Heating Help

Interested in new ideas. . .

in the purchasing area. I have been the Purchasing Manager at my company for about 2-1/2 years now and whenever we buy material we just get a RFQ list to different supply houses and then buy the material from the best price/availability supplier. I keep reading mentions about e-sourcing and e-purchasing and I am looking at ways to bring my company into the 21st century. We barely even take advantage of the new labor saving methods that have been around for years, so fully embracing computers is still a work in progress. Are there any good websites, books or continuing education courses that can better educate me on e-sourcing and e-purchasing and are these a viable way to procure material in the Plumbing and HVAC business?

Here's a site you might like to try. I haven't tried it myself (old dogs and new tricks), but it looks like a start. http://www.pipebid.com.

Thanks for the sites. . .

looking at both of them it looks like the best way of purchasing materials for our business will continue to be through the local supply houses and reps. On the Pipe Bid website it was actually going to get quotes from vendors I already use. I would think my personal relationships with these guys will be more efficent than using the un-personal solution of e-commerce.

Perhaps not

I occasionlly have our purchasing group put an item out for bid. Turns out this sometimes moves the cost I got by phone from price column 4 to price col 3 or 2. Also, different job titles in especially large wholesalers sometimes have different cost and price levels. And,getting an electronic quote is a quick reality check. You never know which company has just decided to increase market share by temp. cutting prices.

What different sites does your purchasing group use if you don't mind my asking?

Not just sites

Sorry, the next comment finished the thought.

Not just sites

The quote request isn't just limited to cyber web sites it's also useful with normal vendors. Use 250 HW or Husky thermocouples a winter? Have Johnstone, Sids, Gus Larson, whomever give you a quote. Same for gas valves whatever has a large number. Kind of like a car dealer, some need that one more end of month sale more than others, and it doesn't keep you on the phone. The normal price seen on an open site sometimes reflects the established price column discount of the requester, at least on the more sophisticated sites, but, not always what a quote price would bring.

I have found www.patriot-supply.com to be a good website for ecommerce - especialy on hard to find itmes.