BASF

By Staff -- Purchasing, 4/9/1998

Title: Purchasing manager, custom manufacturing

Company: basf Corp., Mt. Olive, N.J. Manufacturer of basic chemicals, intermediates, polymers, coating, nutritional products, and specialties.

Reports to: Don Donahue, director of fine chemicals purchasing, ultimately to W. Don Brown, vice president of raw material and engineering purchasing.

Education: B.S. in Chemistry, State University College, Freedonia, N.Y.; A.A.S. Nursing, Albany, N.Y.

Background: Knab has 17 years of general and chemical purchasing, the last four with an emphasis on custom and toll manufacturing.

Responsibilities: To coordinate outsourcing of many business groups, maximizing our leverage and obtaining the best value for outsourced chemicals. The challenge here is to cover basf with adequate contractual safeguards and meet internal customer needs while working with component suppliers.

Purchasing at basf: In the custom manufacturing area, the goal is to coordinate the best value possible with internal customer requirements.

Challenges in purchasing custom manufacturing services: "The challenges within a large international chemical company like basf are coordination and timing issues," says Knab. "The time required to bring a project to production is always key. While I have taken steps to streamline the process, it requires more time and effort than picking a commercially available product off the shelf. Outsourcing activities are varied and generally never dull."

View of suppliers: "I look for suppliers that are technically proficient, cost competitive, ethical, environmentally compliant, customer-service oriented, and responsive to basf's needs,'' he says. In the custom area, he finds that by the very nature of their business, good suppliers are the rule rather than the exception.

View of supply chain management: The custom manufacturing approach that Knab finds the most effective is that of forming cross-functional teams. "Depending on the project, this team typically consists of, but is not limited to, representatives of Manufacturing, the Business Unit Manufacturing, and Quality Assurance," he says.

Overall strategy: To work with a few of the very best custom manufacturers in any given area of chemical expertise to maximize value for basf and supplier alike.

Trends affecting purchasing: Knab sees two main trends that will increasingly affect purchasing activities. "There is a trend toward the outsourcing of operations--especially those of lower added value," he says. "And a trend to decrease or delay capital expenditures until end markets are more stable."