Effectiveness of your purchase request model

A purchase request is a written request that is made internally to order products or services from the internal purchasing department.

The purchase request is a step that is applied to coordinate products and services and to begin purchases.

An internal customer sends you a request describing something they need.

You get offers from the main suppliers of this product, describe the most attractive ones, and collaborate with the internal customer on a selection of proposals.

You place the order. The item arrives, the internal customer refuses, and says that it is not what he wanted even though the item corresponds to the description provided at the beginning.

Does this situation sound familiar to you? The problem is clear: the specifications were inadequate.

Is the internal customer at fault? Not completely.

Internal customers have their areas of specialty, and specification writing is usually not one of them.

Tenders are your daily routine. It is not your job to write the specifications but you should definitely help the requesting services to do so.

The first step in helping them is to add a questionnaire to your quotation request template. This questionnaire should help internal customers to provide key information that is often omitted.

The purchase request can be internal or external. If it is internal, it is a request to transfer items from another store owned by the company, if it is external, it represents A purchase request items needed froman external supplier.

These questionnaires consist of several questions which are for example:

• Does the product have a minimum, exact, or maximum size?
• Does the product have a minimum, exact, or maximum weight?
• Does the product have to be compatible with any other product?
• Does the product require a certain level of production per period of time?

The answers collected through this questionnaire should be integrated into the specifications given to suppliers.

This extra step will decrease the risk of internal customer dissatisfaction, and you won't have to worry about find another supplier to solve a problem.

On the other hand, the additional time spent writing the details for the customer and compiling them for the buyer is largely covered by the time it would take to manage non-compliance or non-satisfaction of the internal customer. This always involves a very significant and unnecessary outlay of energy.

Here is a list of questions that can contribute to the successful development of effective specifications:

• Does the product have to be a specific color?
• Does the product have a minimum, exact, or maximum size?
• Does the product have a minimum, exact, or maximum weight?
• Does the product have to be compatible with any other product?
• Does the product have to fit in a specific space?
• Does the product have to be produced in a minimum number per time period?
• Does the product have to last a minimum of time?
• Is there a reason why you might use the product differently than “traditional use”?
• Does the product have to be attached to something?
• Will you need to change/redesign the product in the future?
• Does the non-delivery of the product cause a break in production for the company?
• Are you ready to pay for a sample before the first order?
• Are you going to test the product upon delivery?
• Why could you refuse the product? Write down as many reasons as you can. This helps us to make sure we get the right product for you from the first time you buy!

For these questions, if the answer is “yes”, as much information as possible should be detailed by the internal customer.
All these questions, adapted to your purchase category, will help the internal customer to specify their needs and you to understand them in detail.

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