Which of the following should be a priority approach of procurement department in developing dialogue with those suppliers about specification development?

Royal Naval Hospital at Rockstown, Anyport manages a fleet of nine ambulance vehicles. During busy periods, it becomes very difficult to keep track of the location of each ambulance (and the nature of their journey). Continual problems lead to the proposal for a new control system (ERNS).

For this ERNS project, the procurement department has drafted a specification in which only a bullet point list of basic requirements was written down. The procurement manager understands that the specification should be developed more specifically but a cross functional team from the Hospital could not do that. A senior buyer suggests that some of Hospital’s pre-qualified suppliers could support them in developing the specification.

Which of the following should be a priority approach of procurement department in developing dialogue with those suppliers about specification development?
A . Internal discussion
B. General networking
C. One-to-one meeting with the suppliers
D. Request for quotation from the suppliers

View Answer

Answer: C

Explanation:

The procurement team has drafted basic requirements in the specification. They will need

to develop it further and more specific. Developing market dialogue with supplier is a good solution.

There are number of approaches which can be taken to engage with suppliers:

– General meetings: buyer meets supplier at a networking event (such as trade show) or social media. These discussions are unlikely to deliver very specific information.

– One-to-one meetings: This will be most likely to deliver direct input into specification development and supplier-specific product development information.

– Group visits

– Meet-the-buyer events

– Formal negotiations or competitive

The answer for this QUESTION should be One-to-one meeting.

Reference: CIPS study guide page 83-84

LO 2, AC 2.1