Purchasing
-
1
What does the purchasing function do?
To add a hundred thousand to profit, sales must win a great deal of extra business. Purchasing needs to save a hundred thousand and no more — because what is saved on a purchase goes to profit in full.
9 min read -
2
Defining the need and the specification
Most buying problems are not born at the negotiating table but in the first line of the request. A vague specification produces a vague offer and a wrong delivery — and then the supplier gets the blame.
10 min read -
3
Selecting and comparing suppliers
Three offers on the table at different prices. And the question that seems obvious — "which is cheapest?" — is the worst one to start with. Start with: which of them is compliant at all?
11 min read -
4
Negotiation, contracts and supply terms
Anyone who negotiates on price alone leaves more on the table than they win. Price is one clause out of ten, and it is the other nine whose cost shows up after signature.
10 min read -
5
From requisition to payment
Three documents protect a business from paying for what it did not order or did not receive: the purchase order, the goods receipt note and the supplier's invoice. Matching the three is the simplest control there is, and the most effective.
10 min read