The Conference

World-class organizations view the application of best practices in purchasing as being essential skill sets needed by all employees involved in the procurement process. This course focuses on the common “gaps” in performance that must be filled in order for Supply Management to provide the continuous improvements needed for organizations to meet their strategic objectives.

This Conference develops how to be proactive rather than reactive in procurement activities and how to be working on the “right” things that display Purchasing’s creativity, flexibility, and supply market knowledge. We establish how to provide and measure purchasing contributions to the organization so that this critical function and all those in it can be elevated to be seen as a core organization competency.

The Goals

Participants attending the programme will:

• Learn how to develop high performance purchasing organizations
• Develop strategic purchasing plans
• Discuss how to improve internal customer service
• Determine how to eliminate low value added processes
• Be taught how to develop spend profiles
• Will be show analytics that to guide procurement strategies
• Explore many ways of reporting key performance indicators (KPI)
• See how to apply past supplier performance for better selection
• Be presented with the most important competencies for purchasing personnel

The Process

Participants will increase their knowledge base and skill sets through a variety of instructional methods including lecture by an experienced practitioner and consultant who has “been there-done that”, individual and group exercises, review of published articles, and group discussions covering current practices and their relationship to the implementation of new concepts.

The Benefits

Attendees will gain by participation in this program as a result of:

• Increased skill sets in managing a purchasing activities
• Greater ability to develop professionalism
• Greater job satisfaction and progress toward advancement
• Increased knowledge about how Procurement should be measured
• Increased recognition by the organization due to improved performance

The Results

The organisation will benefit by:

• Having Expert Procurement Management leading and guiding the purchasing process
• Continuous improvement in total cost of materials & services
• Higher productivity of personnel involved in procurement activities
• Improved performance of contractors and suppliers
• Better ways to measure purchasing performance
• Better integration between functions resulting in shorter cycle-times

The Core Competencies

Attendees will gain in the following competencies as a result of the programme:

• Strategic Sourcing
• Developing spend analysis to focus improvement initiatives
• Cost Containment strategies
• Developing sourcing strategies
• Procurement measurements that really define performance
• Reducing low value activities

The Conference  Content

The 1st Steps To Becoming World Class

• 4 Stages To World Class
• Let’s be honest of how Purchasing is viewed today
• Strategic Sourcing
• Developing Spend Profiles and the ABC Analysis
• New Job Descriptions For Purchasing of the future
• Purchasing Personnel Required Skill Sets

 

Evaluating Your Own Operation

• What are best Practices
• Purchasing Gap Analysis
• Vision and Mission for Purchasing
• Developing The Purchasing Department Strategic Plan
• Developing Key Performance Indicators (KPI) For Procurement
• Developing A Company Purchase Price Index

 

Continuous Improvement and How To Get It

• Cost Reduction Initiatives
• Methods of Cost Containment
• Waste In The Supply Chain
• Breaking Down The Elements Of Supplier Cost
• Commodity/Service Strategic Planning
• Resisting Price Increases
• Supplier Classification System
• Supplier Qualification Methods
• Supplier Performance Metrics
• Apply Performance to Purchasing Decisions
• Process Mapping To Eliminate Low Value Activities
• eProcurement

 

Improving the Image of Procurement

• Global Sourcing
• International Labor Rates Comparison
• Developing And Maintaining A Customer Focus
• Basic Issues In Corruption And Fraud Prevention
• Increasing The Level Of Procurement Professionalism
• Keeping Current in the profession

Assessment leading to ILM Endorsed Certification:

After attending this program, learners should reflect on the learning gained by submitting a work-based assignment on a pre-determined time with the following contents:

• Outline of current purchasing responsibilities including organisation chart and key products
• Identify areas of strength and weakness in current practices
• List relevant Key Performance Indicators for the purchasing department
• Action plan for addressing areas of weakness or other improvements including what is to be done, who will do it, and when it will be complete