Organisational Development in Purchasing

Over the last 20 years we have accompanied our Clients during their organisational evolution in the continuously maturing field of corporate procurement. From setting up a purchasing function, to deploying lead buyers and category management, establishing LCC sourcing offices or joint ventures and implementing managed purchasing services – whilst defining effective procurement processes and refining information and performance monitoring tools.

Although numerous initiatives are undertaken that demonstrate the value of a structured purchasing approach, significant additional cost reduction opportunities exist in many companies, to be captured through targeted improvement actions, change management as well as “structural” enhancements of the purchasing organisation.
 

Triton Associates Delivery Modules

• Purchasing audit and benchmarking
• Purchasing organisation and process design
• Purchasing effectiveness – On-the-job coaching, formal training programmes, tools development
• Purchasing efficiency – Rightsizing, outsourcing, offshoring and delegation of procurement activities
   

Purchasing Audit and Benchmarking

Objectives

• Assess existing purchasing organisation, processes, competencies tools and relative size/cost and highlight the main 'gaps' against international ‘best practice’ references
• Pinpoint shortcomings in current purchasing practices

Deliverables

• Assessment of ‘purchasing gaps’ – e.g., skills, resources, processes, tools – and development of recommendations to bridge such gaps (e.g., nature and number of purchasing resources, coordination mechanisms, buyers’ effectiveness, information flows, etc.)
• Recommendations on organisational evolution: enhancement of structures, resources, roles / interfaces, key processes and tools.
• Support to a comprehensive or partial redesign of the organisation (dimensioning, structure, roles/responsibilities, interfaces) and its processes is often provided following the audit.
  
  

Purchasing Effectiveness

In the context of a cost reduction initiative, upgrading purchasing skills, processes and tools to ensure that “best practices” are implemented and savings generated are 'institutionalised' (and, if appropriate, rolled out to other purchase categories/units). The operational impact of an immediate reduction in purchasing spend within the scope addressed (categories x business units) is designed so as to produce longer-term structural benefits, accelerating the savings generation across the entire organisation, and sustaining it over time.

This is achieved through specific project design and management techniques (including coaching and training), as well as through dissemination of methodologies and tools both at the general procurement level and on a category-specific basis.

Objectives

• Coach responsible Client Managers throughout a purchasing optimisation initiative
• Provide category-specific methodologies, experiences and analytical tools
• Ensure effective know-how transfer and dissemination (through training and operational mechanisms)
• Conduct a cross-functional change management programme, as required

Deliverables

• Effective purchasing processes based on category-specific knowledge, purchasing mechanisms and tools so that savings can be sustained and increased over time. This includes, as appropriate, the provision of analytical tools and templates, vendor industry cost structures, benchmarks, tender documents (RFI / RFP), vendor bid evaluation tools, SLAs, etc.;
• Embedding of new purchasing approaches and working mechanisms, through a change management process, involving all the stakeholders (Purchasing, Users and Prescribers) to ensure effective collaboration between them;
• Upgrading of Purchasing Managers’/Buyers' competencies through a combination of both on-the-job and formal training;
• Design of a roll-out programme in collaboration with key stakeholders.