This module specifies the skills and knowledge required to effectively apply the concepts, principles and techniques which underpin the purchasing function in modern, efficient organisations. It will explore how the purchasing function contributes to the achievement of the organisation’s objectives. Learners will appreciate the relationship between the buyer and the supplier and identify how the organisation ensures that regular quantities and quality of goods and services are purchased in the most cost effective way. It also stipulates wider issues in relation to the purchase-supply relationship and how corporate social responsibility is affecting the way that organisations do business in a manufacturing industry.