Purchasing's Medal of Excellence
By Purchasing Staff -- Purchasing, 12/19/2005 2:00:00 AM
The Medal of Excellence has been awarded annually since 1984 by Purchasing Magazine to honor a purchasing department for excellence in procurement and supply chain management performance. The award is selected annually through discussions among Purchasing Magazine's senior editors and key contributing editors; the magazine's Editorial Advisory Board, which includes top purchasing and supply management executives throughout manufacturing and service industries; and other sources in U.S. industries that may provide insight to a company's supply chain management/purchasing activity.
The award is based on a variety of factors that focus on purchasing/supply management, including:
1. The understanding of strategic supply management by top company management. How closely does supply chain management/purchasing work with top executives? What actions does top management undertake to demonstrate its commitment to superior supply management practices?
2. SCM/Purchasing's understanding of corporate objectives, and aggressiveness in striving to reach these objectives. Can purchasing document its progress in reducing costs, improving on-time delivery (or JIT), and boosting quality? What other goals do you have?
3. Purchasing's inherent value to the company on a financial basis; what percentage of sales revenue is spent by purchasing? How important is purchasing's performance to company performance? Is purchasing structured in a manner that maximizes its possible contribution? Is your organization global? Should it be?
4. SCM/Purchasing's relationships and interaction with other company functions. How well does SCM/purchasing understand its role relative to other functions, and how well is that role articulated?
5. In general, how well SCM/purchasing works with suppliers. This would include how supplier performance is measured, how purchasing looks beyond purchase price to measure total cost, sharing of strategic information with suppliers to achieve specific goals, how purchasing works with suppliers to remove cost from the supply chain, how purchasing develops world-class suppliers, and more.
6. How well purchasing trains its own employees.
7. Is the department innovative? Is it testing or implementing new approaches/technology? What is the role of electronic procurement?
These criteria are meant as a general guide. If you would like to be considered, please send a letter (maximum two pages) that addresses these issues to Paul Teague, Editor-in-Chief, Purchasing Magazine, 225 Wyman Street, Waltham, MA 02451. Phone: (781) 734-8209. E-mail: pteague@reedbusiness.com. The winner is usually announced in our September issue. The review period is conducted from January to June.
This is a rolling application process. If your company is not chosen this year, your application will be kept on file for next year's consideration.
Thank you.
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