e-Procurement: From Strategy to Implementation

Chapter 2. The Fundamentals of Procurement

Objective One reason for the confusion surrounding e-procurement is that the press often lumps all procurement into a single group, as if all purchasing techniques and commodity groups required the same systems and approach. This is not so, and several key distinctions should be made when considering your company’s e-procurement strategy. Procurement materials can be broken down into two major categories: indirect and direct. Indirect procurement involves any commodity or service that does not result directly in finished goods. Indirect procurement can be divided into two groups: ORM (e.g., office products and travel services) and MRO (e.g., replacement parts) materials. Direct procurement involves materials ...