Steady Progression and New Possibilities

摘要

Purchasing is a vital function of any business. Purchased materials and services represent more than half of the product costs for most manufacturing industries and are even higher for wholesale and retail companies, sometimes exceeding 90 percent (Joyce 2006). As more manufacturers move to a "core competency" strategy, more component manufacturing is outsourced to suppliers in order to help those firms become primarily assembly operations. In some cases, they even outsource the entire manufacturing function to contract manufacturers, making it possible for employees to better concentrate on product, brand development, and marketing.