Introduction to Planning & Specifying Procurement

When we are deciding what to buy and when, it is called “procurement planning”. We all have a better chance of getting the result that we want if we commit management time and resources to the planning stage.

This is good for everyone involved, from line managers in your own organisation to your suppliers. It makes it more likely that goods and services will be available when you need them, with the right quality and at the right price.

I find the planning stage is a good opportunity to get others involved, so you can benefit from their advice and experience. Your procurement team should sit at the centre of the planning but you can ask other experts within your organisation to input. Your customers and your distributors and even potential suppliers may have some useful advice for you too.

Starting with good planning means I can work out how long it will take to complete the procurement process and award the contracts. Sometimes I have had to find particular expertise on technical specifications or for certain things elsewhere, if no one internally could support in that area.

I suggest working to a procurement plan, which should make it easier to bundle similar requirements under one contract, or maybe the division of a requirement into several bits for economies of scale. All in all, I can see how a good plan can save a lot of trouble later.