If you had a BIG company and were constantly ordering BIG amounts of different types of material I could see where a purchasing person could save the company money. But most likely you're going to be ordering the same materials over and over again , and it will be from the same supply house because they're cheaper anyway. So that leaves me to believe that you're only shopping around for the "oddball" stuff, which IMO would not take an entire full time position to accomplish. Now, I could be wrong, this is just my on-the-surface-thought.
this is probably the best way to go...We have two girls that do purchasing, not sure if they have any other duties. I know that they call around for the "oddball" things and the "I need it yesterday stuff" but on the common things the parent company has a preferred vendors list that is handled via email. Some things come right from the manufacturers and I have heard they purchase some items (pvc fittings) by the pound rather than by the piece due to the quanity. We have a small warehouse as do the other companies that are associated with us but, on large jobs we have several roll off trailers for stock and most of the job is purchased as a unit and left onsite.
My former office manager went to work for a big (big a$ in billion), USA west coast EC as their east coast purchasing manager. Their practices in all areas of their operation bear no resemblance to the way that we 'mom and pops' used to manage our operations here on the east coast.I will say that the procedures that have come down the pike from our parent company since they bought us have all seemed to be based on things flowing smoothly. Since the take over we have been adding people all over the place and getting more repeat/cyclical maintenance jobs keep coming in.
I agree, their way of thinking is better overall from what I have seen. The powers that be are working on a whole other scale of dollar values. It has been an easy transition, I thought it was going to be a real PIA, but we have had meeting and classes on the way to work with their paperwork and email announcements and postings and all. The new thing announced Friday was quarterly breakfast meetings for the two sides (IBEW/UA) guys to sit down and review completed and on going jobs. And the fact some guys need to volunteer to go to classes to work at a nuke site.My former office manager went to work for a big (big a$ in billion), USA west coast EC as their east coast purchasing manager. Their practices in all areas of their operation bear no resemblance to the way that we 'mom and pops' used to manage our operations here on the east coast.
No expense is spared to make a project 'flow smoothly', a lot of new hiring (mostly degreed persons) and on and on . . .
From your posts, it sounds as though you are experiencing a similar change since your company buyout.
EC on a large scale now-a-dayz must be conducted in a 'board room' somewhere (Wall Street?). Those board members think that 'locknuts' is an STD, everything else is business.
Not suggesting that they are incorrect, as I was an M dollar company, they are a B dollar company.
Work'in For That Free Tee . . .
Yes he is.Are we referring to Emcor?
I certaintly was not knocking anything, re: my last sentence:Yeah, it's Emcor Group. Don't knock it if you haven't tried it.
Not Emcore, but Berg Electric (bergelectric.com)Are we referring to Emcor?
I was refering to this comment HW, nothing you had said.
3) Huh? Beyond having to know your cost in order to quote...what are your comments towards how an a contractors prices/quoting behaviors (Daily, Quarterly, per job, etc...) affects the contractors ability to land new jobs?
4) Who are you and what is your objective?Are there advantages or disadvantages in regards to competitive advantage within the contractors specific market place when these behaviors are present?
what are your comments towards how an a contractors prices/quoting behaviors (Daily, Quarterly, per job, etc...) affects the contractors ability to land new jobs? Are there advantages or disadvantages in regards to competitive advantage within the contractors specific market place when these behaviors are present?
