Purchasers and buyers evaluate and select suppliers based upon price, quality, availability, reliability, and selection. They review listings in catalogs, industry periodicals, directories, and trade journals, research the reputation and history of the suppliers, and advertise anticipated purchase actions in order to solicit bids from suppliers. Meetings, trade shows, conferences, and visits to suppliers' plants and distribution centers also provide opportunities for purchasers and buyers to examine products, assess a supplier's production and distribution capabilities, as well as discuss other technical and business considerations that bear on the purchase. Specific job duties and responsibilities vary with the type of commodities or services to be purchased and the employer.
Purchasing professionals who are employed by government agencies or manufacturing firms are usually called purchasing directors, managers, or agents; industrial buyers; or contract specialists. These workers acquire product materials, intermediate goods, machines, supplies, and other materials used in the production of a final product. Some purchasing managers who work in the industrial sector and specialize in negotiating and supervising supply contracts are called contract specialists or supply managers. Purchasing agents and managers obtain items ranging from raw materials, fabricated parts, machinery, and office supplies to construction services and airline tickets. The flow of work-or even the entire production process-can be slowed or halted if the right materials, supplies, or equipment are not on hand when needed. In order to be effective, purchasers and buyers must have a working technical knowledge of the goods or services to be purchased.
In large industrial organizations, a distinction is often drawn between the work of a buyer or purchasing agent and that of a purchasing manager. Purchasing agents and buyers typically focus on routine purchasing tasks, often specializing in a commodity or group of related commodities-for example, steel, lumber, cotton, fabricated metal products, or petroleum products.
This usually requires the purchaser to track such things as market conditions, price trends, or futures markets. Purchasing managers usually handle the more complex or critical purchases and may supervise a group of purchasing agents handling other goods and services. Whether a person is titled purchasing agent, buyer, or manager depends more on specific industry and employer practices than on specific job duties.
Changing business practices have altered the traditional roles of purchasing professionals. Manufacturing companies have begun to recognize the importance of purchasing profession and increasingly involve them at most stages of product development. Their ability to forecast a part's or material's cost, availability, and suitability for its intended purpose can affect the end product design. For example, potential problems with the sup] of materials may be avoided by consulting the purchasing department in the early stages of product design.
Increasingly, purchasing professionals work closely with other employees in their own organization when deciding on purchases, an arrangement sometimes called team buying. For example, they may discuss the design of custom-made products with company design engineers, quality problems in purchased goods with quality assurance engineers and production supervisors, shipment problems with managers in the receiving department before submitting an order.
Many merchandise managers assist in the planning and cementation of sales promotion programs. Working with merchandising executives, they determine the nature of the sale and chase accordingly. They also work with advertising personnel create the ad campaign. For example, they may determine the media in which the advertisement will be placed-newspapers, print mail, television, or some combination of these. In addition, merchandising managers often visit the selling floor to en-e that the goods are properly displayed. Often, assistant buyers are responsible for placing orders and checking shipments.
Computers are having a major effect on the jobs of pursers and buyers. In manufacturing and service industries, comers handle most of the more routine tasks-enabling purchasing professionals to concentrate mainly on the analytical aspects of job. Computers are used to obtain up-to-date product and pricings, to track inventory levels, process routine orders, and help ermine when to make purchases. Computers also maintain orders' lists; record the history of supplier performance, and le purchase orders.
Working Conditions
Most purchasers and buyers work in comfortable, well-lit ices at stores, corporate headquarters, or production facilities. They frequently work more than a 40-hour week because of special sales, conferences, or production deadlines. Evening and weekend work is common. For those working in retail trade, this especially true prior to holiday seasons. Consequently, many retail firms discourage the use of vacation time from late November until early January.
Buyers and merchandise managers often work under great assure since wholesale and retail stores are so competitive; buy-; need physical stamina to keep up with the fast-paced nature their work.
Traveling is usually required and many purchasers and buy-; spend at least several days a month on the road. High-fashion buyers and purchasers for worldwide manufacturing companies ten travel outside the United States.
Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement
Qualified persons usually begin as trainees, purchasing clerks, expediters, junior buyers, or assistant buyers. Retail and wholesale firms prefer to hire applicants who are familiar with the merchandise they sell as well as with wholesaling and retailing practices. Some retail firms promote qualified employees to assistant buyer positions; others recruit and train college graduates as assistant buyers. Most employers use a combination of methods.
Educational requirements tend to vary with the size of the organization. Large stores and distributors, especially those in wholesale and retail trade, prefer applicants who have completed a bachelor's degree program that focused on business related curriculum. Many manufacturing firms desire applicants with a bachelor's or master's degree in business, economics, or technical training such as engineering or one of the applied sciences and tend to put a greater emphasis on formal training. Regardless of academic preparation, new employees must learn the specifics of their employers' business.
Although training periods vary in length, most last several years. In wholesale and retail establishments, most trainees begin by selling merchandise, supervising sales workers, checking in-voices on material received, and keeping track of stock on hand, although widespread use of computers has simplified some of these tasks. As they progress, retail trainees are given more buying-related responsibilities. In manufacturing, new purchasing employees are often enrolled in company training programs and spend a considerable amount of time learning about company operations and purchasing practices. They work with experienced purchasers to learn about commodities, prices, suppliers, and markets. In addition, they may be assigned to production planning to learn about the material requirements system and the inventory system.
Persons who wish to become wholesale or retail buyers should be good at planning and decision making and have an interest in merchandising. Anticipating consumer preferences and ensuring that goods are in stock when they are needed require resourcefulness, good judgment, and self-confidence. Buyers must be able to make decisions quickly and take risks. Marketing skills and the ability to identify products that will sell are also very important. Employers often look for leadership ability and communication skills because buyers spend a large portion of their time supervising assistant buyers and dealing with manufacturers' representatives and store executives.
Purchasing professionals must be able to analyze the technical data in suppliers' proposals, make buying decisions, and spend large amounts of money responsibly. The job requires the ability to work independently as well as a part of a team. In addition, these workers must be able to get along well with people to balance the needs of departments within the organization with budgetary constraints. They may consult with lawyers, engineers, and scientists when involved in complex procurements.
Experienced buyers may advance by moving to a department that manages a larger volume or by becoming a merchandise manager. Others may go to work in sales for a manufacturer.
An experienced purchasing agent or buyer may become an assistant purchasing manager in charge of a group of purchasing professionals before advancing to purchasing manager, supply manager, or director of materials management. At the top levels, duties may overlap into other management functions such as production, planning, and marketing.
In high technology manufacturing firms, continuing education is essential for advancement. Many purchasers participate in seminars offered by professional societies and take college courses in purchasing. Although no national standard exists, professional certification is becoming increasingly important.
As more materials purchasing is conducted on a long-term basis, both private and public purchasing professionals are specializing in the contractual aspects of purchasing. The National Contract Management Association confers the designations Certified Associate Contract Manager (CACM) or Certified Professional Contract Manager (CPCM). Candidates for these certifications must have related work experience, complete academic course-work, and pass written exams. These designations primarily apply to contract managers in the federal government and its suppliers.
