Carolyn Heinze Says in Buying Smart "Purchasing in a just-in-time environment is never an easy task, and when the transactions concern rapidly changing technologies, it's that much harder. Now, as fuel prices continue to skyrocket, the days of, "I needed it five minutes ago," have all but come to a close. As a result, purchasing managers are under increasing pressure to make every dollar count.
"The problem for these integrators is: how do I manage my cash flow and make sure that these materials are not sitting on my dock? And, at the same time, how do I get them here in the most efficient way possible?" illustrated Mike Vivian, vice president of sales and marketing at AV distributor Herman Electronics. "It's almost contradictory. If you want everything to come in via ground, you've got to give it some time."
One of the ways to streamline the purchasing process is to source as many products as possible from a single vendor, noted Steve Young, vice president of sales and marketing at Atlas Sound. "I would hope that the typical integrator would consider what the vendor, like us, has to offer, and how they can minimize their admin overhead by consolidating as many purchases to as few vendors as possible," he said. Products such as loudspeakers, racks, and amplifiers can be bundled together, and many manufacturers, such as Atlas, offer aggressive freight programs that feature discounts when items like these are packaged together in one order."
My question is: Do you think this same line of thinking still applies in the instance of today's economic turmoil?
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