What does your job involve?

In its most basic form, I source materials for the company, at the best possible price and terms, then expedite the order to ensure it arrives when it’s supposed to arrive.

What is your typical day in your role?

Most days I’ll run the MRP on our system which will show what needs to be ordered for either stock or for jobs / repairs. I’ll then correlate this into suppliers and send out RFQs to determine the best price and lead time, then raise the orders to cover. I also expedite the outstanding orders to ensure on time delivery. Report on and attend multi-departmental meetings e.g.. daily production meetings, repairs status, etc. Resolving queries relating to supplier quality problems, goods-inwards and invoice mis-matches.

How did you get into this profession?

I have a strong accounts background, and procurement is just the other side of the coin…you can’t know one without knowing the other! I saw a Buyers job advertised and thought the role looked interesting…and the rest is history!

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I guess it’s the daily challenges of trying to source hard to find parts, although there’s a lot to be said about a “one-stop shopping list” from one supplier. In particular, I like interacting with people – if you develop a good rapport with your supplier you can usually get a better delivery date or free carriage…

What is the most challenging part of your job?

As above, trying to source parts which are obsolete, seeing if an alternative would be possible.

What advice would you give to others looking to move into this field?

Go for it! You get paid to spend someone else’s money! Seriously though, procurement is a challenging job, where you have to make a lot of decisions based on your knowledge and experience, but it’s a very satisfying role and crucial to any company.

Is there anything else you would like to add about your job that makes it interesting / special to others?

Other than the day to day tasks, there’s loads of scope to source new suppliers, or find a new product that could improve our systems, or just benefit your company.