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Operations Management - Procurement / Purchasing / Sourcing

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Miscellaneous Articles

A Financial Perspective of Purchasing Decisions	This study investigated methods used by purchasers in evaluating suppliers and the basis for justifying purchasing decisions at Volvo Car Corporation from a financial standpoint. Pdf-file available for download. 2003
Avoiding the Procurement Rabbit Hole	Procurement leaders have worked hard to build functional excellence.  But to safeguard and enhance their status, they now need to take a broader view.
Buying Smart: Blueprint for Action	A report outlining innovative procurement strategies employed by state governments in the acquisition of information technology commodities.
Crafting a Coherent Purchasing Strategy	Businesses confront several options for handling online procurement — and choosing the right one can turn a traditionally low-value function into a strategic advantage.
Driving Down the Cost of Raw Materials	A four-pronged approach to managing input steel prices and commodity purchases.	new
Getting Creative: Efficient Sourcing in Marketing	Marketing provides a tangible opportunity for cost savings, but few companies have found a way to increase the function's purchasing efficiency. To gain the maximum benefit to their bottom lines and marketing efforts, companies will have to ensure that marketing and procurement departments collaborate to an unprecedented degree.
IT Procurement	The successful acquisition of products and services. This report discusses issues and concerns that should be addressed when making technical product and services purchases. Pdf file	TOP
Key Supply Strategies for Tomorrow	Perspectives on the Future of Purchasing and Supply. Over time supply management will be asked to deliver more while facing new and evolving challenges. 2007
Measures	A List of Sample Procurement/Purchasing Performance Measures
Procurement's Future: Outsourcing?	Organizations must uniquely assess outsourcing viability for strategic, commodity, and services procurement and management
Purchasing Performance Excellence: Results from Arthur D. Little's Benchmarking Study	To reduce costs, many companies are relocating activities or outsourcing pieces of their value chain, making them ever more dependent on the performance of their purchasing organisation. Arthur D. Little's benchmarking study "Purchasing Performance Excellence 2006" provides insights about how best-in-class purchasing organisations in a broad range of industries are capable of creating tremendous value for their stakeholders. pdf-file 2.2 MB, 2006
Purchasing power: finding quick cash and building long-term capabilities	Companies can take a more effective, fact-based and strategic approach to purchasing while also achieving quick savings.
Saving Procurement from Itself	It’s time for chief procurement officers to stop relying solely on functional depth and start increasing functional breadth. 2007
Single-Source Vendor	How to turn an excellent decision into a disaster - an article in discussion form.
State Procurement:	Strategic Positioning for the 21st Century
Strategic Sourcing for Senior Executives	As companies move from being manufacturers to assemblers, CEOs and CFOs need to consider how changes in cost structure move earnings per share
Supplier Selection Process in Emerging Markets	The Case Study of Volvo Bus Corporation in China. Abstract; pdf-file available for download. 2005
The Purchasing Chessboard - Buying in a seller's market	In a seller's market, buyers must adopt new tools and strategies to compete effectively on a new playing field.
The Route to Better Procurement	Improvements in purchasing systems transcend cost savings, and companies are seeing the benefits extend to every corner of the business. 2006
Why Senior Executives Should Care About Sourcing	Most companies are nowhere near the sourcing excellence frontier. In any given industry, the average company achieves 2-3% purchasing improvement per year, when the leaders achieve many times that level. Pdf-file

E-Procurement

Be 'E-Sourceful' To Make Wise Buys	Strategic-sourcing services can help your company streamline the purchasing process and improve the bottom line.
Changing Shapes of Supply Chains	How the Internet Could Lead to a More Integrated Procurement Function. Pdf-file
E-Procurement Explosion	Expected to reach $3 trillion in transactions by 2003, online purchasing is saving millions for savvy manufacturing companies. Facts and figures on e-procurement. March 2002
E-Procurement Grows Up	The right e-procurement systems enable companies to reduce materials costs, slash overhead and improve supplier relationships.
Internet Negotiations eSourcing Results: Realizing Rapid Results using eSourcing Tools	This study provides a high-level overview of the categories sourced in the three prior years (2000-2002), and includes results segmented by geographic region. In-depth analyses of select direct and indirect category results provide insights into savings differential for the regions compared, in this case Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. pdf-file 204 KB. June 2003
Nine Steps to Getting Suppliers' B2B Buy-In	If your company plans to invest in tighter integration and collaboration with its trading partners for procurement execution you can avoid some mistakes. The fundamental premise is this: never forget that supplier buy-in will be the key to your success.
Services Procurement	Capturing Value from E-Procurement of Services: Lessons from the Real World. July 2003

Organizations

Institute for Supply Management

National Association of State Procurement Officials

Procurement and Supply Chain Benchmarking Association