What Are The Common Procurement Mistakes?
Introduction An ideal process of procurement is designed for accuracy, speed and success. But with the growth of a company, there are different challenges that arise and need to be solved immediately by procurement professionals and sourcing subcontractors. Problems in procurement can change from human errors to failure in tracking, which negatively affects the purchasing abilities. If the issues are not solved, these can severely damage the efficiency, output and the company’s reputation. Here are some of the common mistakes and their solutions.
Purchasing Duplicate Or Several Items There can be a time when you have mistakenly ordered the same product twice. Sometimes, each product can come from two different vendors. Buying duplicate or excess items by mistake occurs when you do not have an effective approval process. When buying requests go through an approval method, it gives greater visibility and control over what you are buying. Further quality control experts can check the items and raise alarm for the same. You can easily rectify this issue by contacting the supplier. If you have a good relationship with the suppliers, half of your problems are solved. In the longrun to stop this mistake from occurring again, you need better purchasing protocols.
Employees Do Not Follow Purchasing Protocols Maximum companies follow a centralised buying model to go through the products’ quality. This is when the managers select several individuals to funnel all the purchasing needs and make the purchase on behalf of the company. Decentralised buying usually occurs when an employee does not have the access and visibility of the protocol. This is when they end up in buying products that go over the budget. To stop rogue spending, examine the protocols and redefine it. Adopt a wiser purchase model and allow for faster approval.
Employees Do Not Purchase From Approved Vendors When sourcing subcontractors buy from approved suppliers, it helps the company in multiple ways. Procurement’s decisions which a vendor follows are associated with the company’s risk management strategy. So, when employees do not go to approved vendors, many opportunities are missed and various challenges are introduced within the system. However, this problem can be easily fixed if you introduce a centralised vendor management catalogue which can be accessible by those who need the most. A visible catalogue aligns purchasing, saves a lot of time and negotiates terms and conditions.
Purchasing Exceeds Budgets
The delay in arranging the financial data and keeping it up-to-date is one of the most common causes that can lead to exceeding spending budgets. When employees do not have real-time budgets, they purchase more and more items because they assume that there is money in the budget to spare. If this problem arises, what you need to do is establish a strong communication among all the members. Furthermore, procurement software can give your employees real-time visibility into the budgets. This can keep excessive spending in control.
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