Efficient purchasing in make-to-order supply chains

Make-to-order supply chains which manufacture investment goods consist of m any successive business units, such as sales, purchasing, manufacturing and assembly. Typically in this kind of business the share of purchased compon ents of the product costs is 70-80%. Therefore, efficient purchasing is ess ential for the make-to-order companies. Traditionally, not adequate attenti on has been paid to the purchasing. This has resulted in bureaucratic and i nefficient purchasing operations. (C) 1999 Published by Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.