Listen to APD

Advanced Purchasing Dynamics reaches a milestone in June and July in that we have been in business for 10 years. We incorporated in late June 2004 and started operations in July. So please indulge me while I spend some time reflecting on why APD was started, what we have achieved and where we plan on…

Customers who have engaged us to develop should-be cost models usually do so for one of two reasons: To validate quotes being provided by suppliers. To estimate pricing without sending out Request for Quotations to their suppliers. Good should-be cost models fulfill both objectives enabling buyers to buy at prices 5-11% lower than buyers who…

Purchasing organizations and individual buyers (I’ll refer to them as buyers) need to develop strategies to claw back price increases that were granted to suppliers in the past three years.    An economist once said that the best solution for high prices is high prices.  Meaning that high prices themselves would self-correct as market forces of…

100% of the CEO’s we surveyed want purchasing to deliver value, only 58% think value is being delivered. When we look at the metrics used to measure performance we often find: Purchasing is measured on price reductions alone, not on value provided Purchasing alone has ownership of the cost/value goal Metrics are short term/current year…

At the beginning of the month, I was fortunate enough to attend the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) briefings seminar. The CAR conference had a record 1,000 attendees. While attending world class networking in the evenings, it was great to interact with other executives in procurement, manufacturing, operations, finance and sales. If you have not…

I remember as a kid wanting a shiny new bicycle.  My dad looked at my then current bike, dirty and uncared for, and said “Why get you a new bike when you don’t take care of the one that you have”. How does this apply to buyers?   Many purchasing managers, directors and vice presidents come…