'Uptime' is mark of a quality PC supplier
By Susan Avery -- Purchasing, 1/14/1999
In measuring quality of desktop PCs, corporate buyers take into account service and support capabilities of the suppliers they manage. Responsiveness, in fact, is the mark of a quality PC provider, say respondents to a new Purchasing Magazine survey of 1,000 computer buyers."Quality in PCs transcends product," says one purchasing manager. "Service and supplier responsiveness comprise a large portion of quality."
That's because purchasing is responsible for ensuring that the PCs they buy are reliable and meet exacting requirements of their internal customers--and customers demand machines that are dependable. Managing a relationship with a supplier that performs well at support and service capabilities also helps corporate buyers to meet another corporate objective: reducing total costs of the PCs they purchase.
Strategic supplier selection
Not surprisingly, 97% of survey respondents are involved in the PC buying process at their companies. For their expertise at understanding the market, selecting suppliers, negotiating agreements, and managing relationships, corporate buyers play an integral role in the acquisition process for desktop PCs.
"As commodity specialist, my role involves strategic selection of new suppliers," says one respondent. Fred G. Gallagher, Jr., purchasing manager, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Wilmington, Del., "handles all pricing, terms & conditions, and all non-technical issues."
Likewise, George A. Patsais, purchasing manager, Zebra Technologies Corp., Vernon Hills, Ill., "negotiates the contract and evaluates all alternatives from a non-technical, purely business perspective."
Respondents have been managing relationships with current PC suppliers on average for three years, with 14% having this responsibility for the past 8-10 years. Forty-seven percent of respondents purchase desktop PCs through the reseller channel; 34% buy direct from the manufacturer; and a growing number, 19%, now acquire computer equipment via the Internet.
When selecting a supplier for desktop PCs, 87% of respondents say total cost is the most important criterion they consider. Rounding out the list (respondents were asked to name three elements they use in the evaluation process) are quality (64%), service (52%), and technical capability (45%).
Meeting performance criteria
When asked to define the term in the scope of their buying responsibilities, respondents say that, as with other purchased commodities, quality means "supplier capability to meet defined performance criteria."
"Proven product provided and technically supported by local representation at competitive pricing" is how J. Gregg Gibson, procurement manager, Huntsman Polymers Corp., Odessa, Texas, characterizes a quality PC supplier.
To Gallagher of Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, PC quality is "product that meets specifications delivered complete and on time."
"The system most compatible with our needs at the lowest total cost," implies quality to a PC buyer in the Midwest.
To measure performance of desktop PCs on service and support issues, purchasing managers mainly gauge satisfaction of their internal customers. In doing so, 98% enlist assistance of their company's IT department to track number of service calls and the number of hours equipment is down. Specifically, respondents say these metrics include:
* "On-time delivery, error-free receipts, error-free invoices, response time for errors, response time for service."
* "Number of service calls, logged failures, and incompatible occurrences."
* "Quantify the number of breakdowns each machine experiences."
* "The absence of complaints and problems from our internal PC maintenance group."
* "Informal measurement of returned/ defective computers."
* "Reliability and the ease with which IT is able to configure and deploy the PC to the final user."
Current PC suppliers are shining at providing online purchasing capability, competitive prices, new technology, and on-time delivery, say respondents. "The value-added reseller we have been using has been excellent in terms of information turnaround, customer support, etc.," says Gallagher of Zeneca Pharmaceuticals.
Another respondent rates as "high" a supplier's capability to provide computer equipment to locations around the world. "We have a strategic alliance with Compaq to supply all of our PC needs," says one buyer working for a company in the South. "This is a corporate global alliance."
Buyer concerns naturally boil down to "downtime to users because of repairs or exchanges." Another buyer frets about "compatibility among components both within the machine and with the current network infrastructure."
Anne Stevens, purchasing director, paccar, Bellevue, Wash., says that "ability to consistently serve our global sites with leasing and service support" is one of her concerns. Other respondents are not satisfied with "damaged goods by shipping carriers," "the Y2K issue," "the speed at which machines become obsolete, security," and "keeping up with technology."
Respondents to the survey, however, do not have in place formal processes to help suppliers improve the quality of desktop PCs they purchase; just 16% say they work with providers on quality issues. Of those that do, the processes entail regular feedback between buyer and supplier.
"Our PCs are purchased on a corporate purchasing agreement," says Carol G. Street, manager of procurement & subcontracts, Teledyne Electronic Technologies, Los Angeles, Calif. "Our corporate procurement group gives feedback to the supplier on all aspects of performance."
At Baldwin Filters in Kearney, Nebr., Kim Smith, purchasing supervisor, "transmits feedback from users directly to the supplier." Another respondent from the South also provides feedback on performance to his company's desktop PC provider--by way of a supplier scorecard.
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