Securing Procurement Opportunities through Strategic Government Engagement

Project Overview

The National Medical Stockpile (NMS) ensures that frontline health services are supplied with the necessary medicines and equipment to provide essential services during a national health emergency. Our client, an Australian-owned medical manufacturing company, tendered for the NMS to access significant procurement opportunities with the Federal Government.

The client had a proven track record as a trusted supplier across Australia, including throughout the pandemic, with large-scale local manufacturing capabilities. Despite producing high-quality, in-demand medical consumables from self-sourced raw materials, the client struggled to gain traction with decision makers and secure positions on government panels.

Challenge

The company faced two key challenges in securing a place on the NMS:

1. Political and policy alignment: In the absence of a policy prioritising local manufacturing for the NMS, foreign manufacturers gained an unfair advantage by using cheaper materials and lower-quality production methods. The primary goal for our client was to promote its ability to fulfil the procurement requirements while underscoring the economic and strategic advantages of supporting Australian-made products.

2. Limited government relationships: The company lacked strong, pre-existing connections with key government stakeholders, leaving it without advocates to support its bid for a spot on the panel. With the contract award deadline fast approaching, developing these relationships required a targeted and effective parliamentary campaign.

Implementation

To reinforce our client’s submission, Pyne & Partners developed an Australian Industry Content policy (AIC) proposal for the standing panel and initiated a campaign of parliamentary engagements to raise support for enhancing Australia’s sovereign capability.

1. Policy proposal: The policy ask was to prioritise Australian-made products to create enhanced opportunities for local manufacturers and encourage their participation. The proposal highlighted the supply chain resilience, local job creation, innovation and community support that would be generated by securing more contracts with local suppliers of medical equipment, in alignment with the Future Made in Australia Plan. By ensuring that the government considered the strong economic flow on effects from purchasing items manufactured locally, our client’s onshore production capabilities gave it an advantage over overseas tenderers.

2. Federal campaign: Pyne & Partners utilised its expertise in Commonwealth procurement policies and government decision making processes to inform a targeted campaign. Pyne & Partners identified key stakeholders in government based on their policy interests, portfolio and/or constituency to socialise the proposal with and distributed direct meeting requests. After preparing a comprehensive program, Pyne & Partners accompanied our client to Parliament House and facilitated a series of high-level discussions to pitch the AIC policy.

Outcomes

Pyne & Partners’ campaign achieved its objective of unlocking lucrative business opportunities for the client while also strengthening the government’s agenda. In only a short timeframe, the following policy and business outcomes were achieved:

1. Recognition for Australian manufacturing: The AIC policy prompted discussions about the advantages of Australian manufacturing for sovereign capability, underscoring the need for local suppliers on the panel.

2. Increased visibility: By framing discussions around supporting Australian manufacturing, Parliamentarians came to recognise our client as a high-quality, local producer of medical supplies whose priorities directly support the government’s agenda. This approach allowed the client to engage with government while tender processes were already underway.

3. Increased advocacy: The relationships forged turned influential decision makers into vocal champions for our client.

Conclusion

By developing and executing a strategically aligned policy proposal and engaging directly with key government decision-makers, Pyne & Partners successfully positioned our client as a leading local medical manufacturing provider. This two-pronged approach not only raised the company’s visibility within government but also aligned its objectives with the government’s priorities. The formation of valuable relationships with influential parliamentarians created advocates for the client, demonstrating the power of cultivating strong government connections and leveraging them to open doors for future opportunities and growth.