Procurement

[hadenough!]

Do I want a job in procurement? I'm currently a project manager with a background in interior fit out / construction.

For the past few months I've been managing the integration of a procurement department in to a business.

Off the back of this I've been provisionally offered a permanent role in the procurement department.

Any thoughts?

[Original Poster]

Do you not know yourself?

[Diablos-666]

I work in the construction industry and completed my apprenticeship as a mechanical engineer. As part of the training i had to work in the procurement dept - was the most boring job ive ever done!

It's also quite a thank-less task.

[hadenough!]

Original Poster said:

Do you not know yourself?

Nope, got a bit of thinking to do. Please understand though, this is an information gathering exercise and I'm not making any commitments to abide by suggestions made in this thread.

[Vimto156]

I've worked in procurement for 10 odd years, albeit in electronics industry. You are in the front line and as such you’re always under pressure. Be that to make sure you materials come in on time, pricing is a low as possible and quality is at an acceptable level.

Maintaining your supplier relationships is also vital so that, when needed, you can kick arse if they are late.

It's not as easy as people think its a balancing act. I’ve had many an engineer tell me purchasing is easy, but they always make an arse of it when they try to take matters into their own hands. With your project management skills you should find certain aspects of procurement quite straight forward, other bits you can pick up. I recommend that you look at gaining CIPS certification (chartered inst. purchasing and supply)

HTH

Vim

[CHIEF]

I'm the same as you Vimto156, In Electronics manufacturing and have done the procurement for over 12 years now, at times a very thankless job, Production want their parts NOW, constant pressures of getting the price down yet retaining quality, engineers want everything bloody gold plated, yet management insist i stick to budget.

Electronics is a fecker to be honest but i'm not sure about any other forms of procurement.

I unlike most haven't got my CIPS and its something i should get because if i decided to move on from my place after 17 years i'd probably be buggered.

I really enjoy the meeting people side and the popping round to see suppliers but i hate getting the hard sell which is quite frequent. I hate all that 'whats your target price bks?' 'work with me on this' etc etc.

Cut to the chase, give me a decent price and i'll deal with you simple as.

I've lost count the amount of people i've had undercut another supplier to get our business only to put up their prices three months later.

The biggest thing i've learnt is if a supplier looks after you then by christ make sure you look after them, a good relationship is vital.

Edited by CHIEF on Friday 6th August 00:49

[spikeyhead]

CHIEF said:

The biggest thing i've learnt is if a supplier looks after you then by christ make sure you look after them, a good relationship is vital.

This^^^^

If the position you are in has the opportunity to spend more time doing the relationship management bit and also managing people, and those are things that you enjoy then it's a possible career.

If all you're doing is placing orders then you're better off working in accounts.

[Vimto156]

CHIEF said:

I've lost count the amount of people i've had undercut another supplier to get our business only to put up their prices three months later.

The biggest thing i've learnt is if a supplier looks after you then by christ make sure you look after them, a good relationship is vital.

Edited by CHIEF on Friday 6th August 00:49

I'm quite hard when i comes to this, i just make them sign a supplier agreement to hold the price for 12 months. If they don't do it i won't move the business. Simple as that. If they then try and put the price up i'll have them for breaching the supply contract.

Other point about supplier relationship is golden...

[CHIEF]

Vimto156 said:

CHIEF said:

I've lost count the amount of people i've had undercut another supplier to get our business only to put up their prices three months later.

The biggest thing i've learnt is if a supplier looks after you then by christ make sure you look after them, a good relationship is vital.

Edited by CHIEF on Friday 6th August 00:49

I'm quite hard when i comes to this, i just make them sign a supplier agreement to hold the price for 12 months. If they don't do it i won't move the business. Simple as that. If they then try and put the price up i'll have them for breaching the supply contract.

Other point about supplier relationship is golden...

For me it depends on what i'm buying, raw metals are up and down like a dont know what so i pretty much only get a quote for 3 months, Others whom i tend to stick with will hold there prices as long as possible, even when their own purchasing costs rise erroding their margins, i will help them out as best i can, call offs or i'll up the order quantity, if thats a viable option for the company.

What sector of electronics do you work in incidentally if you dont mind me asking? I work in broadcast equipment manufacturing.

[Pulse]

I'll be interested to see how this develops. I'm a PM currently, but to keep my options open I am going to study CIPS in my free time.

I would assume a lot of my 'soft skills' from being a PM would transfer over nicely, and they are roles that often interact with each other, so may be quite beneficial.

Can anyone tell me if there is a 'typical' career path potential? For example, what would it take to get to Head of Procurement in a fairly large company?

Also, is CIPS the best route to go? Would it mean absolutely nothing without any experience, thus meaning I'd have to drop in wage?

[CHIEF]

Would be interested myself to hear off anyone who has done CIPS and could give me a few details on it and their experiences.

If i had to get another job in purchasing i would be knackered as i dont think you even get a look in unless your working towards this at the very least, even though i've 12 years or so in buying.

I'd also have to fund it myself.

[Pulse]

Mine is £1285 a year all in. You can do it for a bit cheaper but that's without any online tutor, which you need for the guided hours. Not too expensive.

[CHIEF]

Pulse said:

Mine is £1285 a year all in. You can do it for a bit cheaper but that's without any online tutor, which you need for the guided hours. Not too expensive.

Thats not as bad as i thought, Does anyone know the breakdown of the course?

What worries me is all the terminology bs that comes with these courses, The last time i did any sort of academic stuff was at school and my current job has been pretty much self taught over the last 12/13 years or so which hasn't been easy but going back doing training fills me with dread.

However i realise if i ever wanted to move on i'd be fecked without CIPS on my CV.

[BEP]

You wouldn't be knackered without CIPS, the only stumbling block is if you're trying for a senior role.I'm a similar template to yourself in that I feel it's not 'real world speak' shall we say, i'm not CIPS qualified however i've been interviewing candidates for a maternity cover position this week. We had about 6 in who were either fully MCIPS or at least level 5, all it showed to us what that they could do exams indeed a few Uni business courses are now offering Mcips when you graduate!!. (that's not across the board but with these 6 it was). I'm in manufacturing sourcing machined components in various steels and a plethora of other items.
I do enjoy it but as others have said, it's utterly thankless, purchasing are always to blame and you never get acknowledged for keeping costs down.....however it can be immensely rewarding to watch an item all the way through the supply chain and that's where I get my enjoyment.

Two things to keep in mind.

Treat suppliers with respect and they will work with you (note with not for) better. (banging your fists constantly doesn't work except in certain retail roles!!lol)

It's not purely about the price of the individual item (in my industry), look at the associated costs (transport/single source/paperwork savings/design etc) some good savings can be made.

Edited by BEP on Monday 16th August 21:49

[CHIEF]

I agree with that mate but i know or i suspect i wouldn't get through the door for an interview nowadays without the relevant CIPS qualifications, even if i thought i'd be s**t hot at the job.

[BEP]

Hmm possibly the case, as I say though it depends on what level/ salary range you'd be looking at. Best wishes eitehr way...