The Purchasing Cycle - Essay Example

For a purchasing process to be effective, the department must ensure it understands the company’s goals and plans. The most successful industries that may have managed to provide a very efficient purchasing process in the US include Food and beverage industries and electronic and computers industries. To achieve this objective, the purchasing department must understand the business requirements. It is also required to buy products and services from the right source, at the right price, quantity, time, and the correct specifications as required by customers.

The overall aim of this objective in manufacturing companies is to ensure that the raw materials needed in the production process are acquired, in the right quantity and quality and from viable sources. The implications this has is that if the wrong raw materials are bought, the entire production process is stalled and the company might end up making losses or producing poor quality products that do not meet the customers’ specifications(Matthews & Schneller, 2011). For the purchasing process to be efficient and effective, there must be keen following of the whole process and knowledge of the supplier markets.

Opportunities must, therefore, be identified, internal operations managed and all focus directed towards achieving this objective. In identifying opportunities, suppliers with the highest quality and cost friendly products are selected. Ensuring diversity in suppliers selected could also be beneficial to the company. The purchasing department has the responsibility of choosing the best suppliers, using the most viable criterion to choose the most current suppliers as they are usually very competitive.

Internal operations involve managing procurement staff effectively, formulating policies and strategies. Proper leadership in the purchasing department, collaboration and teamwork helps in achieving this objective (Matthews & Schneller, 2011). For the purchasing