Procurement is at the heart of the supply chain function as the purchasing department can spend up to 70% of a company's money. In this course, we will explore the strategic role of the procurement function and how this department can contribute to the entire organization. Supplier evaluation and negotiation will be discussed to maximize the contribution of the procurement department. Furthermore, the latest innovative techniques for continuous improvement at the procurement department will be explored.

Course Methodology

This course uses a variety of interactive training methods such as case studies, team exercises, individual exercises, and questionnaires.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Identify the important organizational role of the procurement department.
• Use proper negotiation techniques with suppliers.
• Evaluate the performance of the department at the macro level.
• Decide how to choose the best suppliers for their operations.
• Apply the latest innovative procurement techniques for the 21st Century.  

Target Audience

Senior buyers, purchasing supervisors, purchasing managers and other supply chain personnel.

Target Competencies

• Procurement innovation and creativity
• Negotiation planning
• Evaluating suppliers
• Training buyers
• Writing procurement KPIs
• Market search for better suppliers

Course Outline

Day 1

Role of procurement management

• Total value analysis
• Linking the procurement function to the organization’s strategy
• Optimizing procurement productivity
• Proper buying of materials
• Proper buying of services
• Proper buying of capital equipment
• Speeding up the production of the final product
• Linking the purchasing function to the other supply chain functions

Day 2

Negotiating with suppliers

• Qualities of a successful negotiator
• Proper planning strategies
• Preparing the right list of questions
• Things to do before the negotiation.
• Things to do during the negotiation.
• Things to do after the negotiation.
• The right time to negotiate with suppliers.
• The number of suppliers to negotiate with
• Choosing the right suppliers

Day 3

Managing and evaluating the department performance

• Centralization versus decentralization
• Advantages of centralized procurement
• Advantages of decentralized procurement
• Reasons for departmental performance appraisal
• Creating a strong purchasing team
• Distributing the correct workload among the buyers
• Increasing the efficiency of the buyers
• Increasing the team spirit within the department
• Designing and conducting end users’ surveys

Day 4

Training the procurement staff

• Technical training on purchased items to increase productivity.
• The number of training hours per year
• Visiting the supplier plant as a training tool
• Visiting the supplier warehouse as a training tool
• Commodity rotation as a training tool
• Continuous professional development
• Training on ethical behavior

Day 5

Innovation and continuous improvement in procurement

• Innovative purchasing methods
• Implementing new creative procurement ideas
• Improvement initiatives
• Monitoring global market conditions
• Updating procurement KPIs
• The right number of procurements KPIs
• Adding value to the total organization