You don’t have scrutinize the economic stats to figure out there’s tough times out there for procurement departments in a variety of industries.

Still, you can take a brief gander at these statistics and think of ways you could try to adjust your procurement responsibilities accordingly. According to the Credit Manager’s Index, we’re operating at a 50.1 level — with 50.0 considered a flat-out economic contraction. The biggest problems, as reported by the companies that participate in this survey, are slow-paying customers, rising fuel costs, and trouble for anyone who’s associated with the housing industry.

Here’s the good news/bad news report:

Good business conditions reported by:

• photographic equipment
• farm equipment
• metals services
• sporting goods industries

Reporting an increasing number of NSF checks:

• lumber
• home furnishings
• transportation industries

In addition to skyrocketing fuel prices, the cost of raw materials has climbed 30% since last year, companies across America said.

It could be helpful to keep this information in mind as you aim for peak performance in executing your procurement duties.

Tags: credit, economic, NSF, procurement