
274 Principles of Supply Chain Management
mainstream of operations, such as testing and materials handling, to strategic consider-
ations, such as product design, and facility location. The purchasing function also involves
buying services less visible to day-to-day operations but essential to the well-being of the
workforce, such as supplying health benet and retirement programs.
While purchasing services is growing in importance and magnitude, the resources to
manage them are not. Consequently, organizations can improve their services purchas-
ing in terms of cost and value, by effectively dedicating more resources to services pur-
chasing. Dev ...