MRO Today - Tasks, teams and turnarounds

Tasks, teams and turnarounds

This issue, editor Paul Arnold catches up with Joel Thomas, chairman of the National Association of Purchasing Management's MRO Group.

The group, founded more than a decade ago, includes nearly 1,000 purchasing and supply chain leaders focused on MRO procurement issues.

Arnold: As the leader of a small but very influential group, you wear a lot of hats. What's your most important role?
Thomas: "Educator. New people coming into the MRO buying function have a knowledge need. They have to know the basics. But it's not just new people. This area is changing dynamically. Electronic commerce and supply chain management are just two examples. I want our members to be
exposed to the best training and resources available."

Arnold: What's the biggest challenge facing purchasing and supply chain professionals today?
Thomas: "The standard joke is, 'We don't have problems, we have opportunities.' The job of the buyer and the way we buy is changing so rapidly. This is the mother of opportunities. If we get on board and push and make these changes, we'll really look good. If we drag our feet, we won't. So, the challenge is getting up to speed and keeping up with something that's changing every day. What we did two years ago is out of date. Who knows what we'll be doing two years from now?"

Arnold: More and more companies are driving MRO product specification and purchasing capabilities down to the end-user level. Procurement cards, intranet catalogs and online marketplaces are tools available to non-purchasing folks. Is this trend decreasing the importance of the purchasing pro?
Thomas: "Placing orders is a clerical task. If you place an order, you're not doing anything strategic. You're placing an order. Purchasing folks need to focus on the things that manage the supply chain, like choosing which suppliers to use. Supply chain management is not letting end-users go to any Web site and buy whatever they want. It's organizing and focusing these opportunities into selective suppliers with selective agreements that reduce our total cost. If you negotiate an integrated supply contract and put in the proper e-commerce approach, there's no need for purchasing to place an order. The end-user should do it. But they're placing the order, not strategically buying goods."

Arnold: If you were the MRO purchasing manager for a plant, name a handful of companies you'd most want to benchmark.
Thomas: "John Deere, Harley-Davidson, Federal Express, General Electric. And, there are a lot of mid-sized companies, too - Pella Windows, Square D. Innovation isn't confined to the biggest."

Arnold: Give me your game plan for getting the most out of suppliers. What's critical?
Thomas: "Improve your relationships. That's not done online. Online buying will never totally replace the personal contact that must take place between buyer and seller. Buyers and sellers must come together with mutual goals for improving their operations. For years, we've had the opportunity to buy through catalogs, but we bought from people who knew our needs and helped us fill those needs. That's the future, also, except the people who fill our needs will use the best in technology to do that."

Arnold: What do you believe are the keys to turning an ordinary purchasing team into an extraordinary one?
Thomas: "Sense of direction. Common goals. An agreed-upon vision of where they are and where they need to be. An atmosphere that rewards them for working together to accomplish things. Recognition and achievement."

Arnold: If you could have anyone in the world provide the keynote speech at the 2001 MRO Group conference, who'd it be?
Thomas: "(Author/consultant) Tom Peters. I thought he gave a tremendous talk at the NAPM International Conference this year. There are bigger names, but I want someone who knows a thing or two about MRO."

This article appeared in the October/November 2000 issue of MRO Today magazine. Copyright, 2000.