Purchasing and Contracts Management

Introduction to purchasing and contract management

The success of institutions in achieving their goals depends on several factors, the most important of which is - without a doubt - providing their needs and requirements to complete the production process, taking into account providing these needs in an ideal manner in terms of quantity, quality, time and price. In order for this to happen, it is necessary to have a specialized department in this regard, which gains its importance from being a key element in achieving the organization’s objectives, as the procurement department is considered a necessary link on which other departments depend to carry out their activities and ensure the progress of the operational process within the company.

The tasks of the Purchasing Department that it undertakes are many and varied, which directly reflects the importance of this department in the organization. The most important of these responsibilities can be identified as follows:

Planning

One of the tasks of the purchasing department is to plan, develop and develop a precise purchasing policy to suit the circumstances and requirements of the organization. The features of this policy are often determined based on a set of criteria, such as quantity, need, quality and price.

Review purchase orders

One of the tasks of the Purchasing Department is also to review purchase requests submitted by various departments, and if there is an overrun, the requests are reviewed with the administration to restructure them in a way that meets the management’s needs and does not conflict with the company’s plan.

Time scheduling of purchases

The Purchasing Department works to organize a timetable for receiving purchases, so that it meets the needs of the organization and its various departments. It also takes into account the company’s storage efficiency, taking into account scheduling financial payments for the supplied materials.

Issuing purchase and supply orders

After agreeing with the supplier to request the provision of materials from him in a specific quantity, price, and specifications, the Purchasing Department issues a purchase order document to the supplier in order to supply the company’s warehouses with these materials, and the delivery process is followed up with him.

Approval of the delivery process

The Purchasing Department works to ensure the integrity of purchase contracts and invoices. The Purchasing Department also approves the supplied materials after examining them by specialists and ensuring that they meet the required specifications.

Study current contracts

All contracts concluded with entities, companies and institutions are studied in cooperation with legal affairs in order to determine the extent of their benefit and search for ways of development and improvement, as performing a performance comparison is considered one of the most important procedures for developing procurement and contracts management.

Purchasing and contracts management