Seniors Improve the Procurement Process

For 2023 their senior project, Jacob Bechtold, Natalie Shea, Matthew Berg, E. Sorenson, and Nolan Krause worked in sponsorship and collaboration with Renewable Energy Partners (REP), Minnesota’s only Black-owned solar energy developer, to develop a tool that would improve the procurement process for REP with the overall goal of improving lead times, and increasing company capacity and overall net cost savings. 

The project team focused on the procurement process with the understanding that this process, when ideal, will “benefit client relationships, increase net margins on each project, improve project workflow for employees, and allow the company to do more projects by shortening the time from project initiation to completion.” 

Considering REP is a growing company with a 6-person team, the project team and REP collaboratively developed a tool for immediate future use that would assist in a cost-effective and reliable way to procure solar equipment. Thus, the project team created a database using Microsoft Excel, which was carefully chosen in collaboration with REP because of their existing spreadsheets consisting of project pricing, budgets and accounting. This database was created into a dashboard, and developed and customized using limited existing datasets and projected simulations to fit the needs and wants to REP. 

Ultimately, as it states in the students’ final report, this tool will allow “. . . the user to input the wattage requirement, acceptable lead time, and equipment type, and the procurement tool then generates a list of acceptable material options within the given constraints.” Additionally, the budgeting section of the procurement tool is linked to the dashboard after the list of materials are generated with the intention of maximizing efficiency and no longer requiring some calculations to be done by hand. Upon completion, the project team estimates savings for REP could be between 5-10 percent with the procurement tool. 

The team expresses that much was learned throughout the course of the project. They explain that defining achievable objectives is key to timeliness, as well as a meaningful projection for all involved. The team explains that, had they spent more time on developing clear objectives with REP in the beginning, more time could have been spent on creating the desired project without unnecessary elements in a more efficient manner. “Learning to have open and honest conversations about priorities with the sponsors was an important learning experience for the entire team says the students in their final report. 

Equally, the project team emphasized their ability to excel in internal management. By honing in on each member’s specific strengths, the team was able to effectively divide the work in ways that would most benefit the team and overall quality of the project. 
With the rapidly growing demand for solar energy supplies, the project team and REP understand the continued struggle for suppliers, and in the end, the team was able to turn over file ownership to REP with the intention that they will continue to adapt, customize, and utilize the dashboard to address climate change through continued cost-effective solar energy development.