Who is a purchasing officer or buyer or merchandiser and what do they do? The task of the purchasing officer or buyer is to ensure the purchase and delivery of necessary goods or material for the institution in question.
What are the activities of the purchasing officer or buyer or merchandiser job? Ensuring delivery of material, components and products in the required quantities, quality, variety and within the time limits – settle the requests of other departments regarding goods needed – investigate demand, select suppliers according to demand, price offers, method of transport, service offered and other conditions of sale – preparation of contracts, checking invoices, acting on warranty claims and claims for replacement, sometimes including control of the fulfilment of the conditions contained in the contract – keeping a record of orders and contracts – attending to problems with suppliers (e.g. late deliveries, bad quality etc.) – keeping down expenditure on material, transport and storage – keeping records of goods purchased, keeping inventories – cooperation with the stores department, ensuring stock levels are maintained, replenishing stores according to demand – cooperation with the accounting department, checking on cash flow.
Where is it done and under what conditions? In offices or similar places, where the environment is relatively comfortable.
What tools/equipment do they use? Predominantly computers, current office equipment and supplies.
What do you need to succeed? You need to have completed a specialised secondary vocational education with a school leaving certificate (university entrance level), have the ability to work systematically, be precise, reliable, and able to deal with people.