Blanket order

Abstract: Systems and methods are provided for processing a product order which is directed from a customer to a first supplier In one implementation, a computer-implemented method is provided that includes receiving a product order from a customer Based on the received product order, the method determines products to be procured by a supplier that is external with respect to the first supplier The method further determines at least one external supplier which is able to provide the products and transmits a purchase order for the available products to the external supplier

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and system for generating electronic purchase orders and purchase order responses. Purchase orders and purchase order responses may be automatically filled in using business data stored by the purchaser. The system may automatically generate one or more messages and attach the purchase order and/or purchase order response to transmit these forms to a supplier. The supplier may accept all of the terms of the purchase order or submit changes in the purchase order response. After completing the response, the sender may attach it another message and transmit it. The purchaser may review the purchase order response and may automatically download it into a purchasing system. This system allows a supplier to work off-line without losing any benefits of on-line access. For example, the supplier's input is filtered as it would be if the supplier was working on-line. Also, the supplier's information can be uploaded automatically into the purchaser's system.

Abstract: While changes are occurring in many companies with respect to the strategic use of the purchasing function, and an increasing number of published articles discuss the concept of purchasing's strategic role,[1] a significant number of purchasing organizations find themselves working in a much different reality. These organizations are trying to achieve a less lofty goal: how to improve both their image and customer satisfaction. Such purchasing groups face limited, if any, involvement and influence in strategic, operational, or project planning, because their internal customers consider them to be a simple, clerically oriented function that adds no value - and often causes delays. Nonetheless, in order for these purchasing organizations to play a more strategic and important role, they most likely need to change this perception. Unfortunately, the purchasing literature provides relatively few accounts of a customer-based improvement approach.[2] This article describes how purchasing management in one division of an oil company moved from a passive, supplier-based improvement approach to a more active, customer-based approach [ILLUSTRATION FOR FIGURE 1 OMITTED]. The division's purchasing organization handles approximately 50,000 purchase orders annually, with a value equal to 40 percent of the company's total operating budget. Since 1982 purchasing management has implemented programs designed to improve customer satisfaction. First, this article describes these past improvement efforts and their results, along with the current improvement effort. Next, the current improvement effort's effects on purchasing image and customer satisfaction are assessed. Finally, insights based on past and current efforts are discussed. WHAT HAD BEEN DONE - AND WHAT IS BEING DONE Past efforts to improve customer satisfaction with purchasing suggested that improvement efforts must consider customer needs and expectations - and should be targeted at the purchasing subprocess level (capital equipment purchasing; blanket order purchasing; high value, noncapital equipment purchasing; and low value material purchasing), because each subprocess has different procedures, customers, and customer expectations. This information is summarized in Table I. In 1992 purchasing management decided to improve the capital equipment purchasing subprocess because delays in capital equipment purchases were affecting division production and profits, and because a new company policy stated that surplus purchasing budget monies could not be carried forward from one year to the next. For these reasons, the division manager had a special interest in the situation and requested that the purchasing manager form a cross-functional team to study the process. The nine-person team included the purchasing manager and the top manager from each of the functional organizations that purchasing serves. The division manager expected monthly progress reports until the team implemented its solutions. The team first flowcharted the capital equipment purchasing process and then brainstormed reasons for delays. Although both parties - purchasing and its customers - blamed one another in private for the delays, in public the team members blamed a politically neutral, generalized "other" - the supplier. To investigate this hypothesis, a sample of 500 closed purchase orders wee analyzed for on time delivery performance. The analysis revealed the same situation that was found in 1985 (see Table I) - suppliers were reliable, but the supplier's promised delivery date differed from the customer's required date shown on the purchase requisition. Rather than pointing to a supplier problem, the analysis pointed to a long-term, chronic communication problem between purchasing and its customers. Purchasing's customers were planning start dates for projects, programming equipment replacements, and scheduling preventive maintenance on the assumption that the needed materials would arrive by the date requested. …

Abstract: Academic health sciences libraries in the United States and Canada were surveyed regarding collection development trends, including their effect on approval plan and blanket order use, and use of outsourcing over the past four years. Results of the survey indicate that serials market forces, budgetary constraints, and growth in electronic resources purchasing have resulted in a decline in the acquisition of print items. As a result, approval plan use is being curtailed in many academic health sciences libraries. Although use of blanket orders is more stable, fewer than one-third of academic health sciences libraries report using them currently. The decline of print collections suggests that libraries should explore cooperative collection development of print materials to ensure access and preservation. The decline of approval plan use and the need for cooperative collection development may require additional effort for sound collection development. Libraries were also surveyed about their use of outsourcing. Some libraries reported outsourcing cataloging and shelf preparation of books, but none reported using outsourcing for resource selection. The reason given most often for outsourcing was that it resulted in cost savings. As expected, economic factors are driving both collection development and outsourcing practices.