CONTRACT PURCHASING CASE STUDY

Overloaded Buyer

A customer approached PSC to provide support for an overloaded purchasing department.  The company was growing steadily and the number of orders handled was on the rise.  But, policies and procedures were not in line with the company's expansion.  Adding staff was not the best solution.

With our computer system, PurchasePro™, we customized our order flow to match our client's system. This included copies of Purchase Orders being sent directly to the user, accounts payable, receiving, and the Buyer.

One Buyer in the department faxed us requisitions on an as-needed basis, depending on the day-to-day workload.  We made sure the requisitions were properly approved, assigned them a Purchase Order number (using our client's number sequence), and placed the order.  We obtained quotations for the materials when necessary and reported the results back to the buyer and users.

To streamline communications, client's users contacted us directly to resolve any problems, such as expediting, warranty and invoicing issues.  We also provided a weekly report to the Buyer to keep track of dollar and order counts.   To update internal logs, we sent a disk monthly in their computer system's format.

Our support allowed the buyer to work on projects without worrying about the day-to-day processing of orders.  We also wrote policies and procedures, established terms and conditions for special orders, and negotiated agreements.

This was a good learning experience for the Buyer because PSC's methods were now made part of our client's purchasing process.  We touched on many subjects during this period, such as how to deal with vendors, how to deal with the internal politics of the company, and other matters that have helped advance the buyer's purchasing knowledge.