ABSTRACT
Procurement Life Cycle is one of the basic procurement models detailing the main stages of procurement activity when sourcing either goods or services. The model is cyclical because once a product has been consumed and/or disposed of, a replacement is often required thus repeating the process. Some of the main stages of the Procurement Life Cycle are as follows: Identify need, Specification, Identify suppliers, Source selection, Negotiate contract, Receipt and payment, Manage contract, Consumption, and Decommission and disposal. The model is sometimes referred to as the ‘Purchasing Cycle’ or the ‘Purchase Process’ – but these are inadequate descriptions, as the Procurement Life Cycle describes the end-to-end stages in the life of both the procurement activity and the purchase itself. The Procurement Life Cycle for public sector organisations may be different from that of private sector organisations because of the requirements of public sector regulated procurement.
