The A-Z of purchasing
23 November 2007 | Steve Bagshaw
Have you ever played that game in the car with your kids where you try and go through the alphabet, thinking of a different object for every letter (A is for apples, B is for Banana for example)?
Have you ever thought about trying it with purchasing?
We’ll get the game started here, post your answer with the next letter below.
A is for Auction – Plenty of these around in the procurement profession. E-auctions, reverse auctions, dutch auctions, japanese auctions. Not always beloved by suppliers, or even buyers (take a look at the next issue of SM for some interesting survey results).
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B is for Buyer.
Some of us may be Procurement Officers or Supply Chain Managers, but I like being a buyer.
C is for Contracts.
The best way to get your terms, conditions and prices signed, sealed and delivered in a manageable little package.
D is for deal. We like doing these.
E is for energy. This is a pre-requisite for the job.
D is for Demand Planning
My job would be so much easier if people could work out what it is that they will need, more than five minutes before they need it.
F is for FMCG, or Fast Moving Consumer Goods.
G is for Global
Being able to buy from the global marketplace, either through e sourcing or pre qaulified suppliers is key for most organisations
G is for Gathering – combining information for reports at key stages of a procurement, to help source supply, encourage participation, evaluate responses, etc.
H is for Hassle – the key concept in projects involving large numbers of inexperienced suppliers and flustered stakeholders with no intention of looking at that bit which was entitled “Instructions” at the start of documentation, and will therefore waste everyone’s time and patience by asking questions about every other section as a result.
I is for Instructions – something no-one ever reads.
J is for JIT (Just-In-Time) – timing purchases of consumables to keep the costs of inventory and deliveries low.
L is for Leverage – bargaining power dependent on the information on concerned products/services, such as the relative scarcity or abundance and the relative value of them to the buyer and supplier, determining the price of transactions and the expectation of business relations.
G is for Goalposts.
They are often moved.
K is for Knowledge Management.
What do we know, how do we store it and is it wise to copy it onto cd and put it in the post to other departments?
L is for leadtimes. It is vital to understand the lead times for everything an organisation buys. They allow planning to plan accurately and the sales team to quote accurate lead times to customers.
M is for MCIPS. Fingers crossed for the February results.