PURCHASING & PROCUREMENT CENTER

S E V E N S TA R P U R C H A S I N G
B E YOND T HE WOR LD CLASS PAR ADI GM

This Report is brought in co-operation with Cattan Service Group. Cattan Service Group, Inc. By Thomas L. Tanel, C.P.M., CTL, CCA, CISCM, President & CEO And Loran K. Boenig, CIPME, CO & Treasurer 2009 Cattan Services Group, Inc.

INTRODUCTION
This whitepaper describes Seven-Star Purchasing: Beyond the World Class Paradigm, encouraging purchasing and supply management professionals to move these organizational functions toward seven critical areas of excellence. Though we recognize that some organizations, including public sector, governmental agencies, notforprofit institutions, and nongovernmental agencies, are bound by unique regulatory and legislative requirements, they nevertheless can profit by some of the approaches proposed here.

BEYOND THE BUZZWORDS AND BACK TO THE BASICS

We have observed a fairly disturbing trend: Many organizations are heavily engaged in reengineering or change management efforts that are focused on best practices, benchmarking, balanced scorecards, metrics and KPIs, etc. in order to become agile, customer-relationship-centered, world class entities. Additionally, many young professionals are learning purchasing based primarily on the use of their organization resident computer systems and software rather than s learning the basics of the purchase process itself. While these may be useful tools, they are no substitutes for the logical processes and foundational principles they execute. Without knowing how and why these tools work, the purchasing professional is reduced to wooden puppetry, unable to respond with the intelligence and self-directed agility needed to cope with today challenging s purchasing environment. Such fad-oriented tools and techniques may be based on good intentions, but they are undoubtedly of more benefit to the self-labeled gurus, evangelists, masters, and thought leaders who generate and publicize them. We need to get beyond the buzzwords and back to the basics. In reality, the purchasing profession, which we call ours, is not a simplistic craft or a job, nor is it grounded on the latest techno-babble. It is a blend of both art and science. At its best, it is based on fundamental facts, application of the basics, and good practices rather than on elusive jargon, formulaic processes, or canned computer software magic. While never losing sight of its foundation, sound purchasing keeps a skeptical eye on the latest fad, hype, trend, or new practice before implementing it. In truth, the concepts of structuring supplier relationships, vendor managed inventory, conflict resolution, risk management, SOW and specification development, teamwork, total cost of ownership, and cost targeting are not new ideas. Rather than representing a new paradigm, they are tried-and-true areas of excellence that have long been driving forces in the purchasing and supply management field. Sometimes, it easy to get lost in the intricacies of aiming while losing sight of s the target. In an attempt to move to a world class mode, many companies focus on the technicalities of achieving the paradigm in lieu of achieving the true goal: to master the basic processes that will produce excellence in the end result. 1 Contact Us for A Free 30 Mins Consultation at info@purchasing-procurement-center.com

Don be fooled. You may be tempted to make the kind of mistake being made by so many t purchasing and supply management professionals today thinking that the more traditional purchasing skills they have honed in the past are no longer needed. Ironically, forgetting the basics can make them more vulnerable to purchasing cut-backs, job attrition, or downsizing efforts in organizations that increasingly rely on automated systems to do their thinking for them. Even more ironically, it is not a computerized system or a fancy buzzword but the well-grounded purchasing professional who has the flexibility to be truly responsive to an ever-evolving supply management environment. So let get back to rediscovering and perfecting the basics, what we call the Seven-Star Purchasing s Areas of Excellence:

SEVEN-STAR PURCHASING AREAS OF EXCELLENCE

1. Think strategically about how to add value. 2. Encourage training and development of purchasing personnel. 3. Use cost-price analytics and techniques. 4. Develop structured supplier relationships for your commodity/service group. 5. Advance your communication and negotiation skills. 6. Cultivate inbound freight control opportunities. 7. Focus on enhancing the contracting process.

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1. Think strategically about how to add value.

This strategic area includes selling the importance of Purchasing, Procurement, and Supply Management to the C-level (CEO, COO, CFO) executives responsible for strategy involvement. If purchasing cannot prove it is adding value to the organization, the function my face outsourcing or elimination or downsizing. According to the Center for Advanced Purchasing Studies Report on CEOs /PresidentsPerceptions of the Purchasing Function, the problems that purchasing has to deal with are these: 1. Many firms feel their purchasing and procurement function is not very effective. 2. In the eyes of many CEO and presidents, purchasing is not a major contributor in most s business decision making. It follows that there are two possible reasons why the purchasing and supply management profession today does not command higher, value-added respect by an organization C-level s management: 3. Purchasing is actually not adding much value to the bottom line. 4. The purchasing department is indeed adding value, but it is not communicating it in a manner readily understood by senior management. Without knowing what performance measures or metrics to use, how can you help C-level (CEO, COO, CFO) executives understand how the function is adding value? How do you know whether you are doing a good job if you don know where you began versus where you are t now? Therefore, every purchasing executive should have a set of key metrics or Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for their organization. Each metric or KPI should have pre-established targets, which may be subject to change along with the performance evaluation needs of the department. Metric or KPI development is an ongoing process that should be improved continually. It depends heavily on the strategic information available on your computer system as well as data governance issues such as enterprise-wide data naming conventions and standards; data quality, availability, timeliness, latency; and spend management information. Without KPIs or other established metrics, you will find it challenging to document the data and demonstrate to upper management the improvements purchasing has made and can make to the organization bottom line. s

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2. Encourage training and development of purchasing personnel.

Purchasing executives must be a combination of talent scout and mentor, with a passion for seeking out raw talent and developing it into strong, qualified, well trained, functional personnel. Such development should cover core supply chain content knowledge and process skills as well as the interpersonal skills needed to operate in a cross-functional team environment. As the profession becomes more and more sophisticated and environmental change accelerates, the need for personal professional development becomes proportionally important. Training purchasing professionals, however, needs to be smart training the type of development that focuses first on making sure professionals are comfortable with the basics before tackling the esoteric. There are many avenues for acquiring essential skills: via public seminars offered through trade associations, universities, or professional seminar providers; through customized corporate inhouse training; and/or through focused topics presented in webinars or e-learning forums. Some of this training can even build toward certification in specific areas, which enhances your company profile and makes the purchasing professional more indispensible to the s organization. As a people-oriented function, purchasing professionals need development in these three primary skill sets: CORE BASIC KNOWLEDGE SKILLS General business acumen Commodity or service marketplace/supply base Solicitation process for quotes, bids, tenders, etc. Logistic, inventory, and transportation options Price and financial analysis Terms and conditions Negotiations PROCESS KNOWLEDGE SKILLS Strategic planning Process redesign, policy and procedure development SOW and specification origination Total landed cost analysis and measurement Should costanalytics Contract writing Conflict resolution INTERPERSONAL KNOWLEDGE SKILLS Interpersonal relations Coaching, counseling, and mentoring Team development and management Internal customer focus and facilitation Problem solving Written communication Change advocacy

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Successful purchasing organizations are increasingly aware that they must put an end to silo buying and begin to form and utilize cross-functional teams. In order to increase coordination, internal linkages, communication, resource utilization, focus, efficiency, creativity, and overall effectiveness, cross-functional teams must be trained and developed to assist in guiding the purchasing process. Finally, with supply management becoming more complex daily, it also important for s professionals to go beyond the scope of their own functional areas to explore the complete supply chain and its interrelated components. Training provides a venue for such exploration.

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3. Use cost-price analytics and techniques.

This requires an understanding of the global economy, such as marketplace infrastructures, supply chain requirements, logistical channels, and total landed costs. Specifically, this area emphasizes the following factors: 5. 6. 7. 8. The market determines the selling price. Prices fluctuate both up and down. Prices have a tendency to react faster to upward pressures than to downward pressures. Downward pressures include lack of customers, vigorous competition, and insufficient total demand. 9. The buyer needs to understand the difference between price and cost. 10. The knowledge of prices and costs is a powerful tool in negotiations when determining what something should cost. 11. The buyer must ensure that the prices offered are fair, reasonable, and affordable. Purchasing management makes significant contributions to the control of vital organizational resources, and the quality of these contributions greatly impacts the organization financial s condition. Therefore, there should be mutual objectives existing for both finance/accounting and purchasing/procurement, the goal of which is to optimize organizational operations by: 12. Minimizing costs 13. Maximizing profit or revenue 14. Maximizing the value of the organization Purchasing and procurement can significantly affect the organization ability to control costs s and thereby improve profitability much more so than you might expect. For example, let s assume your organization makes a 5% net profit after taxes. equivalent profitability generated through marketing or sales: SAVINGS THROUGH PURCHASING $10,000 $100,000 $1,000,000 EQUALS SALES OF: $200,000 $2,000,000 $20,000,000 This often To produce this level of profitability, let compare what it would take for purchasing to produce such results versus the s

Clearly, effective purchasing can have a profound effect on the bottom line.

overlooked source of profitability is ripe for exploration by many companies who have long emphasized their sales as the primary vehicle for fiscal strength. With the current state of the economy and its negative ramifications in the marketplace, purchasing cost-price analytics s should be employed with even more fervor than ever to eke out elusive profitability. 6 Contact Us for A Free 30 Mins Consultation at info@purchasing-procurement-center.com

4. Develop structured supplier relationships for your commodity/service group.

Suppliers play a critical role in the success of an organization s operations. However, different suppliers require different management techniques. A stratification of the supply base not only identifies the depth of your relationship with the supplier but assists purchasing and supply resources management effectively in utilizing during its its

Alliances Partners

Suppliers/Contractors Vendors

management of the supply base. Normally, most organizations will categorize the supply base relationship into four tiers:

These tiers will formally define the level of your relationship with the supplier, determine types and frequency of formal communications, and outline the overall program management structure. Here is a description of the 4 tier-based system:

SUPPLY BASE RELATIONSHIP CRITERIA

VENDORS SUPPLIERS OR CONTRACTORS
Little or no differentiation in products or services Focus on lowest price Transactional business relationship No contract term commitment As needed Spot-type purchases Superior performance on quality and delivery Corporately contracted but nonexclusive Specific, available, off-the-shelf products or standard type services Multi-product/service offering ability Trust has to be earned Seeking longer term relationship; usually contracting for 6 months to a year Mutually advantageous to both parties Bounded relationship Focused interaction and significant valueadded Negotiated formula type pricing Established level of trust Sharing & exchange of abilities and ideas Multi-year contract in place of 1-3 years or evergreen contract Mutual dependence beyond supply & technology Unbounded open relationship Broader business operating arena Total landed cost Unique commitments Joint long-term broadbased planning for the most complex of relationships Multi-year contract in place of 4-5+ years

PARTNERS

ALLIANCES

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To achieve excellence in this area effectively, most organizations have gone through a strategic sourcing program that allows them to focus on their most important structured supplier relationships. A good rule of thumb is that approximately 5-20% of your supplier base will account for 70-85% of your organization purchase spend, which accounts for 10-25% of the s materials and services that you procure on an annual basis. Strategic sourcing is itself a benchmark. It relates to getting the best products and services at the best value and lowest overall cost. It is designed to segment external spend and ensure that procurement resources are focused on the most important sourcing purchase categories. What sets strategic sourcing apart is its continuous attention to improving and re-evaluating the purchasing activities of a company, thus enabling organizations to adapt to changing market forces. The structuring of supplier relationships also depends on the sourcing group strategy chosen. The first step is to place your types of sourcing into strategic categories: 15. Category 1 Non-critical: Usually, indirect materials and services, standard off-the-shelf items, and MRO-type items 16. Category 2 Leverage: Usually, components, parts, and raw materials that enter into the composition of the end product 17. Category 3 Bottleneck: Usually, a one-time purchase of fixed assets, capital equipment, facilities, or technology 18. Category 4 Strategic: Usually, high spend-type services like security, travel, maintenance, transportation, engineering, etc. Remember that supply market characteristics and commodity/service importance can drive your procurement strategies as well as being a strategic component used to drive maximum organizational competitive advantage. The following model can help you visualize what type of impact these purchasing categories can have on your business in relation to market complexity and can assist you in procuring specific goods and services:

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PURCHASE CATEGORY ASSESSMENT

HIGH

PURCHASE CATEGORY ASSESSMENT POSITIONING GRID

LEVERAGE STRATEGIC CATEGORY 4 Strategic relationship Global sourcing BOTTLENECK CATEGORY 3 Process improvement Process redesign CATEGORY 2 Supplier consolidation Volume leveraging NON-CRITICAL CATEGORY 1 Best price evaluation Volume leveraging

LOW

Category Business Impact s

Category Supply Market Complexity s

HIGH

For example, in this Purchase Category Assessment Positioning Grid, you can see, based on each category business impact and each category supply market complexity, that Category 4 s s Strategic should be your highest priority. Therefore, using the purchasing strategic relationships of alliance or partnering in conjunction with global sourcing, you will be most apt to achieve purchasing excellence for your organization. Applying this logic to the remainder of the grid should help you determine progressively those areas that demand your attention most.

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5. Advance your communication and negotiation skills.

With so much procurement taking place on a global level, one needs to hone the ability to negotiate effectively, especially across international boundaries. In short, a cross-cultural negotiator has to be a good communicator. It may sound obvious, but communication impacts everyone and has a profound influence on how we act and respond. It is the way people create, send, process, and interpret information. Once negotiators establish cross cultural rapport, barriers disappear, trust grows, and an exchange of information follows. This means negotiators must be aware of: 19. Their own culture 20. The recipient culture s 21. The expectations surrounding the situation at hand To function successfully in a variegated world reflecting multi-national, multi-ethnic, multienvironment, and multi-functional factors you should strive to be as comfortable doing business internationally with your global colleagues as you are at home. inevitably ventures into the realm of foreign negotiations. The study of paralanguage (also known as paralinguistics), which focuses on the verbal aspect of communication, opens up the most direct avenue of understanding other cultures which may have been elusive to us in the past. Beyond paralanguage, studies also show that we are more comfortable with certain cultures and have an easier time establishing rapport there than we do in less familiar cultures. Those cultures that are more difficult will require the negotiator to work harder to establish rapport so that barriers disappear, trust grows, and an exchange of information flows freely. It is therefore essential to become aware of key cultural variables that can affect the communication process, thereby influencing perceptions during the negotiation process. Negotiation can be considered a very specialized form of communication. More specifically, it is: 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. A specialized process of communication called bargaining A mutual discussion and arrangement of the terms of a transaction or agreement The use of argumentation and persuasion to resolve issues in a business arrangement An attempt to find a win-win solution which will maximize the interest of both parties The application of facts and logic supported by the strengths of a bargaining position to achieve valid and necessary business objectives 27. A give-and-get situation, where the purpose is to exchange a material, item, product, or service for monies or value in order to reach agreement Even the most successful native negotiator will need to keep abreast of ever-evolving cultural influences as he

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The successful negotiator deals most effectively when he/she has identified his/her strongest points and uses them strategically. Here is the essence of the negotiation process:

THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS

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6. Cultivate inbound freight control opportunities.

Management of the inbound freight function is one of the most overlooked areas for significant cost reduction. Some estimates rate inbound freight costs as high as 35% of the total logistics cost for many companies. Remember that any savings in inbound freight costs can go directly to the bottom line. Most successful organizations who have paid attention to inbound freight view inbound freight management as controlling their inventory in transit. Since your inventory is, in many cases, your largest asset, the management of this asset is critical to your business success. The proper management of this function plays a key role in achieving supply management inventory, productivity, and service goals. Inbound freight involves the management and control of freight from domestic and offshore suppliers, consolidation of vendor shipments, direct (drop) shipments to customers, multiple shipping points, and warehouse cross dock opportunities for replenishment and backorder processing. Effectively controlling the inbound flow of materials/product to your organization is a complicated process, and it is becoming more complex as customer demands increase in terms of their expectations of service levels. As you begin to analyze your inbound freight practices, you should establish objectives that will help guide your decision making process. Objectives can be established in the following areas; among others: 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. Reduced freight costs and improved bottom line Improvement in on-time deliveries Reduction in purchasing lead times Fewer handlings and less damage Lower inventory levels and reduced carrying costs Providing maximum visibility into the receiving process Improvement in warehouse productivity Increased customer service

7. Focus on enhancing the contracting process.

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Sometimes the most difficult part of the contracting process is knowing when you truly have a contract and when you do not. There are a number of quasi-contractual situations that have caught many purchasing professionals off guard and cost their organizations dearly. Conducting the contracting process across international boundaries can complicate matters further. For example, the UN Convention for International Sale of Goods (CISG) permits all types of evidence, including that developed prior to, during, and subsequent to the formation of the contract. Sometimes, international parties in a negotiation may be motivated to take your discussions as offers. Under the CISG, there is no provision for preventing assertions that contracts have been concluded solely on the basis of oral statements. The message to purchasers is to maintain more copious records of all negotiations with international suppliers in order to be able to come forth with complete evidence if called upon to interpret a contract under the CISG. To avoid committing yourself, especially in international settings, follow these guidelines: 36. Document your conversations. 37. Conclude conversations with, You, of course, recognize that we do not have a contract until . 38. Send a follow-up letter, facsimile, or e-mail that sets forth the precise status of your negotiations. The concept and design stage for your internal customer involves the introduction and specification design of a product or a service project SOW, or it can involve an improvement or modification made to an existing product or ongoing service. It is during this stage when purchasing has the most impact on reducing costs. There are plenty of acronyms to go around in the contracting process, and choosing the right tool for the task at hand often proves perplexing to even seasoned purchasing professionals. RFX, for example, is one of the most common acronyms in strategic sourcing and procurement. It is a fillin-the-blank type of reference. The RF represents Request For and the X is just a placeholder for I, P, B, and/or Q. In other words, RFX is a term that captures all references to RFI, RFP, RFQ, or RFB. The RFX process, for example, includes Request for Information (RFI), Invitation for Bid (IFB), Invitation for Tender (IFT), Request for Bid (RFB), Request for Quote or Quotation (RFQ), and Request for Proposal (RFP). Their purpose is to provide a solicitation platform for a purchaser to gather information from suppliers in various manners that will allow them to make educated decisions on whom to purchase from, which products or services to buy, and under what terms. The goal of an effective RFX process is to deliver the greatest value to your organization through a course of action that provides a true and solid means of obtaining information from your supplier. It is a means of assembling all the information required to arrive at a well-grounded conclusion. Without the ability to select and apply the correct RFX tool at the correct time, the 13 Contact Us for A Free 30 Mins Consultation at info@purchasing-procurement-center.com

solicitation process can suffer timing setbacks, miscommunicated terms, and even the need for complete redefinition all of which adversely affect the desired end result. Here is a snapshot way to determine what RFX formats to use in certain sourcing conditions:

RFX FORMATS & SOURCING FACTORS CONDITIONS

SOURCING FACTOR CONDITIONS DEFINABLE OR AVAILABLE SPECIFICATIONS OR REQUIREMENTS AVAILABILITY OF SUPPLIER CAPABILITY
OR COMPETITIVE

RFI

RFQ

RFB/IFB/IFT

RFP

Known and unknown

Known off-the-shelf goods and standard services

Known goods and services

Unknown detail, providing the what and why

Known & unknown; depends on preferred or approved supplier lists Encouraged by early purchasing involvement Encouraged by early supplier or vendor involvement No, but standard pricing acceptable Low potential

Known, usually qualified supplier list

Known & unknown, depends on preferred or approved supplier lists

Known, if RFI has been used

SUPPLIER BASE

USER OR INTERNAL CUSTOMER COLLABORATION LEVEL OF SUPPLIER COLLABORATION OR COMMERCIALLY ATTRACTIVE NEED FOR DETAILED PRICING INFORMATION POTENTIAL SAVINGS OPPORTUNITIES INHERENT SOURCING RISK

Completed, off the shelf goods or standard type services Completed since it is commercially attractive Yes, based on trade custom/practice Low potential, but possibly negotiable

Usually completed

Required through early purchasing interaction

Completed since it is commercially attractive Yes, based on your bid/tender guidelines It depends if sealed bid or subject to BAFO Medium risk, more so if sole source

Required through supplier and vendor value proposition analysis Yes or no, according to RFP format Very high, depending on spend category High risk

Low risk

Low to medium risk

Though each type of RFX has a unique function and place in the solicitation process, it is amazing how few purchasing professionals know when and how to apply them accurately. So one of the first challenges to achieving excellence is learning how to make the most of these tools 14 Contact Us for A Free 30 Mins Consultation at info@purchasing-procurement-center.com

in the appropriate context. Your sophisticated suppliers will know the difference, and so should you! In today litigious and competitive business world it is also important for contracts to reflect s accurately the rights and obligations of the parties. Increasingly, purchasing departments and purchasing professionals are being held responsible for assuring that appropriate language is included in contracts to ensure that the purchaser obtains the goods and services desired at a fair price and their interests are appropriately protected. Why have contracts? 39. To obtain needed goods and services on schedule 40. To create a meaningful relationship between parties Agreements define rights and obligations Breaches have legal consequences 41. To create a lasting relationship between parties Contracts are documents that memorialize agreement about the relationship They enable separation of formation and performance 42. Contracts are risk management tools And let not forget that the primary purpose of a contract is to obtain goods or services on s schedule. As such, the most constructive way to resolve contractual difficulties is through the negotiation process. To create sound contracts, though, purchasing personnel have to go beyond the negotiation process. They cannot rely on busy legal staff to review all their actions; rather, they must understand the laws and business environments relating to the contract and know when to seek additional legal advice. Purchasing provides the most value when it anticipates events and mitigates loss and risk. When negotiating contracts, the parties try to anticipate likely and unlikely situations that may arise and provide for their solutions. When this fails, parties often resort to formal dispute resolution methods such as litigation or arbitration. It is therefore critical for purchasing personnel to become actively involved in avoiding contractual problems and resolving legal and business disagreements early in the process, limiting or eliminating the subsequent need to resort to formal dispute resolution or claims in a court of law. Essentially, as a purchasing professional, your role in creating contracts is twofold: 1. Make sure that what the internal customer or user wants is in the contract. 2. Make sure that the contract contains the necessary clauses for the type of purchase at hand.

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WHY SEVEN-STAR PURCHASING MAKES SENSE FOR YOU RIGHT NOW

CPO Priorities, a report by Aberdeen Research Group, shows a marked acceleration in the significance of procurement's current role. Although it remains the extreme exception for procurement to be considered the leading competency of an enterprise, 89% of the survey respondents indicated that the procurement function has grown more strategic over the past three years. Procurement's continued stride forward is also evidenced by the fact that nearly a fifth of all Chief Purchasing/Procurement Officers (CPOs) now report directly to the president or CEO of their organization. More than ever before, purchasing managers are seen as needing an increasing array of tools and best practices that can be leveraged to reduce costs and increase procurement effectiveness. According to another new study sponsored by KPMG International, Beyond Purchasing: Next Steps for the Procurement Profession, procurement management has taken on an increasingly strategic and important role at many companies, but in many respects still has a long way to go to reach maximum performance. The report, based on surveys of nearly 600 company executives from across the globe, was conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit. A full 74% of respondents consider purchasing/procurement performance to be either high or very high on the corporate priority list perhaps not surprising in a period of rapidly rising commodity-related costs, but also undoubtedly reflective of a growing appreciation for the role that purchasing/procurement can play in improving the supply chain and bottom line. Why is this important to you? As we move into a new era of great expectations for the purchasing and supply management executive, each of the Seven-Star Purchasing Areas of Excellence will represent areas that need to be handled and handled well by tomorrow's purchasing and supply management functions. Keeping up with the fads simply won keep you competitive: Perfecting t the basics will. Please note that the Seven-Star Purchasing Areas of Excellence presented in this whitepaper are prescriptive rather than diagnostic. Our goal is to provide you with a catalyst for ongoing discussion about identifying your top improvement opportunities. With a plethora of distracting tips, techniques, and technologies competing for your attention, it all too easy to overlook the less s glamorous fundamentals, those that may be considered pass but will nevertheless provide you with the surest foundation for achieving purchasing excellence and corporate profitability. Amid the critical challenges, talent shortages, tightening constraints, cloudy strategies, and ever-increasing pace of today purchasing environment, we urge you to focus first on what is vital. Acquiring skills s relating to the Seven-Star Purchasing Areas of Excellence and being able to use them with agility will ultimately yield the greatest possible ROI for you and your organization.

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ABOUT US
PURCHASING & PROCUREMENT CENTER
The Purchasing & Procurement Center provides comprehensive information for Purchasing & Procurement Professionals. Within its scope the Purchasing & Procurement Center ensures that you get all your needs covered through web based information, Reports & White Papers, and more importantly thru personal assignments of in-house trainings, consultations etc. You can contact us at info@purchasing-procurement-center.com for a Free 30 Minutes Consultation of your purchasing & procurement needs.

CATTAN SERVICES GROUP, INC.

CATTAN is a consulting and training firm specializing in Procurement & supply chain management. Cattan cooperation with Purchasing & Procurement Center extends in jointly s providing seminars, in-house trainings, consultations etc. Cattan success is based primarily on the high level functional expertise of our staff. We offer our s clients value through a very unique combination of advanced degrees and certifications as well as line, staff, and consulting experience, thereby providing a unique blend of theoretical values mixed with firing line, hands-on experience to ensure bottom-line results. Simply put, we practice what we teach. To find out more Cattan, see www.cattan.com.

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