Methodology for Fast Processing of Purchase Requisitions, Elimination of Backlog and Improvement of Customer Service in Procurement Organizations

Abstract

Objective: A new methodology was developed to process purchase requisitions in a fast manner, eliminate backlog and improve customer service in procurement organizations. Background: Procurement organizations normally have in place their own procedures to approach purchase requests under normal conditions. When there is a sudden change in purchase requests behavior such as a sudden increase in demand, decrease in purchasing capacity or other related causes, a phenomenon known as backlog appears and procedures in place are not suited to approach the new chaotic situation. Under a large backlog scenario, customer service decreases dramatically and the procurement department becomes more of a customer complaints management department instead. Method: The procurement process was assessed and diagnosed through KPI measurements and process reengineering techniques. Results: The bottleneck that created the conditions for backlog was discovered, a new methodology was developed to solve it and a prototype project plan is presented to show how to implement the methodology. Conclusion: This methodology allows to process large numbers of purchase requisitions in a fast manner, eliminate backlog and improve customer service in procurement organizations. Application: Most procurement organizations are candidates to implement this methodology.