As the procurement of goods and services required for companies to carry out their operations increases, they need procurement units. The size of the workforce and capital spent on purchasing necessitates a more comprehensive and well-organized structuring. The physical and financial size of the company and the size of the purchasing unit may differ for each organizational structure. For example, a call center with hundreds of employees may need smaller purchasing operations; A strong purchasing unit may be required for a construction company with dozens of employees.
Units in need of goods and services within companies are customers for the purchasing unit and are called internal customers. Likewise, suppliers that purchase the output of the company or interact by providing goods and services for their output can be referred to as external customers. The purchasing unit should play an important role in the management of all these interactions.
In a production facility, material needs arise according to the production plan. The organization of these needs should be done by the planning unit. The planning unit collects the demands of the units that will produce and organizes the needs of all units by matching them with the purchasing unit data. During this study; data such as safety stocks, shelf lives, usage amounts, usage times, production times on the producer side, delivery times, domestic and international purchasing operation times, necessary permits, technical specifications, production plan of the materials should be taken into consideration. A calculation or organizational error in these factors can cause production to be disrupted or even halted. This situation is a vital risk for companies with profit. Requirements such as security, food and service required by the production organization are also conveyed to the Purchasing Unit by the administrative department. All these processes need to be organized in a healthy way. I will talk about ERP programs, one of the most important tools in this management, in my future articles.
In a manufacturing facility, the demands of internal customers pass through planning and purchasing organizations as well as in the unit in need. Material stock management can be under the control of one of these two units. The inventory of the demand is checked and then the demand reaches the purchasing unit. Although it is undesirable to hold some requests for a while, it is a generally accepted method by testing with applications and generally works in companies whose control mechanisms are not fully established due to the organizational structure. Some requests change or disappear altogether during this waiting period. There is no rule determined for this method. Typically, the purchasing manager's experience is effective in this method.
The fact that the purchasing manager comes to the field, feels and understands the production and production contributes to the common feeling and thought in construction or production. This approach is a way of working that facilitates the pursuit of a common goal and reduces conflict with internal customers.
Another important issue regarding internal customers is that the purchase prices, which should remain as company secrets, do not go outside the purchasing and financial affairs units within the framework of the required courtesy, and in case of necessity, they are shared in a controlled manner. During all these processes, the communication of the purchasing unit with the units it interacts with should be carried out by considering the company culture, respect and courtesy.
Likewise, relationships with external customers are important. Attention should be paid to factors such as courtesy, a sense of equality among competitors, adequate openness, information, receiving and applying suggestions, new technology knowledge, market research, payments, negotiation and contract stages, passive and active bargaining, and respect for trade secrets. It should not be forgotten that; external customers are promotional channels for companies. Any bad practice, financial hardship, or unprofessional behavior will spread very quickly.
The issue of internal and external customer relations, which I have tried to summarize without further ado, is valuable in terms of management, inner peace, profitability, promotion and effects of companies and should be managed carefully.
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