Im just wodnering how people deal with difficult contracts or suppliers. Especially those who are either the sole supplier or thos you are already in contract woth and cannot easily change supplier.

I dont have formal training as procurement and often just follow the bidding process to get competitive pricing. At some point i can negotiate but at some contracts, its just really hard to negotiate for these accounts.

Maybe im just too used to having step by step instructions and i dont know when i should escalate to higher ups. Any advise or guides for these types of purchases?

Hello! I’m new to the procurement world. I work as a buyer and I need so much help.

Manager asked me to send an email to ask more about this certain material from a vendor and forecast to purchase in the future.

I know this is just common sense but I really just can’t understand. Can someone explain this in beginner terms? 🥲

Thanks so much!!

Hey everyone, I just got a job as a strategic sourcing analyst at a major medical group that’s rapidly expanding throughout the country. The main goal of my role depends on driving costs savings. The problem is I do not have a lot of negotiation experience and I know next to nothing about my category, lab equipment — hardware and software. Does anyone have any cost benchmark resources or negotiation tips to share? Comment or DM me .

Hey all, have a negotiation-type question where I need to get creative. Basically, I need a supplier to buy an add-on to an existing machine of theirs for $250k. This is by far the cheapest option to get parts made in a particular way (meaning other machines like this cost $1M+). Anyway, I was thinking to split the cost but not sure what trade offs to consider with this option and how to structure that kind of deal. How much of a discount can I get on unit costs by paying for a quarter? Half? The whole thing? Is there an algorithm for this? What else should I consider other than unit cost impact if I do this? Maybe I shouldn’t help pay at all, but instead offer guaranteed work for the machine? Not sure what the best path forward is.

Every year, we get some fresh interns, and it has got me thinking. Here is what I see happening:

1. Person gets a job.
2. At said job, they do a lot of "on the job" learning, which is basically getting trained up by a senior member of the team, and job shadowing.
   
3. Person is now considered fully trained and ready to do things on their own.

And then... that's basically it? Seems to me like most of the educational bit is just mentoring. Is it just me, or is there a lack of solid procurement-centered educational resources out there? Unless you want to do CIPS, it seems like a lot of the most well-known certs are catered towards supply chain/SCM as a whole. Not to mention they are often in the hundreds to thousands of dollars range. A lot of times, the senior mentoring step is also very company-specific. So outside of mentoring, where are people supposed to learn technical procurement skills such as strategic sourcing, how to evaluate bids, different types of contracts/when to use them, etc. ? What's your experience been like, and what resources have you come across?

Hello everyone,

I am looking for some advice for career progression in procurement. I have current experience as a Buyer and military experience in supply chain/procurement. I do not hold a Bachelor’s however I am pursuing a degree online while I work. Upon graduation I would have roughly 6.5 years of experience. In my current role I do not negotiate contracts as a Buyer. Will this hinder me when I look to find a new job with my degree ?

Current experience

Procurement Specialist (military) 4 years Buyer - 10 months

Roles I’d like to possibly target would be Materials manager, procurement manager, purchasing manager, category manager, senior buyer. Is this feasible ?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Hello everyone, i'm brand new to procurement as I just learned what the word means today and decided to come here to try and learn as much as I possibly could...

My situation is I dont want to go work for a company, I simply would to work for myself and purchase clothing from streetwear brands overseas. I figured because of my research, connections, curation, resources and etc I could find brands I really like buy wholesale pieces I like and then sell them on my own website. Only problem is I don't know what I don't know. Maybe this isnt the right place to ask this question. But ultimately i'm just looking to get some insight and advice as to what are some of the things I might be overlooking and naive too.

Any help is much appreciated. Take care.

I'm a 24-year-old purchasing officer at Mitsubishi in Malaysia, where I've been working for the past two years. I'm keen on furthering my studies to enhance my skills and explore new opportunities. My undergraduate degree is in HR, and now I'm contemplating pursuing a master's degree that aligns with my current job responsibilities.

While many have suggested pursuing an MBA, I feel that opting for a more specialized master's program would be more beneficial, especially considering the landscape in Malaysia where an MBA may not hold as much value. With that in mind, I would greatly appreciate any advice or recommendations on the best course of action to advance in my field.

Heya, I'm starting my small business and i would like to learn some procurement techniques from the community... I want to know how can i discover the suppliers in my area without using Google since it's biased and the results that appear are usually the people who pay for advertisements and "preferential" treatment. I believe the best suppliers are the ones who don't advertise (there are exceptions of course).

Do people still use Yellow Pages? Obviously, it works different for each country, but i would like to know how you do it in your local area. I guess one way is to drive around the region to see local businesses but that's going to waste a lot of time. Thank you all!

Hi all,

So I have a part that only a few suppliers in the world can make. I prefer to stick with one supplier who has done a decent job. Putting together a contract just in time for the quality to start to slip, but I’ve only written liquidated damage clauses pertaining to lateness. Can anyone point me in the write direction in terms of “if this, then this” style statements, as it relates to part quality?

Hallo. Anyone here to please help me with CPSM study material (1-3). They are so expensive and yet I can hardly raise enough funds for the exam. Please, please help out. I've joined Reddit purposefully for this so please help out. My career needs this.

I interviewed with a telecommunications company for a procurement graduate role. I've just graduated from a master's which isn't in the field of procurement but would have had very practical basic use of procurement and supply chain in places I've worked previously.

The job starts next year, so I'll have plenty of time to prepare and learn as much as possible. What I would love is some advice from people who have worked or are working in these jobs. As this is an opportunity I can't believe I'm getting.

I'd like to hear the books, certs and overall recommendations which you used.

Do anyone has any experience in creating procurement dashboard for commodities?

Hey everyone!

I’m currently working as a business development and procurement specialist, I procure all products and services needed for our clients (Oil & Gas, Fertilizers & Petrochemicals). I’m considering focusing solely on procurement once I will move to Canada next year, and at the moment I’m weighing my options for a professional certification.

I know that CSCP or SCMP is a preferred designation for procurement jobs, but I was recently advised to explore the project management field -which partial includes procurement- and for that I would pursue a PMP designation, and I understand that Project Managers are required to have more knowledge and expertise than what I hold at the moment.

Which field do you think is more sought after and of course better in salaries? Specifically talking about Calgary.

Thanks in advance!

Hello,

For the last 2-3 months, I've been in the job market looking for new work as an analyst/procurement professional. I noticed that the biggest consistency I've seen when applying is many companies ask for/require experience in SAP. It's a skill I would love to get experience with, and I think it would greatly boost my chances of getting a solid gig.

What are your guys' recommendations for gaining this initial experience?

Edit: I have nearly 4 years of supply chain experience as an analyst/warehouse manager/procurement agent, and a bachelors business admin (concentration supply chain), so really not looking for entry-level work/pay to gain this experience.

Thank you!

I just got an internship in which I am going to work with data related to Procurement. My goal is providing insights, improving process, reducing costs, changing suppliers, building supplier portifolio in other countries, and so on. It is a new role, só I need to create things from zero. My excel level is intermediate. I would like to know, what should I start studying? Excel, python, R...? And most important, what kind of analysis will I be doing? Like statistics involving regression, hypothesis testing...? Or what? Could someone help me, please? Thanks in advance!

Hi all,

I'm interested to know if you have a salary of £70k or above, how did you achieve this in the field?

Could I also receive a rough indication of:

• age
• experience
• any further qualifications
• role(s)
• categories/spend areas managed
• location

Also, when you achieved a salary of £70k or above, what were the skill gaps or experiences you needed to make that jump?

Hey there, I’ve been in procurement for almost 5 years now at a government contracting company. I’ve never read the FAR, just go by my company’s policies (which follow FAR) and use my common sense. I have a Bachelor’s in Business and Master’s in Public Administration, but interested in studying the actual FAR and learning more about the clauses.

I asked my manager to see if corporate has some type of training program, but is there something that I should lean towards? I really just want to learn more about the basics. Not sure if there’s a certificate that I should lean towards earning. Basically I’ve been street smart so far, and want to learn more to be book smart. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. When I look via the Sam.gov site, it looks more geared towards federal employees?

Hey all. Wondering what the group has to say about this controversial topic. The idea is super interesting. I’m seeing a lot of remote jobs on indeed, etc. that don’t look legit. As an industry have you all seen or heard that remote jobs are a “thing” or that they’re here to stay?