Improving the efficiency of operative purchasing
Pulkkinen, Tiia (2025)
2025
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202505058935
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202505058935
Tiivistelmä
The goal of this Master’s Thesis was to improve the efficiency of the operative purchasing, and it links to a real procurement challenge in the case company. The procurement professionals in the case company used 80-90% of their time doing operative purchasing but there was a need to do more strategic tasks as well.
This thesis started with the current state analysis that identified the challenges of the current purchasing process and the necessary working tasks. It was done by discussing with buyers and different stakeholders, via observations and analyzing internal documents. The result of the analysis was that the challenge was bigger and more profound than initially thought. The procurement was decentralized, and common working methods did not exist. To develop the efficiency of the operative purchasing, other changes needed to be made as well. To address the challenges, literature on purchase models, maturity levels, and procurement strategies was studied. It became clear that it was necessary to centralize the procurement function in the case company and created common working methods.
As the outcome of the thesis, a tool was developed to automate the purchase process and thus improve the efficiency of operative purchasing. The tool makes order proposals, and the orders are then transferred automatically to the ERP system. This work was done manually before. The other outcome is that the procurement function became centralized that have also led to the operative purchasing working more effectively. The purchase tool has helped to reduce the time used for the ordering and helped to maintain better stock levels.
This thesis started with the current state analysis that identified the challenges of the current purchasing process and the necessary working tasks. It was done by discussing with buyers and different stakeholders, via observations and analyzing internal documents. The result of the analysis was that the challenge was bigger and more profound than initially thought. The procurement was decentralized, and common working methods did not exist. To develop the efficiency of the operative purchasing, other changes needed to be made as well. To address the challenges, literature on purchase models, maturity levels, and procurement strategies was studied. It became clear that it was necessary to centralize the procurement function in the case company and created common working methods.
As the outcome of the thesis, a tool was developed to automate the purchase process and thus improve the efficiency of operative purchasing. The tool makes order proposals, and the orders are then transferred automatically to the ERP system. This work was done manually before. The other outcome is that the procurement function became centralized that have also led to the operative purchasing working more effectively. The purchase tool has helped to reduce the time used for the ordering and helped to maintain better stock levels.