Procurement is a process that goes beyond finding a required product or service – it encompasses everything from the purchasing strategy to the final acquisition.

This happens because, in any procurement process, it’s essential to define the necessary procedures to meet the final objective, which is the acquisition of a service or product. These procedures generate more integration within the company and with current and future suppliers. It’s a complete process, with procedures that depend on – and influence – a company’s logistics chain.

As such, the procurement process begins when a business has a need for goods or services and ends with the successful delivery to the requester.

– Need to acquire a service or product: learning about what the company needs to purchase, the quantity, the quality, the deadline, the available budget, if there’s an alternative product/service, if it needs to be developed, and other aspects;

– Creation of strategies to acquire the service or product: after learning about the purchase needs, designing an action plan to start the purchase process. Here you can also start the sourcing process;

– Search for the best suppliers in the market: in an assertive and targeted manner, searching for suppliers that meet all the purchase requirements for the service or product;

– RFQs and negotiations: negotiating with selected suppliers, requesting quotes according to details provided in preliminary talks;

– Financial, administrative, and logistic strategic planning: based on information received from suppliers, creating purchase strategies with participation of several departments in the company;

– Definition of suppliers: listing the suppliers that can meet the company’s purchase needs and defining the main supplier;

– Placement of the order: with main and secondary suppliers defined, starting the purchase process according to the previously approved strategy;

– Delivery of the service or product: following the process from initial negotiations to product or service delivery;

– Review of the complete process: based on information collected throughout the process, measuring the success of the strategy, to promote possible necessary changes;

– Feedback to involved teams: sharing information on the operation results with everyone involved and implementing any necessary changes.