“Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives.” William A. Foster

According to Heizer and Render for operations management to be effective, it is important that an organization has a mission and strategy to achieve their goals (Heizer & Render, p. 31). In order for the operations strategy to function properly and ‘deliver the goods’, the finances should be an integral part of the strategy. Depending on the size of the organization, the availability of funds plays an important role on the operations of the company.

The four main investment appraisal methods are accounting rate of return (ARR), payback period (PP), net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). Businesses use these methods to screen investment proposals in order to apply proper methods of evaluation.

Not only SMEs experience problems with their suppliers in the current economic environment, but also organisations with a global presence. Being a Procurement Professional today means that you have to ensure the delivery of goods and services required by your internal customers, but this obviously means you have to consider the health and well-being of your suppliers - especially those most critical to the success of your organisation. 

Our organization uses a supplier relationship management program (SRM) to assist with the evaluation and rating of suppliers for delivery of products and services worldwide. The SRM is part of our eSourcing Strategy offered to our clients, which offers global sourcing teams a platform to enter their experiences with suppliers. The SRM process is designed for the purpose to not only administer supplier master data, but also to categorize suppliers into three different groups, namely normal, select and preferred suppliers. These categories depend on the total annual purchasing value at the supplier, as well as the rating.