Today’s harsh financial climate is forcing companies to put every department under the financial microscope, to trim off the edges and pump up performance. Procurement functions will no doubt fall under the same scrutiny (if they haven’t already), but taking the initiative now will help you control the process.

Smoothing the kinks in supply chain operations generally can be achieved by more closely linking the players in the process. Examples:

• Are procurement orders coming directly to the person who’s aligned with suppliers?
• Is that person working side-by-side with the Production and Shipping Departments?
• Who’s in charge of giving A/P the necessary information to pay suppliers?
• Are you using the same bank for these functions?

Successful companies are creating a well-ordered series of links to make up supply chains. They’re realizing significant savings by reducing extra effort in procurement and processing functions.

One thing that hasn’t changed: None of this can be done alone. It still takes a team to build a more efficient — and less costly — procurement process.

Tags: A/P, costs, supply chain