Materials Procurement / Supply Chain
Materials Procurement / Supply Chain: IAMB, LLC has extensive experience within the supply chain sector. IAMB LLC’s procurement process is structured into four pillars: strategic procurement, transactional procurement, technical procurement, and data management.
Strategic Foreign Materials Procurement
IAMB, LLC has the capability of foreign materials acquisitions (FMA) of equipment and parts. Based on client needs and requirements, IAMB will structure the procurement method accordingly. This could range from basic foreign material acquisitions to a fully non-attributable material acquisitions solution. IAMB, LLC has the full capability of FMA that removes any USG and/or US signatures to the purchase of foreign materials. This includes foreign company setup, foreign banking, foreign legal services, foreign warehousing, foreign logistics, and foreign documented staff. Areas of acquisition include Asian, Africa, Europe, Middle East and Russia. Details of this service can be provided separately.
Transactional Procurement
For transactional procurement of goods, IAMB LLC strategic team focuses on establishing and managing key supply contracts to maximize leverage by commodity and/or manufacturer. With its strategic partners, IAMB LLC has significant leverage when seeking preferred pricing. Historical spend and, where available forecasted spend, is analyzed to create a demand profile. The structure, pricing, and terms of contracts vary depending on the commodity, the manufacturer and the service levels required. For transactional commodity-based and non-specific manufacturer contracts, the strategic buyer competitively bids the demand profile along with service and quality requirements to preapproved suppliers and vendor which IAMB have preferred relationships with.
The transaction team focuses on processing the purchase request and creating the corresponding purchase orders. If the material being purchased is listed in the IAMB, LLC parts catalog with the supplier and price predetermined, the order to the supplier is created automatically. The transactional buyer reviews such orders to confirm all conditions are met and then releases the order to the supplier. If the material is not in the catalog, priority to fulfill the order is given to those suppliers with whom a strategic contract exists. If material is not covered by a strategic contract the transactional buyer will execute a competitive bid. The standard process is to obtain 3 bids from qualified suppliers. The transactional buyer can purchase outside a strategic contract to meet delivery requirements.
Technical Procurement
The IAMB, LLC technical team focuses on the form, fit, and function of parts to identify alternate equivalent materials. This process involves coordination with not only the buyers but also with IAMB engineers. The technical team, consisting of engineers and part specialists, prepares necessary documentation to submit to the client for review and approval.
Data Management
The data team focuses on maintaining the integrity of master data and the client’s parts catalog. Master data consists of all pertinent material details such as unique item number, global item number, part status, description, manufacturer, manufacturer part number, standard lead time, and stock status. The unique item number is specific to a single manufacturer and manufacturer part number. The global item number is assigned to all unique item numbers that are equivalent in terms of form, fit and function. This drives standardization and improves leveragability when negotiating contracts.