Often working under the direction of a materials manager, the purchasing agent's job is far more complex than simple buying. They establish the sources of supply for their firms. This often means visiting the vendor tonsure its operation is viable and it can do what its representatives say it will do. Because purchasing professionals buy so many products, they often can set prices and must be adept at the kind of calculations involved in adjusting quantities, discounts, and a host of other variables that affect pricing determination. In reading through this section, we hope you'll come to understand what an important job the purchasing agent has in an organization.
Purchasing agents are found not only in manufacturing, but in all kinds of employment settings: for example, schools, hospitals, and government offices. Wherever they are located, their job is essentially the same. They ensure the company has sufficient supplies of the materials needed to continue operating. Sufficient is the key word here. If the purchasing agents order too much, they have tied up operating capital that could have been used for other initiatives and may hurt overall profitability. Buying too much also subjects the stock to the risk of damage by deterioration, fire, theft, or simply being outdated by new and better products.
Because their role is so crucial, purchasing agents are part of the management team and are recognized for the important contribution they can make to the financial well-being of an organization. Not only do they have to know what to buy, but they have to make important decisions on the quality of the items they buy. Purchasing agents wouldn't be making a contribution by saving money on the purchase price of cheap items-poor-quality items wouldn't last very long and would have to be reordered frequently.
Ordering the right quantity and quality isn't the whole story, either. Purchasing agents make hundreds of decisions. For example, they must compute not only the cost of the item they are buying, but how much it will cost to handle and transport the item. They must also ensure the vendor they are buying from can meet the promised delivery dates and quantity amounts, which can both be critical. If you can save your firm money by having needed parts and materials arrive when you need them and not before, you can't do that without an enormous dependence on and trust in your vendor. Purchasing agents and vendors have very close relationships as their livelihoods are mutually dependent.
Part of this relationship means the purchasing agent must coordinate his or her firm's production schedules with vendor production schedules. In the summer before this book went to press, the United States experienced an unprecedented strike by the United Parcel Service's delivery drivers. This strike made a powerful impact, not just on everyday citizens who have comet depend upon UPS service, but many much larger organizations discovered they had become too dependent on one delivery service. Following resolution of the strike, there were many articles in business and trade publications analyzing the impact of the strike and indicating many purchasing agents had made significant changes in their use of delivery services for the future. Most of the changes involved distributing business between many delivery service vendors, including FedEx and the U.S. Postal Service, in order to weaken the effects of any future strikes on the cost of doing business.
It's the purchasing agent's job to anticipate problems such as that posed by the UPS strike and solve the problems that come with them. To do this, purchasing agents work closely with many other departments in their organization, including receiving, traffic, and supply departments. In small firms, one purchasing manager may do everything. However, in larger firms, a government arms contractor, for example, there may be over one hundred purchasing agents, each specializing in a certain class of material or machine.
Some purchasing agents begin as expediters and work their way up. Expediters handle much of the paperwork and other details involved in making purchases, arranging shipping, and settling claims. Their responsibility is to see that delivery commitments made by the vendor are kept, or if delays do occur, to figure out ways to speed things up. As an entry-level job in purchasing, it involves a lot of paperwork, although the job has expanded as firms seek to reduce the time between orders and delivery. It's a great way to learn the business. As an expediter, you'll have an opportunity to become familiar with most items purchased as well as who purchases them-that's the kind of information you'll need to move up in this field. Some entry-level positions are simply designated "trainees" within a purchasing department. Trainees learn on the job and may attend special classes. Often, this trainee period will include a rotation through other departments of the organization, as well.
Working Conditions
Working Conditions for Retail Buyers and Buyer/Merchandising Trainees
Rapid Advancement
Talent is immediately recognizable in the fast-paced and highly responsive world of retailing. Ambitious people usually want positions that demonstrate their talent to advantage and then reward that talent with responsibilities and duties that will further stretch and develop their skill.
Action
Some people love to be busy, the busier the better. They cannot tolerate sitting at a desk all day, chatting around the water fountain, or catching up on business journals. The answer is retailing. Each day has a different outcome as each customer through the door presents a different collection of needs to be satisfied. Demands can be incessant. This is a business forth strong and energetic. If you're not happy, you'll see it as chaotic, frantic and frustrating!
Contact with People. Sometimes job applicants make the mistake of telling the interviewer "I'm a people person." What does that really mean? In retailing, a "people person" must be comfortable with all kinds of people from all walks of life and, increasingly, from many different parts of the world. You will have to want to understand their needs and enjoy making an effort to fulfill those needs.
Mobility
Retailing careers offer unparalleled mobility. Retail opportunities exist worldwide and in every size and variety of emporium, so if you are anxious to live on the West Coast or in the Plains States, you can do it.
Entrepreneurship
This word has special meaning for retailers because, in sense, every buyer is in business for himself or herself each department or operating unit in today's retail stores has its own printout of profit and loss. You will easily be able to demonstrate your entrepreneurial spirit.
Long Hours
Take a look around. Retailers are open holidays (even some of the most sacrosanct, such as Christmas), evenings, weekends, and late nights. Stores need to be staffed and maintained and managed. You'll be workingman times when the rest of the world is out playing! Competition is intense in retail, and management often put in long hours on and off the floor to stay abreast of the competition.
No Glamour. Even when you obtain the coveted position of buyer you'll be shocked to find your office is a cubbyhole tucked behind the dressing room son the fifth floor. Store floor space is for merchandise. Employees take what snot usable or left over. Glamour is for the customers.
