Three Best Practices for Procurement Processes

James Berlangero is an experienced supply management professional, having previously worked for Cushman & Wakefield and New York Homes & Community Renewal. Alongside his professional career, James Berlangero stays up to date on the developments in the industry, educating himself about the latest trends in software and hardware and procurement best practices.

When assessing procurement processes, there are a few best practices that have positive impacts on the overall cost-to-income ratio to make processes more efficient and reduce costs. Here a few best practices adopted by some top companies for their procurement processes:

1. Go digital - One of the best ways to bring your procurement processes into the modern era is to implement digital procurement technology. These tools can help eliminate some of the repetitive processes, streamlining them so that your team is freed up for more important tasks. These programs can handle tasks like purchasing orders and requests, invoice approvals, and analytics. Most can also be easily integrated into your financial software systems.

2. Improve accessibility - Keep all of your records accessible to all individuals on staff and available to those involved in purchasing decisions. This practice can make your overall procurement program more collaborative and integrated.

3. Optimize your inventory - The most successful organizations pay close attention to the specific amounts and items held in inventory because these companies know that more cost comes from holding unsold inventory than in purchasing more inventory. It is important for those involved in procurement management to ensure that the inventory is balanced so that companies don’t lose money in holding onto unused inventory.

A Brief History of Broadway in New York City

 

Procurement and contracting professional James Berlangero has worked within the supply chain industry since 1985 when he began as a senior buyer. Outside of his professional engagements, James Berlangero enjoys pursuing other interests, including participating in several sports and attending Broadway theater productions.

Commonly known as Broadway, this type of theater must take place within one of the 41 professional theaters containing 500 seats or more located in the theater district of Manhattan in New York City to be called a Broadway production. Broadway has a rather long history in the United States, beginning in the 1800s.

In 1750, Walter Murray and Thomas Keane opened a theater on Nassau Street, large enough to house around 280 theater patrons. It put on productions of Shakespearian plays and ballad operas, but theater in the city stopped with the advent of the Revolutionary War. In 1798, it resumed with the opening of The Park Theater, which seated nearly 2,000 people. More theaters soon followed, and Broadway began to develop in earnest. Broadway’s very first long-run musical was The Elves (1857), which ran for 50 performances, a very significant number for its time.

With changes to the city’s infrastructure and the development of rapid transit, more and more people were able to travel to the theater district in the early 1900s, stimulating its development. The 1900s also saw the addition of electric lights and displays outside the theaters, creating a great white display. This triggered the nickname ‘The Great White Way’ for the theater district. The oldest continually operating theater on Broadway today is the Lyceum Theater, built in 1903.

Requirements for Certified Purchasing Manager Recertification

For over 20 years, James Berlangero has been working in supply and contract management. Since 2007, James Berlangero has been an active member of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM), where he earned the Certified Purchasing Manager (CPM) certificate.

A certification program created by the largest non-profit organization for supply management professionals, CPM offers a recertification-only status for those already certified. Professionals with the CPM designation must be recertified every five years and comply with the only recertification requirement. During the certificate period, the applicant must earn at least 84 Continuing Education Hours (CEHs).

One-third of the CEHs may be earned with professional contributions. However, at least two-thirds must be educational with three categories – college courses, continuing education, and contributions to the profession. The applicant may take college courses or continuing education or taught them.

To prove their CEHs, which are counted hour-for-hour, the class, seminar, or conference must be one hour long, be documentable, and related to the applicant’s position. The documents required can come in the form of a letter or certificate of completion from the sponsor of the continuing education episode.