From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I need to design an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for procurement of goods and services and inventory management.

We have the Factory Manager and the Purchasing Manager who are more interested in establishing their supremacy.

We need to design a clear cut process that supports our systems.

Response:

The Factory Manager and the Purchasing Manager are only doing what you told them to do. The Factory Manager is to produce a high quality product as efficiently and profitably as possible. The Purchasing Manager is to purchase raw materials and services that meet the minimum specification at the lowest possible cost.

Sometimes those agendas are in conflict. This is actually normal.

However, it is your responsibility to integrate these two agendas, meet their essential requirements and orchestrate the solutions where there are differences.

1. Convene a committee. Make it clear that it is YOUR committee and that while you are asking for input and analysis, YOU will make the final decisions as to what will be included or excluded from the SOP.
2. The committee will contain three or five individuals. The Factory Manager, the Purchasing Manager and an additional Administrative Manager at their level. If the Factory Manager and the Purchasing Manager each need an assistant, then you have five on the committee.
3. The Factory Manager and the Purchasing Manager will be tasked with separately creating a list of requirements and submitting them at a meeting (without you) to be conducted by the Administrative Manager. The Administrative Manager will be tasked with collecting those requirements, holding a discussion and writing the first draft of the SOP.
4. You will review the first draft and submit your written comments back to the committee so the Administrative Manager can complete the final draft.
5. You convene a meeting to congratulate the team for producing the SOP.
6. Schedule a review meeting for 90 days to review how the SOP has worked and solicit input for additional changes. The SOP should be calendared for review every 6-12 months.

Keep us updated. -TF