Less Administration in Technical Purchasing, Stronger Focus on the Core Process

The chief operating officer and the new head of technical purchasing of a publicly listed retail company came to the conclusion that technical purchasing, the department responsible for purchasing all items, products and services apart from merchandise, was doing a disproportionate amount of administrative work, which distracted significantly from the core business. Only a few documented standards existed to ensure the goal of repeatability for recurring processes. The task was to systematically tap potential in this area.