levo

Operations Management

Purchasing, suppliers and methods of stock control

  • 3 things to know
  • Component 1

Overview

Purchasing in a business, difference between single sourcing and multiple sourcing and stock control.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

How does single sourcing differ from multiple sourcing?

Key term

What is purchasing in a business?

Key term

Why is purchasing important to a manufacturer's costs?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    What is purchasing in a business?

    Model answer

    Purchasing is the buying of the materials, components and services a business needs. The department negotiates price, quality and delivery terms with suppliers.

  2. 2

    Why is purchasing important to a manufacturer's costs?

    Model answer

    Bought-in materials are often the largest single cost a manufacturer carries. A small percentage saved on materials moves profit substantially.

  3. 3

    Give four factors a business considers when choosing a supplier.

    Model answer

    A business weighs price, quality, reliability of delivery and the credit terms offered. Flexibility and ethical standards matter as well.

  4. 4

    Why can reliability matter more than price when choosing a supplier?

    Model answer

    A cheap supplier who delivers late halts production and loses the business its customers. The saving on price is wiped out by the cost of that delay.

  5. 5

    What is the difference between single sourcing and multiple sourcing?

    Model answer

    Single sourcing buys everything of one type from one supplier. Multiple sourcing spreads the same purchases across several suppliers.

  6. 6

    Give one advantage of single sourcing and one of multiple sourcing.

    Model answer

    Single sourcing builds a close relationship and earns larger bulk discounts. Multiple sourcing protects the business if one supplier fails.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Enterprise, Business Plans and Location
Markets, Demand and Market Research
Business Structure and Sources of Finance
Revenue, Costs and Break-Even

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

£240,000 by £120,000 gives 2.
dividedmultipliedadded

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

ASoftware produces a result from whatever data it is given.
BPoor data produces a confident but wrong answer.
CSystems are also costly to buy, maintain and staff.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Capacity is the maximum output possible.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Operations Management, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.