Every year, we purchase $4.5 billion of raw materials and equipment for GE Plastics. Like every part of GE Plastics, we're using the Internet to change how we do business. Accelerating the buying process. Taking out costs. Saving money. And even though the competition has only just begun to compete on our level, the light-speed of business means we can't be lulled into a false security - and we can't forget that there are still people in the equation. The world is more than our stage - it's our shopping mall. Sourcing/Purchasing is a dynamic division, externally focused on the global chemical and petrochemical industries. Thanks in part to the internet and a highly competitive market, our relationships with suppliers have changed dramatically. Where once we rarely looked beyond the U.S. or Germany for our material needs, now we get the same quality at better prices through countries like Russia, China and India. But one thing hasn't changed: building solid business relationships with suppliers is still our most important goal. It's just a question of getting the best information. Most of our days are unstructured, which is fine for a group of self-starters. We have to literally scour the world - via internet, media, phone and more - to find the right information and ensure that GEP is getting the best deals. And once the reliability, price and legal issues are squared away, the high point of any day is closing a deal. After all, we are a culture of celebration: a celebration of results... and rewards. It's hard to measure results in days. It's not what gets accomplished in one day, but in a culmination of effort given around the clock. It doesn't take any particular background to succeed here, although most of us are from a buyer or sourcing background, or from another manufacturing or technology division. When it comes to benchmarking our employees, getting the lowest cost from quality suppliers and meeting specifications is key. Most important is ensuring that GEP suppliers enforce Six Sigma Capability - after all, our products are only as good as what goes into them. One of the biggest challenges our employees face is educating our suppliers about this, especially since we're the customer. Search for the current career opportunities in Sourcing/Purshasing. back to top