What is good purchasing strategy management?

The aim of a purchasing strategy is to achieve the performance objectives defined for the spending portfolio concerned. This spending portfolio is called a "Category" in purchasing language. It covers all expenditure on a given type of product or service.

Each category will have similar product ranges, and suppliers (often too many) capable of delivering these products. As an example, let's take a look at the PC and Laptop category.

Performance targets

Performance objectives will be achieved through the action of levers. Here are a few of them:

• Reduce the number of suppliers (to consolidate purchasing volumes with selected suppliers)
• Renew product range to equip teams with more efficient machines
• Set up performance indicators

Each lever requires an action (or project):

• Competitive bid ding to identify the best suppliers to retain
• Define requirements with engineers and users, then consult, negotiate, contract
• Define indicators, set up a data collection system, monitor performance

Purchasing strategy

A purchasing strategy is made up of several levers. The resulting actions are all projects. Knowing whether the implementation of the strategy is progressing is equivalent to knowing whether the projects are progressing:

• Indicator / Number of suppliers
• Consultation schedule
• Planning of requirements definition work

The generic purchasing process

The generic purchasing process is always a project.

Defining needs

1. Search for qualified suppliers
2. Consultation
3. Tracking delivery performance
4. Deployment
5. Negotiation & contract

Read also: How do you manage purchasing projects?