Catalogs
There are also differences in the catalogs, and these are exactly what we will take a closer look at in this chapter. In general, however, it can be said that a catalog includes all the goods or services that can be standardized. In other words, everything that can be determined exactly.
The best examples are, as already mentioned, stationery for everyday office life, such as pens, highlighters, or notes. This is often referred to as „Low Risk / Low Value Items“. So, items that cost little and at the same time carry a low risk if you buy either too much or too little of it.
The Low Risk / Low Value approach should also be accompanied by a high number of transactions. So, the items are often ordered. Unfortunately, there is no number as to when „often“ is often and this has to be defined in every company. After all, a company with 10,000 employees will need more highlighters than a company with 7 employees. And accordingly, the order frequency is also different.
Now we have Low Risk/Low Value/High Transactions. Is that enough for a catalog article? Almost. Because it should also be given that the article is standardized. So, the ballpoint pen always looks the same, is of a certain brand and always has a blue refill.
Direct RFQ
We stick to the example of the supplier with the predefined and contractually fixed portfolio paired with negotiated prices and delivery times. We have already clarified that your business partner will receive an offer from the supplier every time and then transfer it into an order and then send it back to the supplier.Wouldn’t it be great if you could automate some of it a little more? And that is possible. Many providers of ordering software have some kind of collaboration tool for operational purchasing. Since the names of individual companies are not to be advertised here, let us just call it Direct RFQ?Why Direct? Because it is a set of predefined suppliers for a specific product group. Why RFQ? Because it is a price inquiry for a specifically defined (service) portfolio.
Preferred Supplier
The preferred supplier in the sense of a buying channel is a kind of „resterampe“. Here we have a supplier with whom we would like to work more intensively, but could not agree on a buying channel, such as catalog or „Direct RFQ“ (we will get to that shortly, just read on).
It can also be said that ordering with a preferred supplier is about a manual PO, but it should at least be placed with a supplier with whom a few basic agreements have been made.
This brings us to the definition, which should contain at least a few key points. With the preferred supplier, there is a large number of points that may or may not be contractually regulated.
As a minimum requirement for a preferred supplier, we simply put the fact that we have agreed on a more intensive cooperation. Ideally, this is also recorded in writing and is reflected in fixed prices or a defined product portfolio (or ideally both). So I can say that the contractual basis is my general terms and conditions (or those of the supplier) and a negotiated price list is used.