Procurement management is a process carried out by a project manager that requires them to collaborate with the purchasing department to determine the most optimal vendor for any particular provision. A few essential requirements for project procurement is to have an adequate idea of the project’s evaluation criteria, know the project’s spending limits, properly conduct audits at the vendor facility, and source solicitation. The evaluation criteria most notably takes into account financial factors such as the project’s budget, a vendor’s costs with respect to materials and labor, and consent from management to proceed. Audits on the other hand mainly requires a PM to physically arrive on-site to a vendor facility and either undergo an inspection or be guided through a tour to ensure the vendor’s standards match that of the project company. Another important aspect of procurement is source solicitation, in which vendors write up proposal documents that displays conformance to company expectations. An example of this at my company is for a supplier of bioreactor cell bags to provide tightly sealed supplies that do not exhibit any leakage of cellular content. Failure to do so, as indicated in the solicitation proposal, will require the vendor company to compensate the project company in all lost products that ultimately come at the expense of a patient.

Alternative sourcing is also an important topic that comes up in this course when it comes to establishing supply sources. What is an advantage to having 2-3 vendors for a Class III medical device project as opposed to just one? On the other hand, what are the disadvantages of having too many vendors? The PMBOK Guidebook covers other topics in procurement such as procurement performance reviews and a procurement statement of work. How do these terms relate to the success of source selection?