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Unit 10: Purchasing in the Domestic and Foreign Marketplace

 ATS worked with the company on a vendor requirements best practice form - Notes
this was faxed or emailed to each contact person at each supplier / vendor -
each vendor had to sign off on this and this form was placed in their folder -
this form included such things as tax forms, Delivery, Purchase Order
requirements, Pricing, Compliance, and many other areas; and
 This centralized list was placed internally so that all authorized company staff
could view real time all vendors for their sourcing needs.

 Data retrieval for spend history, needs, and planning was conducted from a tracking
spreadsheet - later on this was automated into their procurement software and
implemented.
 Provided Staff development and training for procurement and finance. We discussed
the methodologies and best practices that would be used in the new centralized
purchasing department that would be rolled out throughout the company soon.
 The charter, specifications, methodologies, and goals of the new procurement
department were outlined. This strategic plan was routed to all senior leaders,
project sponsors, and departments for comments and feedback.

 The associates were empowered to construct a procurement department with the
proposed outcomes. The corporate office and each location contributed and as a
result, everyone held the new centralized procurement department in high esteem.
The strategic plan was implemented. The tactical pieces started falling into place by
having procurement staff hired and daily operations started.

 Weekly status and performance meetings were conducted with all department
managers and directors. ATS established a standalone best practices and lessons
learned from all acquisitions and procurement department projects.
 A manual was created for the procurement department about how to use their
procurement software (step by step manual). This reduced the amount of time
purchasing staff and all Purchase Request users were taking to create the Purchase
Requisitions and Purchase Orders. The impact was felt by more than 200 system
users that had to do the ordering of any product and service, which reduced their
labor time by more than 64%.

 Then the system was automated for approvals within Outlook for easier management
of orders, approvals, disapprovals, compliance, budget control, and forecasting.
This system was generated through their procurement software, the forms were
routed to Outlook, and the approver could either authorize or reject electronically.
This organization had more than 7,000 employees, more than 200 approved
requisition staff, many regional directors, several corporate directors, and other
authorized staff. This approval system alone reduced labor by more than 9,300
hours per year, increased compliance, greater control resulted in reduce orders of
items not approved, and all involved were more engaged and proactive with their
department budgets.
At the same time we started implementing cost reduction for the master list. We assembled
our master item list of the products under "items needing procurement" (found on page
two), and started the procurement process. From the specifications developed with the
client, we were able to reduce costs on average for all items by 22% with improved
quality, higher average profit margins, and real time ordering with the awarded suppliers.

Contd...

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