The name says it all: the Purchasing Department buys everything necessary to ensure the smooth running of Huijbregts Groep (HG). For example, power, telephony, the internet and:
- raw materials;
- packaging materials;
- work clothing and work shoes;
- work materials: knives, pens and detectable pens, etc.;
- stationery: pens, paper, letterhead paper, highlighters, staplers and lever arch files, etc.;
- services like: transport, trees and shrubs and laundry, etc.;
- food products like: coffee, tea, mayonnaise and soup, etc.
The Purchasing Department is a commercial department and is primarily involved at the beginning of Huijbregts process. Research on suppliers and supplier maintenance is vital if the purchases made are to be sound. Purchasing contracts have to be drawn up too. They set out agreements about quality, prices, delivery times, minimum and maximum order quantities and the contract term, amongst other things.
Purchasing: it’s a fine art!
We will briefly zoom in on raw material purchasing, a process that involves countries throughout the world. For example, white pepper is sourced form Indonesia, black pepper from Vietnam and onion powder from Egypt. Sometimes, this is because a product isn’t available anywhere else, or because it can be obtained more cheaply from another country than it can be in the Netherlands. According to Michiel (a buyer at HG since June 2009), the negotiation of prices and ensuring that products are bought at the right time are both a fine art. Michiel: “You start by setting yourself a goal. For example, the highest price that you are willing to pay for a product. Next, you start the negotiation process. If you're then able to purchase the product in question for the price you had in mind, you get a great sense of job satisfaction.”