Framework agreements in purchasing: managing supply and price risks

Framework agreements in purchasing practice

• Strategic purchasing, framework agreements as a purchasing lever.
• Managing delivery risks, ensuring delivery reliability, cushioning price fluctuations.
• Risk management requirements.
• Use of successive delivery contract, supplier framework agreement, service contract, quantity contract depending on the market/supply situation.
• Letter of Intent, breaches of duty, commercial procedures for day-to-day business.
• Structure of a framework agreement, sample contracts and commercial explanation.

Designing framework agreements in an economically sensible way, commercial framework conditions

• Legal basis: Where is what regulated? Regulations regarding the conclusion of individual contracts.
• Commercial framework conditions: Using balance sheet analysis and costing knowledge in framework contract negotiations.
• Checklist: Contents of a framework agreement.
• Negotiating and concluding framework agreements.
• Delivery/acceptance obligations.
• Specifications, specification changes, value analysis, design to cost, fit-for-purpose.

Effectively incorporate purchasing conditions

• Inclusion of the terms and conditions of purchase, exclusion of the terms of delivery.
• Missing/deviating order confirmation: What now?
• Operational and tactical processes in purchasing for contract management.

Framework agreements and liability regulations

• Important legal bases and commercial consequences: Warranty, default, notification of defects.
• How are liability limitations on the part of suppliers to be handled?

Securing rights in framework agreements: quality assurance agreements, product liability, compensation & co.

• Quality assurance agreements, quality guarantees, product liability.
• Incoming goods inspection, inspection/complaint obligations.
• Regulation of contractual penalties, limitation periods, places of performance.
• Compensation, expenses.

Control and limit terms in framework agreements

• Fixed term, automatic renewal; cancel framework agreements.
• The warning letter: risks, form, access.
• Exclusivities.
• (Post-)contractual non-competition clauses.
• Confidentiality obligations, know-how protection.

Other contractual elements: from compliance regulations to specifications and requirements specifications