Tips and tricks for project managers to get things done faster
If you are a project or purchase manager, then you are bound to face the below mentioned problem on regular basis.
- Your vendors give you quotation in different formats with different terms and conditions
- It feels like forever to make comparison charts with the received quotation
- Chances are high that you miss the deadline for procurement due to cumbersome systems and procedures in your organization
I have been working with purchase managers for quite sometime now, and have compiled the best practices some of them follow and present here. The solutions are very simple and you are bound to think that it may not work, but believe me, I will not be surprised if I get a comment that somebody is saving more than 50% of his/her time using these simple tools and techniques.
Firstly, start freezing the common terms and condition you want to purchase the material with. For example below are certain common terms to procure material:-
i) Incoterm:
ii) Payment terms: ADVANCE/LC/PLAIN CREDIT
iii) Taxes:
iv) Last date of delivery:
v) Late delivery penalty:
(Below is screenshot of a sample fix terms and conditions to give you a fair idea)
What this will do is you will avoid spending unnecessary time in calculating quotes with different terms and conditions.
Secondly, you can make an excel sheet with requirements and terms & conditions, send the excel sheet to vendors and ask them to give quotations in the given sheet only. This will let you copy and paste the quotes in your comparison sheet directly, saving most your time which otherwise would have been wasted due to punching data into the comparison sheet.
Thirdly, you can keep top 4 suppliers for every category and start saving their email address separated by a semicolon (;) in a notepad. Believe me; this will make your life much easier than trying to find the suppliers email address every time you got a enquiry for them! But make sure you put the email id’s in BCC and not TO as you don’t want the suppliers to know who others you have posted your enquiry to.
Fourthly, you can create an excel spreadsheet with details of the ordered item, supplier name, last date of delivery, urgency by user (High, Medium, Low), Date of delivery promised by vendor. This spreadsheet can also be shared with your colleague’s with the help of google docs, so that they don’t bother you unnecessarily with “Have you ordered them” & “When the material is expected” questions. Users who have using an ERP system may not require the Order Tracking Sheet.
I am giving option to download a sample excel sheet for the above examples given.
For now, try implementing the above ideas and share your experience in the comments section below! To make your task easier I am sharing excel format for the Sample quotation excel sheet & Comparison Sheet.
By the way, we are into steel supply business since last 30 years and work with manufacturing companies in facilitating steel requirements for their projects. For more information and enquiries you can mail us at sales@agarwalsteelcorp.com and our representative will get in touch with you for your requirement.