Supply Chain Management
Gaël Chavret Groupe 1 ECE 2012
Purchasing continues to develop as a key function. What challenges do you think it will face in the future?

Today purchasing service is very important in the company. It has to buy all the supply the company needs spending the less money it can to maintain the highest profitability. But in the future which kind of new issues will appears in the management of this service? What will the challenges be? Do we will see a new way of thinking about purchasing? In fact yes. In the next years some new criteria’s will have to be taking in account in a very important way. We will see that Internet is the first factor, and we’ll speak about environmental cause then. First of all, Internet. This tool has appeared 20 years ago it was only a new way of communicate, but very quickly it became the most important mass media, market place, social place. Internet is everywhere and everyone is on Internet. Today companies are mandatory to be on internet. Your website is your new business card. And this tool gives you customers all over the globe. This is the world village. This will impact the purchasing department because of the liberty on supplier choice that internet gives to the company. Indeed now you can choose your supplier all over the world by on surfing on their websites, making video meeting without move from your company. You will not choose anymore your supplier because of proximity. Now you can compare what if I’m buying this industrial pieces on the Chinese market and be delivered by plane or if I’m buying it from the French supplier which is at the corner street. In one day you can have an idea of the price of the product you want in the country you want. And this will for sure change the purchasing department behavior. Is it good? For the profitability yes, but this also come with the ethic problem. Do I prefer make more money by buying to the Chinese or give the opportunity to make profit and set up