PROFILE OF THE PURCHASING PROFESSIONAL

By Kevin R. Fitzgerald -- Purchasing, 7/15/1999 2:00:00 AM

Every other year since 1987 Purchasing Magazine has surveyed its readers to determine personal and professional aspects that characterize the purchasing/supply management professional in the U.S.

Today's average purchasing professional is a married, 45- to 46-year-old male who has worked in purchasing for 15 years. This "average" portrait has varied little since we began doing this study 12 years ago, but that just begins to tell the story.

This year's data does show some very clear changes and trends in the population of people who make up the purchasing profession:

- The proportion of women in purchasing has more than doubled since 1987. Today, 21% of survey respondents are women, versus 8% in 1987.

- Despite their increased numbers, women are less likely than men to hold senior-level purchasing positions.

- More companies are shifting people from other functions into purchasing. Nearly half of survey respondents 47%--indicate that they're working in purchasing as a result of a company assignment, rather than a deliberate career choice. Just two years ago, only 39% of respondents indicated they were in purchasing because of a company assignment.

- Routine paperwork is still the purchasing professional's most time-consuming task, despite attempts by companies to automate transaction processing. The typical purchasing pro devotes about one-third of his or her time to processing paperwork.

- Purchasing pros in supervisory roles oversee an average of four subordinates, down from five in 1997's survey. Back in 1987, supervisors oversaw an average of seven subordinates. This decrease is consistent with the finding of this year's survey that 41% of purchasing pros interviewed have experienced downsizing in their purchasing departments in recent years.

- Purchasing's role in product design and development continues to increase. Half of survey respondents are involved in advanced product development teams. Ten percent report that they are playing a greater role in product development.

- Three-fourths--76%--of polled purchasers are responsible for maintaining inventory levels. This figure is up from 1997, when 66% said they were responsible for inventory levels. It also reflects purchasing's growing role in overall supply management duties.

- A strong majority--80%--of survey respondents would choose to work in purchasing if given the opportunity to begin their careers again.

What follows are detailed results of our survey, which provides a profile of today's industrial purchasing professional.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

- GENDER

Seventy-nine percent of survey respondents are men.

- AGE

Average age of this year's respondent is 45.7 years, only a slight change since the profile survey began in 1987, when the average age was 43.7 years. Respondents with the title of vice president are the oldest, with an average age of 48 years. In the youngest age category--less than 35 years of age--a whopping 62% of survey respondents are women.

- MARITAL STATUS

Three quarters of survey respondents are married, a decrease since the survey began in 1987, when 83% were married. Women are more likely to be single than men are--17% versus 11%--reflecting the younger age of women in the purchasing profession.

The divorce rate in purchasing has crept up over time, from 6% in 1987, to 8% in 1997, to 12% in this year's survey.

- EDUCATION

Fifty-seven percent of survey respondents hold four-year college degrees, a similar level as in previous surveys. As you move up the ladder of purchasing titles, the percentage holding four-year degrees increases. Three quarters of purchasing vice presidents hold four-year degrees.

Business is the most popular major among purchasing professionals with four-year degrees--68% hold business degrees. Liberal arts has declined as a major among purchasing professionals--from 22% ten years ago, to 15% two years ago, to 12% in this year's survey.

Of those purchasing pros who do not hold four-year degrees, 16% are working toward one.

- PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION

The percentage of purchasing professionals who hold C.P.M. certification continues to rise, from 14% when the survey began in 1987, to 18% in 1997, and to 21% in this year's survey. Men are more likely to be certified than women are, by a 22% to 14% margin. And purchasing executives with the greatest longevity are the most likely to be certified--33% of survey respondents with 21 or more years purchasing experience are C.P.M. certified.

Another 20% of purchasing pros report that they hold certifications other than C.P.M. The most frequent "other" certification is c.p.i.m. (American Inventory Control Society).

PURCHASING JOBS

- EXPERIENCE IN PURCHASING

Survey respondents have been in purchasing for an average of 15 years. As would be expected, purchasing executives with the greatest responsibility have been with their companies longer than those with less responsibility. Vice presidents have been in purchasing at their current firms for an average of 20 years.

- JOB TITLES

Senior job titles in purchasing are characterized by high education, purchasing responsibility, and company experience. Men are more likely than women to hold senior-level positions in purchasing.

Job Titles All Men Women

Vice president/director 3% 4% --

Purchasing manager/agent 47% 50% 33%

Materials manager 7% 7% 7%

Assistant purchasing

manager/agent 2% 3% --

Buyer/Senior buyer 41% 36% 60%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

- NON-PURCHASING EXPERIENCE

Reflecting the increase in the number of purchasing pros who entered the profession due to a company assignment, nearly all--96%--survey respondents report they have had experience in areas other than purchasing. Most frequently mentioned areas are inventory and production.

Inventory 59%

Production 50%

Sales 31%

Accounting/finance 28%

Quality 21%

Engineering 21%

Other 17%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

- ENTRY TO PURCHASING

Nearly half of survey respondents this year indicate that they are in purchasing because of company assignment, not their own choice. Respondents that are age 50 or older are more likely than others to be in purchasing due to company assignment (57%).

Title of Immediate Supervisor

Purchasing manager/director 39%

Operations manager/VP 17%

President/CEO/Chairman 13%

Manufacturing manager/VP 11%

Treasurer/financial officer 7%

Plant manager/site manager 7%

Other 6%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

Title to Which Head of Purchasing Reports

Operations manager/VP 36%

President/CEO/Chairman 31%

Manufacturing manager/VP 11%

Materials manager/director 10%

Treasurer/financial officer 6%

Other 6%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

Number of people supervised

1999 1997 1987

Purchasing people 2.7 3.5 4.1

Clerical people 1.3 1.7 2.8

TOTAL 4.0 5.2 6.9

SOURCE: PURCHASING

1999 1997 1987

Routine paperwork 34% 32% 32%

Source selection 17% 16% 18%

Negotiation 18% 15% 21%

Product research 15% 7% 15%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

- REPORTING STRUCTURES

More purchasing pros report to purchasing managers or directors than to any other titles.

- SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY

Purchasing supervisors are overseeing fewer people than in the past, likely due to corporate consolidation that's been occurring over the past several years. Since the survey began in 1987, the average number of purchasing people supervised has declined more than 34%, from 4.1 to 2.7. Also: Women supervisors have significantly fewer purchasing subordinates than men (1.8 versus 2.9).

- TIME DEVOTED TO SPECIFIC DUTIES

Despite attempts to automate transaction processing through technologies such as electronic data interchange (EDI) and Internet-based electronic commerce, the percentage of total time that purchasing pros spend doing routine paperwork has remained fairly constant over the past twelve years.

1999

Services 21%

Paper and allied products 20%

Rubber & plastics 20%

Primary metals 20%

Electrical/electronic products 16%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

Materials manager/director/staff 19%

Inventory control/inventory clerk 18%

Production/production manager 16%

Manufacturing 9%

Master scheduler 9%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

- AFTER-HOURS WORK

About half of surveyed purchasing pros indicate they often work late or take work home. Only 4% indicate they never have to put in extra hours to get their work done.

1999 1997

Up 70% 61%

Same 9% 28%

Down 21% 10%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

PURCHASING'S RESPONSIBILITIES

- DOLLAR VOLUME OF PURCHASES

Purchasing responsibility of this year's respondents varies from less than $1 million to more than $250 million. Average purchasing responsibility is $28.4 million; median is $9.9 million. The median level for women is less than half that of men ($4.6 million versus $11.3 million).

- FIVE MOST IMPORTANT ITEMS

For the first time, purchasing professionals cite the buying of services as their most important buy, in terms of dollars spent.

- INVENTORY RESPONSIBILITY

More than three quarters of purchasing professionals surveyed this year report that they are responsible for maintaining inventory levels. This is up from 66% in the 1997 survey.

Among those with inventory responsibility, 42% are solely responsible and 58% share inventory responsibility with others. When responsibilities are shared, it's with the following titles:

- LONG-TERM AGREEMENTS

Long-term buying agreements have decreased since 1997, but only slightly. In 1997, 43% of purchasing dollars were spent as part of long-term agreements; this year, it was 39%. However, a number of respondents this year indicated the dollar value, not the percentage of dollars, so the data may be slightly skewed.

- CONTRACT BUYING

According to 70% of purchasing pros polled, contract buying is increasing, compared to five years ago. This is up from 61% in the 1997 survey.

- SUPPLIER CONSOLIDATION

Eighty percent of purchasers say they are taking steps to consolidate their purchases with fewer suppliers.

- SINGLE SOURCING

Purchasing professionals still prefer to have multiple sources for a given item, but not by as wide a margin as two years ago. The percentage of survey respondents who prefer multiple sources slipped to 79% from 87% two years ago.

- PROCUREMENT CARD USE

One third of survey respondents indicate their purchasing departments use corporate procurement cards. Buyers/senior buyers were much more likely to use cards than any other title level, at 46%.

- IMPORT ACTIVITY

Imports are up sharply in this year's survey, due in all likelihood to low-priced commodities that resulted from the financial crisis in several Asian economies. A total of 68% of surveyed purchasers report their companies import, compared to 52% in 1997's survey.

Among those who import, 45% report they have increased their total purchases, 45% report that total purchases have remained the same, and 10% report a decrease in total purchases.

Imports are handled differently than domestic purchases, say 37% of purchasers whose companies import. Level of inventory, leadtimes, currency exchanges, and customs issues were factors cited as different than domestic purchases.

- COUNTERTRADE

The majority of purchasing pros whom import--70%--say that countertrade does not play a role in their company's purchase of imports. Twenty-six percent say that countertrade plays a role, but only 4% say it plays a significant role.

- SUPPLIER MEASUREMENT

Rating systems. The majority of purchasing pros--69%--has a system for rating supplier performance. Of those with a system, 81% describe it as a "formal" system.

Interaction with other functions

Daily Weekly Monthly Never

Production 59% 29% 6% 5%

Finance/accounting 33% 33% 24% 9%

Maintenance 33% 23% 15% 29%

Design 29% 34% 18% 19%

Top management 29% 31% 27% 14%

Marketing 15% 32% 31% 21%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

Most important factor. Sixty-four percent of purchasers with a supplier rating system indicate that "quality" is the most important factor in their system. Twenty-one percent indicate delivery as most important, and 12% say price. Only 1% feels that technical service is the most important factor.

- COMPUTERIZATION

Today, nearly every purchasing department--96%--is computerized, which was nearly the case two years ago, when 93% reported that purchasing was computerized. This data is a far cry from that of twelve years ago, when only 73% of survey respondents reported their purchasing department was computerized.

Ninety-one percent of purchasers polled use a personal computer on a daily basis.

New product development 10%

Inventory control 6%

Negotiations 5%

Cost reduction/containment 5%

MRO, maintenance, repairs 4%

Design 4%

Sourcing/source selection 4%

Supplier improvement 4%

Engineering 4%

Other equipment,

office supplies 4%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

- JUST-IN-TIME DELIVERIES

Just-in-time (JIT) inventory management is practiced by 68% of purchasing professionals, according to this year's survey. That's up from 63% in 1997. Of those involved with JIT, 73% of systems are operating already, 17% are in implementation stage, and 10% are just starting.

- PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

One half of survey respondents are actively involved in advanced product development teams, up from 45% in 1997. Involvement is more common among higher-level purchasing executives.

1999 1997 1987

% who travel 81% 88% 90%

Average # of trips/yr 6 8 10

Average # of days/trip 2.4 2.4 NA

Travel outside of U.S. 29% 28% NA

SOURCE: PURCHASING

Purposes of business travel

Investigate supplier facilities 60%

Negotiate with suppliers 17%

Sourcing 15%

Internal corporate visits 13%

Training 11%

Audits 7%

Problem solving/quality control 7%

Trade shows, seminars 5%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

- INTER-DEPARTMENTAL ACTIVITY

Purchasing professionals today have routine contact with every key department of their companies, with production being the department of most frequent interaction. Nearly 90% of polled purchasers report they meet with production at least on a weekly basis, including 59% who report that they meet with production daily.

Sixty percent of purchasing pros report they meet with top management at least weekly and 86% meet with top management at least monthly.

Parts of purchasing that give the most satisfaction

Saving money/cost cutting 29%

Negotiating 24%

Meeting deadlines 15%

Problem solving 13%

New products 13%

Supplier selection 6%

Developing contracts 6%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

Poor communication within company 13%

Unreliable suppliers 10%

Prices, costs, financial aspects 10%

Paperwork 7%

Management in general 7%

Inventory control 7%

Overworked, understaffed, underpaid 7%

Short leadtimes/rush orders 7%

Poor forecasts from sales 6%

Time management 5%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

Better/more training 15%

More involvement in decision-making 14%

Less paperwork 11%

Integrated systems 11%

Better communication 9%

More authority 9%

More recognition/respect 8%

Better understanding of

purchasing's role 8%

More automation 7%

Change structure of organization 7%

Better supplier relationships 5%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

Management committees. About half of purchasing professionals serve on management committees within their companies. Development/production committees lead the list, followed by financial/cost reduction, management, and manufacturing committees.

- INTERACTION WITH SUPPLIER SALESPEOPLE

The typical purchasing pro meets with an average of six sales representatives in one week. Women see outside sales reps far less often than men--3.2 versus 6.7 per week.

Ultimate career goal

Promotion to general management 33%

Promotion to purchasing management 19%

Retire/retire soon 17%

Start own business 6%

Do a good job/get good reputation 5%

Upgrade education 4%

Satisfied now/have reached goal 3%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

- AREAS OF GROWTH FOR PURCHASING

About one half of survey respondents indicate that they are playing an increased role in several areas. Areas receiving the most mentions:

- BUSINESS TRAVEL

The growth of electronic communication may be cutting into business travel a bit. In this year's survey 81% of respondents indicate they travel in connection with their purchasing responsibilities. In 1997 the average was 88%; in 1987, it was 90%. Decreases in average trips per year also were seen in this year's results.

Purchasing pros with less experience, women, and those in lower-level positions are least likely to travel for business purposes. International travel is primarily the realm of vice presidents/directors and purchasing managers.

Why purchasing is preferred

Challenging 39%

Rewarding/enjoyable 35%

Offers good opportunities 14%

People oriented 11%

Important part of company 11%

Diverse 7%

Good experience 5%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

Why purchasing is NOT preferred

Simply prefer other area 33%

Pressure/too stressful 28%

Low recognition/thankless 24%

Poor advancement opportunities 19%

Low pay 5%

SOURCE: PURCHASING

CAREER INFORMATION

- JOB SATISFACTION

Purchasing professionals receive job satisfaction from reducing costs and the challenges of supplier negotiations. Men and purchasing pros with college degrees tend to like negotiating more than women who prefer cost-cutting aspects of purchasing.

- BIGGEST PROBLEMS

Gripes of purchasing pros fall into two general categories: external problems, such as suppliers and costs; and internal problems, such as inadequate planning, poor communication, and lack of recognition.

- HOW PURCHASING COULD BE IMPROVED

Most frequent suggestions for improving the purchasing function center on additional training and more involvement in decision-making.

- CAREER GOALS

A promotion to general management is the ultimate career goal that's mentioned by more purchasing professionals--one third of those responding--than any other, according to this year's survey.

Nineteen percent of purchasing pros hope to achieve a position in purchasing management. This goal is especially popular among women, 35% of which cite purchasing management as their career goal. Six percent of survey respondents ultimately want to start their own business.

- DOWNSIZING

Forty-one percent of purchasing pros surveyed say their purchasing departments have been downsized in recent years. The majority who have experienced downsizing--72%--describe it as "moderate," but a full 25% have experienced "radical" downsizing. Only 4% say downsizing at their company has been insignificant.

- WOULD YOU CHOOSE PURCHASING AGAIN?

The vast majority of purchasing professionals--80%--say they would choose purchasing if given the opportunity to start their careers over again. This preference for purchasing is consistent across age groups, job titles, and gender.