Stop duplicate purchasing before calling it a supplier problem

Urgency can make the same order twice

On a busy construction site, a supervisor asks for materials while the office separately follows up a shortage. If neither can see the other's order, both may buy. During a turnaround, that avoidable purchase ties up money the business needs elsewhere. Check whether repeated urgent buying reflects a real supply problem or a communication gap.

Trace one recent duplication

Pick a suspected example and follow the requests, approvals, order numbers and deliveries. Ask what each person knew at the time. Avoid treating the exercise as a hunt for someone to blame. The important finding is where the information stopped travelling, because that is the point a simple purchasing control may need to address.

Keep the transaction trail visible

Business.gov.au includes stock-related expense records in its record-keeping guidance. Link the purchase request, order and delivery record so the team can see what has already been committed. A shared status list can be enough if it is maintained. The system needs to distinguish requested, ordered, received and cancelled items rather than presenting every line as equally current.

Source: business.gov.au: Record keeping

Use a clear hypothetical example

Imagine a hypothetical site requesting twenty brackets. Accounts orders them, but the supervisor cannot see confirmation and buys another twenty locally. The second purchase may have been intended to prevent delay, yet it creates excess stock. Establishing a visible confirmation step would address this particular failure more directly than demanding a blanket reduction in every supplier's price.

Deal with surplus on its actual terms

Check whether the extra goods can be used appropriately or returned under the supplier's terms. Include any return or transport charge in the comparison. Do not assume a refund is available, or shift stock to another job without checking its requirements. Keep any expected credit separate from money already received when updating the cash position.

Set ownership before the next urgent request

Nominate who can place an order and how an urgent backup purchase is authorised when that person is unavailable. Make status updates quick enough to be used on site. Review actual duplicate purchases after the change. A turnaround benefits from specific waste removed from the system, not from a purchasing rule that looks tidy but is routinely bypassed.