Purchasing seminars from a purchasing pro
By Kathryn Belyea -- Purchasing, 6/1/2000 2:00:00 AM
Will Rogers once said, "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." As the world's wiring becomes more and more sophisticated and communication picks up speed, the need to learn in order to stay current becomes more crucial. A well-chosen seminar can provide an intensive learning experience within a short time frame-a way to bone up so you can keep up.
The beginning
Bob Nahabit, C.P.M., did not begin his career as a seminar speaker. Moving from engineering to purchasing at one point in his professional life, he was "astonished" to discover that the five buyers who made up the department didn't understand the basics of the electronic components they were buying. "I began to train them," he says, "resistor, diode, IC and so on." Every Thursday afternoon, time was set aside for an educational session on electronics. Other people in the company eventually learned that the purchasing department was not available during this time. "The next thing that happened was that the salespeople wanted to come, so they began attending," says Nahabit. "It's interesting," he adds. "Most salespeople think buyers are the experts and most buyers think the salespeople are the experts. But anyway, pretty soon the suppliers began coming as well."
Taking it on the road
Nahabit also began teaching on the university level and has been teaching "Electronics for the Buyer and Seller" at California State University at Northridge for years. Someone suggested he package the information in seminar format and take it around the country, and he's been doing that ever since. Nahabit & Associates Inc., created officially in 1981, now offers a total of 11 seminars to purchasing professionals and utilizes the expertise of 10 qualified instructors. Both seminar details and instructor qualifications are available for viewing at www.purchasingseminars.com.
Public vs. in-house
Sixty percent of the seminars are offered to public attendees and 40% are customized for in-house presentation. A few previous in-house examples include sessions at John Deere, Hewlett-Packard and TRW.
Seminars include:
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Fundamentals of purchasing (US $370)
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Applied purchasing techniques (US $375)
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Legal aspects of purchasing (US $415)
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Contracts: reading, writing & negotiating (US $420)
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International purchasing (US $795)
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Basics of blueprint reading (US $325)
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Nuts & Bolts of electronics (US $625)
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Purchasing for the newly appointed buyer (US $345)
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Business & purchasing ethics (US $335)
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Fundamentals of IC technology (US $425)
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Semiconductor manufacturing economics (US $435)
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Plus: Software & technology licensing (under development)
For the beginner and the pro
Seminars are booked in various cities across the country, including Atlanta, Ga.; Austin, Texas; Baltimore, Md.; Boston, Mass.; Portland Ore.; San Diego, Calif.; Santa Clara, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; and Silicon Valley, Calif. Consult the organization's Web site for exact dates.
Some seminars are geared for purchasing pros with little experience and others are offered to purchasing pros at various levels. "Fundamentals of IC technology" and "Semiconductor manufacturing economics," for example, are designed for both entry-level buyers as well as purchasing managers. Nahabit points out that any buyer who is purchasing integrated circuits "should understand that commodity from beginning to end-from IC foundry to circuit board."
The "fundamentals" IC seminar is a one-day session that provides a comprehensive review of IC technology "from the basic operation of the building blocks of an IC through an understandable explanation of the manufacturing processes that are used to produce standard, asic and custom ICs."
The "semiconductor manufacturing economics" seminar helps attendees to understand the major cost factors contributing to the manufacturing costs of ICs, where various cost models for IC product categories are discussed. "If you want to understand the price, you must understand the cost," says Nahabit.
For those purchasing professionals who'd prefer an in-house seminar but cannot justify it for one reason or another, an additional option-"Purchasing University"-is available. Nahabit Associates suggests co-sponsoring a seminar with other companies in your area who can provide additional attendees. With enough outside attendees (25), hosting companies "can realize a profit and get their people trained free of charge."
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