Five Types of Procurement Expertise

Do You Have These Types of Procurement Expertise?
The scope of procurement work has grown to include much more than it did 10, or even five, years ago. There are five areas of expertise that employers seek in their procurement team members.

1. Classic procurement expertise. Classic procurement expertise means being able to negotiate fantastic deals from suppliers. To analyze spend to identify exactly where savings opportunities are. To collaborate with suppliers to take out cost, improve performance and gain a competitive advantage.

2. Category expertise. Category expertise refers to thoroughly understanding the nuances of the products and services you are responsible for buying. Knowing what drives cost. Knowing what may constrain supplier capacity. Knowing the technical details necessary to ensure the optimum quality of delivered goods and performed services.

3. Interpersonal expertise. Today’s true procurement professionals are not the type of people that sit at a desk and stare at a computer screen the entire day. They inspire internal customers to comply with procurement initiatives. They persuade senior management to give support to procurement strategies and investments. They motivate cross-functional teams to succeed at their projects.

4. Industry expertise. Industry expertise means knowing how other similar organizations operate. What the business cycle is in that industry. What differentiates one competitor from another. And what possibilities there are beyond doing things the way the organization has always done them.

5. Organization expertise. To achieve maximum success in the team environment in business today, procurement professionals need to be familiar with the intricacies of their own organizations. Who are the people whose approval needs to be won? What processes must be followed to avoid bureaucratic delays? And what cultural constraints must be observed so that others don’t try to block the path to success?

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

About the Author

Charles Dominick, SPSM, SPSM2, SPSM3, is the president and chief procurement officer of the Next Level Purchasing Association (www.NextLevelPuchasing.com), a leading provider of procurement training and certification. He is also the lead author of The Procurement Game Plan: Strategies & Techniques for Supply Management Professionals. Prior to founding the Next Level Purchasing Association, Charles managed procurement for three leading organizations, including the University of Pittsburgh.

Featured

  • Springfield Breaks Ground on $53.7M Pipkin Middle School Rebuild

    Construction is underway on a new, state-of-the-art Pipkin Middle School in Springfield, Mo., a major step in Springfield Public Schools’ (SPS) long-term facility improvement plan, according to local news. The $53.7-million project officially broke ground in early June, following years of planning and community input aimed at modernizing aging infrastructure and addressing student capacity concerns.

  • ProTeam Launches GoFit 6 HEPA Backpack Vacuum

    Technology leader Emerson recently introduced the new ProTeam GoFit 6 HEPA backpack vacuum, according to a news release. The vacuum was designed to capture 99.97% of particulates down to 0.3 microns—including atmospheric hazards like lead dust, mold spores, and other particulates—through an advanced filtration system.

  • California High School Starts Construction on New CTE Building

    Analy High School, part of the West Sonoma County Union High School District (WSCUHSD) in Sebastopol, Calif., recently broke ground on a new Career Technical Education (CTE) Building, according to a news release. The 15,000-square-foot facility will offer specialized facilities for students in engineering, welding, culinary arts, agricultural sciences, and design thinking.

  • modern college building with circuit and brain motifs

    Anthropic Introduces Claude for Education

    Anthropic has launched a version of its Claude AI assistant tailored for higher education institutions. Claude for Education "gives academic institutions secure, reliable AI access for their entire community," the company said, to enable colleges and universities to develop and implement AI-enabled approaches across teaching, learning, and administration.

Digital Edition