In the Purchase & Supply Chain departments, no day is the same. Everything you would expect from this department is done here: requesting quotations, comparing prices and ordering products on time is daily business. The teams are also involved in Research & Development projects in order to be involved in a timely manner and to be able to influence the front-end regarding parts and price. The lines of communication with other departments - including Project Preparation, Sales, Customer Service and Finance - are short.

At Voortman, we invest in sustainable partnerships. Therefore, making long-term agreements with suppliers and managing these relationships is an essential part of this department's work. These relationships are especially important because even in a difficult market we want to get the parts supplied that are needed to build our machines.

The department works with different buyers, all of whom have their own tasks. Where one buyer deals with partnership contracts and meets with reputable parties, another buyer looks into further agreements on cooperation about quality, packaging and prices. Our buyers also make sure that all parts come in and are processed in SAP, are involved in the development of new machines and, together with the rest of the team, consider which supplier will supply the products. The department also employs Supply Chain Engineers and Material Management specialists. Together they ensure a good balance between production control and planning, inventory management and material handling. Another important task of our Supply Chain Engineers is to carry out optimization projects focused on our Supply Chain, for which they use data and dashboards.