EXPERT ADVICE: THE IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING PURCHASES

José María Torres, our Procurement Department colleague who specialises in resin purchases and supplies, explains how planning our purchases affords our company and our clients many advantages.

José María has worked for SPG for over 15 years and has spent 14 of those years in the Procurement Department. This extensive experience means he is familiar with the advantages of being thorough when it comes to procurement planning. Joselillo, as we like to call him, also points out that, as SPG has grown, the department has grown increasingly professional and specialised.

He has highlighted two key advantages of procurement planning.

Firstly, in comparison with one-off purchases, planned procurements help us reach competitive agreements with suppliers. As well as setting up annual agreements, it is important to maintain a close and consistent relationship with key suppliers to allow us revise orders and prices, and programme deliveries to meet our manufacturing schedules.

Secondly, procurement planning also guarantees we have everything we need to manufacture our products and get deliveries to our clients. In order to make this work, the Procurement Department collaborates closely with the sales team and R&D and Innovation Department to get a good understanding of what our forecast is.

Looking back three years, in 2020, COVID-19 suddenly left companies high and dry when they were faced with a surge in demand for a variety of products. Companies that did not have a signed and sealed agreement for the supply of materials could not satisfy that demand. Then, last year, companies experienced challenges related to logistics and a lack of raw materials. However, the fact that we had planned our purchases meant that access to the materials we needed to deal with any unforeseen events were guaranteed and we were able to give our clients the service they deserve.

As we look to the future, one of the main objectives in our department is to continue locating new suppliers for our materials and find more sustainable alternatives to guarantee increased product sustainability. This way, we can adhere to existing regulations while keeping our prices as competitive as possible.

Joselillo highlights that, when it comes to planning for the future, one of the key aims in the Procurement Department is to find suppliers of sustainable alternatives to conventional materials so we can offer them to our clients. This strategy is fully aligned with SPG’s sustainability-friendly objectives.