10% per annum. Taxes and insurance will contribute a further 5%, warehousing and materials handling will contribute a further 10%, stock control systems and administration 5% and loss, obsolescence and theft will add a further 2.5%. This broad generalisation suggests that up to a third of the annual cost of stock is spent on maintaining it. See also Muda and Stock Control.

An inventory of goods, materials or spare parts that are held, by agreement with the supplier, in the possession of the buyer. Whilst the goods are in the physical custody of the buyer, they remain the property of the supplier and are paid for as the buyer issues them. Consignment stock is sometimes supplied on a ‘sale or return’ basis. Vendor managed inventory extends the concept in that the supplier not only supplies the inventory but also manages the stock levels. See also Inventory, Vendor Managed.

Pipeline stock refers to the system stock, not just the stock at one point in the supply chain. For example, if we wanted to assess the stock in the supply chain for making aluminium cans, we could visit the factory which ‘bottles’ cola into cans and find that they have three days’ stock of cans. But they will also have pipeline stock of the finished product -cans of cola - in their warehouse, on the road, at distributors, and at retailers. Furthermore, they would have aluminium rolls in stock, on their way to their facility and in their supplier’s warehouse. Upstream, bauxite would be on the road, in stores and in transit from the mines. All this is pipeline stock. When looking to create a lean or agile supply chain, the total system inventory will be mapped to calculate the opportunities to be gained by aligning supply and demand more effectively. See also Bullwhip Effect, Muda and Supply Chain Alignment.

Refer to Stock, Buffer

Strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a goal. Strategies may address the objective (the ‘what’), or the methodology (the ‘how’), or both. In procurement the word ‘strategic’ is used to denote an alternative to tactical behaviour. Strategic procurement, for example, occurs when the decisions affect the whole of the organisation, not just a department, when the decisions have an impact over the longer term, not just the next purchase, and when the decisions contribute to the goals of the organisation. Take the Procurement Skills Self Assessment at Skills Gap Analysis. Strategy e-Learning courses are available at Academy of Procurement.

Refer to Structure, Market or Structure, Organisational

An alternative to centralisation or decentralisation in organising functions such as procurement is the network model. It is a hybrid model, in that staff work both at the centre and in departments or divisions. It is sometimes called a ‘centre-led’ model, because the central team determines strategy and sets policies and standards, and execution of the category strategies is done by procurement staff located at local level. Advocates claim that this approach harnesses the advantages of central coordination and control without the disadvantages of reduced sensitivity to local needs and priorities. See also Centralisation and Decentralisation.

Organisational structure describes how tasks and resources are organised in order to achieve the agreed aims and objectives. For example, structures can be functional, geographic, customer-centric or market-centric. See also Centralisation, Decentralisation, and Structure, Federal.

A term from project management meaning decomposing a project into smaller components in a way which helps define the total scope of the project by focusing on key outcomes and deliverables.

Subject matter experts [SME] are stakeholders with particular knowledge or insight in a specific domain. Most procurement processes seek to engage stakeholders who can contribute authoritatively to the development of the specification, market review or bid evaluation, therefore identifying and engaging subject matter experts is a key part of stakeholder management in any procurement project.

Replacing one product, material, or service specified in a contract or procurement request with an alternative that is considered equal or equivalent in terms of functionality, performance, quality, or other relevant characteristics

The role of superintendent in construction and other works contracts is to issue directions to the contractor, act as contract administrator, act as an impartial assessor of the quality of the work and assess claims made under the contract. The superintendent is often retained by and may be an employee of the client, but has a duty to act fairly when certifying work and arbitrating any disputes between the parties.

Supplier is one term used to describe external organisations that deliver services or goods to a buyer. Other terms in common use include vendor, service provider and contractor. In some contexts the word ‘supplier’ denotes a company that supplies materials, while the word ‘contractor’ is used for providers of services.

Supplier appraisal describes all those activities undertaken to evaluate a potential source of supply. The criteria considered will depend upon the nature of the acquisition, but most evaluations explore technical capability, capacity, quality of service and financial health. Supplier appraisal may involve desk-based research, such as checking references or commissioning credit checks, or field research, such as visits and trials.

Supplier development describes a structured program to improve the capability of suppliers. Buyers may seek to improve capability by sharing ideas with their suppliers, by seconding staff, by advancing funds for investment, or by working collaboratively to jointly develop new processes. Supplier development is resource intensive and usually focuses on key long-term suppliers with whom cooperation is appropriate. The logic is that, through developing the supplier’s capability, both parties will share in the benefits of better performance, better quality, shorter cycle times and/or lower costs.

Refer to Supplier Appraisal

Refer to Supply Base Reduction

Supplier Relationship Management [SRM] is the segmentation by buyers of the business relationships with their suppliers. The process involves reviewing the portfolio of suppliers, categorising supply relationships by their significance, devoting resources in proportion to the relationship’s significance and managing processes between the parties to realise the relationship objectives. Supplier Relationship Management and Masterclass - Supplier Relationship Management training is available at Academy of Procurement.

Tiering suppliers is a form of supply base management in which suppliers are organised such that only first tier suppliers deal directly with the buying organisation. Second tier suppliers will participate in the same supply chain, but will supply first tier suppliers who will assemble or integrate before supplying the buying organisation. The practice originated in the automotive industry and allowed car assemblers to reduce their first tier supply base to below 1000 suppliers. The practice allows the development of differentiated supply relationships with a smaller community of suppliers. Management contracting is a similar practice in the building and construction sector.

Part of the supplier evaluation process, a supplier visit is on-site evaluation of a supplier’s infrastructure, capacity, capability, methods, quality systems and culture. Visits may also be undertaken as a compliance audit to validate that policy and procedure are being adhered to. Visits usually combine a technical assessment by subject matter experts and a commercial assessment. As travel budgets have come under pressure, visits to suppliers are less common than they used to be, but represent an opportunity to assess the reality of a potential supplier’s ability to meet the buyer’s requirements.

A provider of goods or services under a non-exclusive contractual arrangement, especially for indirect categories. The arrangements are usually non-binding, standing-offer agreements which offer preferential terms for a defined period of time. Preferred suppliers may be selected after a competitive evaluation as being the best value providers for a given category, and the terms of the preferred supplier arrangements are publicised to end users who are encouraged to raise purchase orders on those suppliers. The use of preferred supplier arrangements can help achieve better value and help reduce the size of the active supply base.

Tthe group of individuals employed or engaged by the supplier (vendor or contractor) who are responsible for fulfilling the delivery of goods, services, or projects as specified in the procurement contract

A holistic approach to an organisation’s supply base that considers the addition of new suppliers, the rehabilitation of dysfunctional suppliers and the delisting of disqualified suppliers. An organisation’s supply base may be influenced by a number of stakeholders and, over time, the total supply base grows as new suppliers are added, but ‘one-time’ or dormant suppliers are not purged from the accounts payable system. Under supply base management, controls are established as to who can add new suppliers, and in what circumstances, and suppliers are classified into specific groups as part of a program to develop a smaller and better performing community of suppliers.

Supply base reduction [SBR] is the process of deliberately reducing the number of active suppliers in the supply base. The motivation is to consolidate the organisation’s spend to fewer suppliers and to leverage better value from those relationships. Many organisations have several thousand suppliers and the spend with the majority of the suppliers will be relatively low. The focus of SBR may begin with suppliers of low-value and low-risk categories and may involve the use of preferred supplier arrangements, distributors or tiering of suppliers.

A supply chain refers to the organisations that participate in the flow of products, services, finances and information from a source to a customer. The organisations share linkages such as being customer and supplier. The concept of a chain is based on the principle that the participants’ business success depends in part upon the performance of the supply chain as a whole that may promote a more cooperative mindset. Take the Supply Chain Knowledge Evaluation at Skills Gap Analysis.

All those processes associated with management of the flow of goods, information and money between suppliers in a category’s supply chain. The concept of ‘flow’ refers to the common objective of reducing waste in the supply chain. For example, inventory is an example of waste that often occurs when demand cannot be easily forecast and matched with supply. When a buyer shares their demand forecast with their upstream supplier, the supplier can synchronise production with demand, reduce inventory and accelerate the flow of goods. The dialogue between supply chain participants usually involves sharing information and may result in less opportunism and better relationships. Take the Supply Chain Self Assessment at Skills Gap Analysis.

Sustainability is about meeting the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In practice, this means adopting a broader range of decision-making criteria than traditional economic criteria. Corporate social responsibility [CSR] and triple bottom line considerations extend procurement decision-making criteria away from just price and quality to include the environmental merits, as well as the social impacts of alternative solutions.