DOST-4A pilots inventory mgmt system, boosts ICT innovations

PIMS. The Department of Science and Technology in Calabarzon is currently pilot testing an inventory management system, which it eyes to fully operate before yearend. Interested technology adopters are welcome.

MANILA -- The Department of Science and Technology in Calabarzon (DOST-4A) is currently piloting its in-house developed Purchasing and Inventory Management System (PIMS) as the agency continues to produce information and communications technology (ICT) solutions.

In an interview with the Philippine News Agency on Tuesday afternoon, Francis Barquilla, DOST-4A's Management Information Systems Unit head for technical operations, said the agency rolled out PIMS last April 20 and will be pilot testing it for six months to fine-tune the system.

The agency hopes the PIMS will be fully operational before yearend and looks forward to different agencies adopting the technology by 2023. Technology adoption for PIMS is free.

The PIMS aims to hasten and organize the process of equipment procurement and inventory. The DOST-4A also plans to add supplies management in the PIMS for a faster issuance and monitoring of supplies.

"Through PIMS, our staff could file purchase requests for the items they need, hence, we can ensure the right specifications and quantities. PIMS could also generate (other) necessary forms such as canvass forms, abstract of canvass, purchase order, work order, inspection and acceptance report, and property acknowledgment receipt," he said.

Basically, the PIMS follows the procurement process, but it enables the employees to easily track their purchase requests since this is online. They could also upload in the PIMS the filled-out canvass forms from suppliers, as well as signed purchase orders.

Barquilla noted that this is useful for government agencies since it could hasten the processes and make them transparent.

"Because with PIMS, approval requests are just a point and click. Further, the staff could easily follow up their requests or give feedback since the location and status of purchase requests are traceable," Barquilla noted.

Continuous innovation

In a separate interview, DOST-4A Director Emelita Bagsit said the agency has already developed 25 application systems that they are mostly using for internal operations, while others have been adopted by other government agencies.

These innovations include the Tracking, Retrieval, and Archiving of Communications for Efficiency (TRACE), which is used to log communications with other agencies. The DOST-4A supervisors use this to communicate with the staff. This technology was adopted by the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) in Region 8, according to Bagsit, adding that it provided smoother internal operations in NAPOLCOM.

The Regional Research and Innovation Committee (RRIC) in Calabarzon has adopted the DOST-4A's Exchange of Probes, Learnings, and Outputs of Researches (Explore), a research and development (R&D) platform.

Bagsit said this was developed to create a centralized platform showing R&D initiatives of higher education institutions. The RRIC, she said, used this as a reference for researchers in looking for related or previously conducted research. The RRIC also used this to see the R&D contributions of member agencies.

Using application systems has many benefits not just for the agencies but also for its clients. Digital culture, improved employee productivity, organized documentation, organizational transparency are just among the benefits," Bagsit said. (PNA)