There are many ways to help speed up production and procurement when it comes to purchasing supplies for MRO or production reasons
. The internet has really significantly changed the way purchasers and buyers have been able to procure what they need to get the jobs done. With the internet you gain some advantages, namely that you could search many more sites and companies to compare prices and availability.
This can make the job of the buyer easier because they suddenly have many more choices than they used to, but you still have to be careful and buy from a reputable dealer. This new process can speed up the process in which the procurement takes place, but there are some things that this new process doesnt do. First of all you dont necessarily get the personalized service that you would get when meeting with a supplier face to face.
This can mean delays in getting information that may not be a standard item for the online company. They often operate like a catalog house where you dont have a specific salesperson assigned to your account, that knows you and your business much better that a catalog could. But if you are willing to trade service and knowledge for price, it may be the way to go. But not all of the internet sites are only interested in making that one time sale to a faceless client.
Some companies have put together a comprehensive program that takes traditional selling and mixes it with internet sales to make them complement each other. You can buy online, but still know that the order is processed by by a local representative that knows you and your company. They allow you to order what you need, seeing real time information of stock levels and price and you can arrange to have it shipped or delivered by the method you choose.
This is the method that many companies prefer because of the time savings and the personal relationships that are still allowed to develop. You can even set up automatic purchase orders that will make a template of what you normally buy and have the parts ordered automatically when you will need them. This helps you save money because it limits the amount of purchase orders that need to be processed and the amount of inventory that you need to keep on your shelf. It helps to eliminate stock outs and lost time due to not ordering correctly ahead of time.