e-Procurement: From Strategy to Implementation

Direct Versus Indirect

It is likely that the purchase of indirect and direct goods will continue to require different approaches, with an emphasis on spot markets and impersonal supplier-buyer relationships becoming the rule for indirect and, to a lesser extent, less complex MRO materials. Although the separate paths traditionally reserved for indirect and direct materials are blurring in some ways, the fact is that some materials (indirect) lend themselves better to exchanges and catalogs, while others, (MRO parts and mission-critical direct materials) have very different characteristics and may need a completely dedicated set of processes, tools, and vendors. Bulk direct materials may profit from spot-market type buying, but many complex or ...