Co-operative Buying | Nature

ABSTRACT IT is now generally recognised in large-scale business that considerable economies can be obtained through the establishment of a central purchasing department, and in the Second

Report of the Committee on the Standardisation and Simplification of the Requirements of Local Authorities (H.M. Stationery Office. Qd. net), a similar policy is urged on local authorities.

The larger local authorities are recommended to co-ordinate the buying of their various departments while smaller authorities are advised to co-operate with other similar authorities or with

larger neighbours. Coordinated or co-operative buying is, however, of much reduced value if it is not preceded or accompanied by a fair measure of standardisation and simplification whereby

unnecessary variations of type, size and quality can be eliminated. Already the County Councils of Kent, London and the West Riding of Yorkshire have adopted complete centralisation of the

buying functions in a supplies department which is independent of other departments; while the City Councils of Birmingham, Liverpool and Manchester have partially centralised the buying

functions in those departments which are the largest users of the particular commodity. Manchester City Council saved £17,000 in 1933-34 by determining the best grade of fuel for the heating

apparatus at its institutions (thereby halving the number of grades in use), and buying its fuel in bulk and by specification. The Committee strongly emphasises the point that bulk purchase

if it is accompanied by standardisation and simplification enables better goods to be bought with less money, but that bulk purchase cannot be operated with maximum success unless the

requirements of the buying unit are large enough to command large-scale buyers' terms and to employ experienced staff. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview

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CITE THIS ARTICLE Co-operative Buying. _Nature_ 136, 428–429 (1935). https://doi.org/10.1038/136428c0 Download citation * Issue Date: 14 September 1935 * DOI:

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