Today's Tips

Better Meeting Management Pays - 05/01/2013
The last October issue of Professional Purchasing discussed the importance of managing meetings. It pointed out the advantages and disadvantages that can be obtained from holding meetings. Here are further thoughts on the topic. Gathering people t...

Better Meeting Management Pays - 04/01/2013
The last October issue of Professional Purchasing discussed the importance of managing meetings. It pointed out the advantages and disadvantages that can be obtained from holding meetings. Here are further thoughts on the topic. Gathering people t...

Negotiate From Strength - 03/01/2013
It is always a good time to negotiate if you can, but the best time to negotiate is when you are relatively strong. You may not be aware of your strength or weakness and neither may the supplier. Be alert to a larger than normal requirement for a p...

Don't Put All Your Faith In One Supplier - 02/01/2013
There are very good arguments for using a single source of supply and there are also very good arguments about using more than one supplier. Our previous articles have discussed the pros and cons of each policy, but perhaps more needs to be said ab...

Use The Right Channel For The Lowest Cost - 01/01/2013
A supplier may be found that markets in any one of a number of channels. Selecting the proper channel improves the chances of obtaining the lowest purchase cost for your purposes. Buying directly from the manufacturer of a product avoids the cost ...

Clean Up Your Desk - 12/01/2012
There is an old saying, "A cluttered desk is a cluttered mind, but an empty desk is an empty mind". There is not much evidence that either statement is true. Nevertheless, it is inefficient if your desk is piled high with unsorted papers and miscel...

Be Prepared for 2013 - 11/01/2012
Now is the time to get ready for the new year. Planning what you want and intend to do early will insure that you benefit for the full year. A well-run organization will develop objectives first. Then budgets will be made to help achieve those obje...

Manage Your Meetings - 10/01/2012
Some bosses gather their staff for a meeting every week. Others do so every day. Such meetings are helpful with communication but can be very costly and counterproductive. Some general managers schedule a general meeting with all their department h...

Act Before the Economy Improves - 08/01/2012
Business buyers need to take action now before the present sluggish economy improves. Prices for most parts have been rather stable. Many of the various government price indices show very small increases, in the neighborhood of one percent, and a g...

Obtain Compensation for Supplier Errors - 07/01/2012
Everybody makes errors and sooner or later all suppli-ers make a mistake. Some mistakes are so minor that it is not worthwhile to obtain compensation. Also a supplier may be very grateful if you overlook a small error, and they are likely to not ho...

Don't Burn Your Bridges - 05/01/2012
Your first reaction when you are angry or disap-pointed in a company or a person is to respond with criticism or abuse. But think twice before you berate a supplier. Think about the consequences when you malign your boss if you are leaving a compan...

Become a Products Specialist Purchaser - 04/01/2012
You become a much more valuable employee when you know more about a product than anyone else in your organization. For example, if you buy steel, engineers and production people will come to you for advice. Even those who market your company’s pr...

Save by Changing the Specifications - 03/01/2012
Savings from purchasing activities are achieved by negotiations and shopping, but they also can be obtained by changing the product’s specifications. Changing the specs doesn’t necessarily lower the quality, but care must be taken to avoid doin...

Obtain Savings By Paperwork Reduction - 02/01/2012
It is easy to create more work and waste money. All you need to do is create more poorly designed forms that must be filled out in many multiple copies. Another way is to send copies of reports and unimportant notices to everybody you can think of....

Praise Your Suppliers When Justified - 01/01/2012
Giving a compliment to a supplier when it is warranted does not encourage a supplier to lessen performance. On the contrary, if done properly, it may produce a continuation of good results or even stimulate better performance. It is proper to tell...

Be Prepared for an Audit of Purchasing - 10/01/2011
Audits of the purchasing function are periodically conducted for public companies. This may be done internally by an employee from the organization’s accounting function or it may be done by outside auditors. Someone from a selected public accoun...

An Easy Way to Find a Good Supplier - 09/01/2011
If there are only a few suppliers available for the product you are looking for it is not much trouble to check the capability of each supplier and base your sourcing decision on the lowest cost. However, there are hundreds of suppliers for some pr...

Concentrate On the Big Items - 08/01/2011
Spend most of your negotiating time shopping for the items that cost the most. If you have a policy of obtaining three quotes for new items, it might be worthwhile to consider asking for much more. For example, if you are shopping for a piece of eq...

Can You Do Without the Packaging? - 07/01/2011
Some printers will shrink wrap your purchased forms in bundles of one hundred or more or less. They will ship your envelopes in beautiful sturdy boxes of five hundred envelopes per box and then place the boxes in sturdy shipping containers. Other p...

Avoid These Time Wasters - 02/01/2011
If you are like most of us in the purchasing function, you would like to have more time. There just does not seem to be enough hours in the day to get everything done that you would like. You can improve the situation by eliminating time wasters an...