Did you know you’re urgent day-to-day routine effects your purchases? Your urgency helps tasks but leaves you rushing and lowering your purchasing criteria. Often price is your main objective. As long as you have the cheapest price you’re happy. Right?

Being “cheap” cost you more than you think. Rushing your buying process and only shopping for the best price you’re missing out on quality and value. Rushing when purchasing makes you an emotional buyer and that can cost you tons of money in this game.

Create yourself purchasing standards.

Here are 5 reasons why purchasing standards will change your life.

Keeps You on Target

When you purchase on emotion, you purchase with what you “think” is the best decision. Hormones play with your mind.

Emotions will overrule your best long-term decision.

Creating a purchasing standard, you’ll commit yourself to overall excellence. You’ll avoid making fast, emotional decisions that lead you to heartache and pain.

Helps Avoid Scammers

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, aircraft component scammers are active and ready to take your time and money. It’s a fact of life.

One of the best ways to avoid scammers is with a purchasing standard. When you set standards you create a blueprint for excellence. You create an ideal world. A preferred supplier persona.

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More Focused on Total Cost of Ownership

Direct cost and lead time is how you make your decisions. Both of these are incredibly important but so is the total cost of ownership. Once you set your purchasing standards, you’ll have a guide that helps you make the best overall decision. Direct costs are often used as a vanity metric. Total cost of ownership is your primary metric for purchasing excellence.

Reduce Processing Costs

Processing costs are a part of the total cost of ownership but they play a critical role here.

Orders being processed are often followed by a huge productivity slump. After an RFQ (request for quote) is created, competing quotes are received, the order is placed and issues resolved. Productive time is literally flushed down the toilet.

Once you have your purchasing standards created, you’ll reduce time and money processing orders. You’ll have a fluid process to go to every time.

Better Decisions

As orders are being placed, you’ll make better decisions on what components to purchase. You’ll be faster at solving problems as they pop up.

You live in aviation. Issues happen but solving them fast and with least financial impact is critical. Your purchasing standards will help guide you through this process. It’ll tell you how to handle such problems.

I find that most problems are unique as a standalone issue, but they all follow the same decisions making process.

Creating purchasing standards for your aircraft components will help save you time and money over the life of your purchases. It’s their guide to you, to be your point of reference in times of difficulty.

First start by working with a partner who embodies everything you would want in an ideal vendor. They reply to you fast, they have what you want, when you want it. They accept problems and solve them not leaving you to figure it out all alone. That’s an ideal vendor. A true partner.

Once you have that, start by creating your purchasing standards on the ideals they represent. Simple!