What is Procurement? An overview of Procurement
When people think of Procurement they usually think of a dull job where people do some buying work. Buying goods and services is a large part of procurement but to procure goods and services doesn’t mean that one simply buys, they also need to carry out a number of other activities to ensure they get full value out of the procurement.
So what is procurement if it is more than simply buying goods and services?
It’s a practice that should be undertaken to drive cost savings but more importantly, it is a functionalsupport that should add value to the business. It should help improve profits, it should build up relationships with suppliers and partners, it should tease requirements from its own business and it should put into place a plan that will allow all this and more to be achieved.
Now breathe, we haven’t even covered it all yet. We still have a lot more work with regards to the Supply Chain that should be carried out such as having a list of approved suppliers that can meet the standards of your organisation, you need to have terms and conditions (a contract) that protects you but doesn’t go too far and costs you more, you need to build relationships, you need to manage logistics, you need to prepare tenders, you need documentation that can speed up the process and you constantly need to improve.
