Professional Development: Buyers have scorecards too

Purchasing professionals learn about Lean

By Karen Prema -- Purchasing, 9/1/2005

"There are times when supplier reps may call an engineer out of the blue and start firing questions at him or her, and if the engineer isn't prepared to answer, he may divulge information that gives the rep some leverage," says Phil Krotz, director of Lean Supply, Rockwell Collins. To ward off such a scenario, the material and supply operation has put together a procurement and supply chain training program for its colleagues in other areas of the company. Training for design engineers, for instance, involves sessions on the benefits of taking a total-cost focus during negotiations with suppliers, dealing with highly skilled sales people and even what questions to answer or not to answer.

As the material and supply operation shifts its energies from tactical duties to more strategic activities, the focus of the company's training program for purchasing professionals has changed as well. Buyers now receive training in such areas as Lean Supply. They also periodically attend classes instructed by outside trainers in such areas as negotiation skills. Roger Weiss, vice president, material and supply, encourages his team, if they haven't already, to pursue MBAs and CPMs.

Performance of individuals working in the material and supply operation is measured using a formal Rockwell Collins program called Performance Review and Development Plan. The PRDP measures professional performance based on specific goals the company establishes at the beginning of its fiscal year in October. Management uses the PRDP to track performance in the context of five values: teamwork, innovation, integrity, customer focus, and leadership.

The PRDP is broken down into sections. One section aligns an employee's performance measures with corporate objectives. For instance, it measures employee participation in life-cycle value stream management team activities.

To help with interpersonal and technical skills, Rockwell Collins teams up employees with their peers in other areas of the company including operations and manufacturing.