We also centralize our purchasing. The most obvious, direct benefit is the ability to purchase in bulk, and to price compare to make sure we're getting the best prices.
A significant indirect benefit is that is forces our site supers to plan ahead, and make sure that they will have the materials they need on site on the right days. We find that when they are purchasing for themselves, they tend to wait until they are critically low and then just purchase at the closest and easiest vendor.
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Joselin Martin CCIFP, CPA
Chief Financial Officer
Hayles and Howe, Inc.
Baltimore MD
(410) 462-0986
Original Message:
Sent: 12-09-2016 13:53
From: Jack Holbrook
Subject: Purchasing
I'm curious how other companies structure their material purchasing. Do you have a centralized purchasing department or are all purchases managed by project managers or field?
We are an electrical contract that has a full-time purchaser to help project management process and track orders. We see the benefit of a central purchasing department being that purchasers know all the vendors, transportation options, and they ensure greater accountability on tracking delivery times. The benefit to having decentralized purchasing is that the project management team is more connected to the other facets of the project and don't have to go through a middle-man to get their orders placed.
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Jack Holbrook Economics
VP of Finance
ELCCO Inc
Evergreen CO
(808) 283-1938
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