Purchasing Best Practice

Purchased costs are continuing to increase as a percentage of total turnover. At the same time customers are demanding increasing variety and responsiveness. Product life cycles continue to shorten.




Against this background it is essential to understand where your purchasing department is on the journey towards best practice:


 How far has the department travelled from being seen as a bureaucrat to being regarded as a key agent of change across the total business?


 What are the external factors that are getting in the way of progress?




This Active Learning Day provides a route map for improving the contribution that your supply chain makes to response times and costs within the organisation.


Typically at least 50% of an organisation’s costs are directly related to purchases, making this another area (like Lean Operations – see separate information sheet for this workshop) where significant and immediate savings and improvements can be made.




Outline of the Workshop


 Mapping the total supply chain


 Competitive or collaborative relations?


 How to segment suppliers in terms of value and risk


 Strategies you can use to address each segment


 Organisational options for each segment


 Developing capability on your supply chain




Benefits of attending – at the workshop, delegates will learn to:


 Re-energise and refocus company-specific supply chain strategies


 Examine both the strategic and tactical aspects of purchasing


 Reduce costs and delays associated with the purchasing function


 Direct purchasing effort towards high-value activities




Who should attend?


 Purchasing Managers and Professionals


 Those charged with ensuring their organisation receives and delivers best value


 Those with responsibility for delivering continuous improvement




When: 3rd June. Repeated: 9th December




Workshop leaders: Bob Burton and David Clegg, Back-On-Track Ltd.