Terry LaRock, Silicon Valley Bank
Terry LaRock is the VP Group Manager for
Purchasing, Travel and Assets for Silicon Valley Bank, located in Santa Clara, CA. Silicon Valley Bank provides corporate banking and venture capital services. In the last nine years, Terry has worked for two different companies, and he implemented
Bellwether Purchasing Software at both of them.
After Terry came to work for Silicon Valley Bank, he began installing the Purchasing,
Requisitioning, Quotations, Inventory and Receiving modules. Since the entire purchasing process was still on a paper system, he had his work cut out for him. Terry says, “ The need was clearly there, and my previous experience with Bellwether had been a good one. None of our Purchasing Department’s employees had ever used an
automated system, and some had their doubts that the system would deliver what it promised. Because of Bellwether’s ease of
implementation and ease of use, however, they were soon won over. Now, they are all strong users.”
The bank began building its vendor files in December 2002. They are now completely paperless and even have their suppliers set up so they can e-mail PO and RFQ documents directly to them in PDF format.
Implementing Paperless Requisitions
Terry stated, “We researched our environment and found that 95% of the orders came from administration departments and IT groups. That showed us where to start implementing the Requisitions module. Electronic requisitions now flow through Purchasing, and the requisition approval process is handled automatically by the Bellwether approval process. If we find missing information on a requisition or if a requisition has been rejected, we can look back through the Bellwether system and know where to go – no more paper shuffling to see where the requisitions. We really use the Requisition Status Inquiry, the Order History and Requisition History reports.”
Other Modules
Terry says the Purchasing Department benefits from all the modules they have purchased. The Quotation module was recently a big help. “Not too long ago,” stated Terry, “our bank was going through a ‘re-brand- ing’ process. We needed to get quotes from a lot of vendors for supplying stationery and envelopes to our thirty-two locations across the United States. The Quotations module was great for receiving quotes from suppliers. One of our buyers observed Bellwether in action and said, ‘Wow, it really works!’”
Advice to Users
If you are ready to implement Bellwether Purchasing Software within your organization, Terry says to start with a small test group to ensure your objectives and commitments are met. “But,” he adds, “even people who have had bad experiences with different software will get on board. Bellwether Purchasing Software will put their fears away in no time because it really does work!”
