With our blog article series “Insights”, we would like to present every department and the corresponding teams. The purchasing team gets the ball rolling: We talked to our colleague Andrea Ivanegova, one of our purchasing team managers and, together with her team colleagues, she revealed what is special about the PICARD product range and how purchasing processes could change in the future.

How many people work in the purchasing department and how does the team work together? 

The purchasing team consists of a total of 28 colleagues who are responsible for three different fields of activity:

1. Strategic purchasing
2. Purchasing quality and data management
3. Procurement (order-based purchasing)

Strategic purchasing covers the long-term stocking of our standard product range. This consists of about 55,000 different articles. The colleagues process large orders with hundreds of different items that ensure the supply of goods over a long period of time. Ensuring that the goods are available for the customers at the right point of time and in sufficient quantities and thus guaranteeing that they are always in stock is a veritable work of art. Constant market analysis and negotiating the best purchase conditions are the cornerstones of successful strategic purchasing. As we concentrate on catering for the unpredictable needs of the specialized trade, often for small orders, planning our material requirements is a big challenge.

Our objective is always to ensure that our customers are able to fulfil their own customer requests completely and quickly. In the event that, in exceptional cases, we do not have the desired goods in stock, our colleagues from the procurement team then come into play. The team is responsible for order-based purchasing and ensures that the specialist dealers are still able to deliver all desired articles to their customers even when we no longer have part of the goods in stock. To achieve this, we make use of our network and can thus ensure that we are able to source the material for every request at short notice no matter how unusual it is. The customer has the advantage that he can order everything “from a single source” and at the best possible price.

Our purchasing team is also responsible for quality and data management. This includes the comparison between ordered and delivered goods, invoice verification and the compilation of all article information that our customers need to make their purchase decision. An important factor here is the regular maintenance of the current designations, the technical data, the display of equivalent parts from other manufacturers as well as the display of the current gross prices of each manufacture.

What distinguishes the PICARD product range and what do you pay attention to when managing the product range?

We stock rolling and plain bearings, spherical plain bearings and rod ends, linear motion technology, V-belts, seals and accessories. The largest proportion consists of products from those manufacturers who are members of the WBA (World Bearing Association), i.e. the premium brands SKF, Schaeffler, NTN, Timken, NSK, NACHI and JTEKT. In addition, we stock high-quality alternative brands such as NKE, UKF, STC Steyr or ZEN. We also source our stock of linear motion articles from the premium manufacturers: Schaeffler, Bosch Rexroth, THK, Ewellix, Schneeberger, SNR and NSK. In addition to the above-mentioned products, a comprehensive range of V-belts, seals and NILOS rings rounds of our offering. When managing the product range, we pay attention, above all, to ensuring the seamless availability of the goods and to regularly expanding our product range with new product series. To do this, we keep an eye on the latest development and trends on the market and exchange information with our sales department on a regular basis. Furthermore, we cultivate a good relationship with suppliers and manufacturers, who often us give important impulses.

How have the purchase processes changed in the sector over the last few years? What are your expectations for the future?

For us, the digital transformation is an important issue, as nowadays it is impossible to imagine our fast-moving business without the automation of processes. We are investing in the digitalisation of our purchasing processes and, of course, also profit from the increasing digitalisation on the part of the manufacturers. The transfer of orders, the analysis of incoming and outgoing goods, the tracking of delivery dates – digital processes make our work more effective and more efficient. At the same time, we are better able to evaluate changing patterns of demand on the market. This enables us to react proactively to the ever-changing requirements of the market and to live up to our commitment to quality.

Many thanks for the fascinating view behind the scenes!