Saji Pulimayil Idiculla, purchasing manager at the Grand Millennium Hotel, Dubai reveals his personal procurement philosophy
How long have you been in hotel purchasing?
I started my career in the hospitality industry when I joined the purchasing department in the late nineties. Then in 2006 I got a chance to join the Grand Millennium Hotel, Dubai as part of the pre-opening team, a position I still hold today, which adds up to more that 12 years of purchasing experience in hospitality.
What products are you on the lookout for?
Grand Millennium Dubai is a property that mixes a very modern and contemporary style, look and feel and I have to always look out for the product that best fit the hotel image.
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What area of your hotel are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of the effort that goes into procuring products across a range of departments that all fit the quality of the Grand Millennium Hotel, Dubai. This involves massive exposure and interaction with all the departments across the hotel starting from small items such as everyday office stationery up to engineering generators and equipment, as all the requested supplies have to fit the hotel’s standards of performance.
Tell us about one of your most successful deals?
One part of the purchasing department is to review all annual contracts to make sure that the rates and the quality provided are the best possible on the market, and the hotel is retaining the best quality for its guests and team members.
Due to one annual review we came across a contract for our printing product supplier as we had a fixed cost to be incurred independent of printing products usage. I then went ahead and performed a thorough study to calculate the usage of each printing product and calculated our usage versus this fixed cost. Using that study I was able to amend the contract to a variable cost based on our actual usage of printing products and this change saved 60% of the cost for the hotel.
What does a supplier have to do to impress you?
The thing that impresses me most as a purchasing manager is when suppliers are honest in their deals and show the utmost transparency in their dealings with the hotel. Suppliers must always make sure that they deliver on their promises, such as order quality and the expected delivery period, as these are two crucial basics for all suppliers.
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