Utility Purchasing & Materials Management (UPMM)

Utility Purchasing & Material Management (UPMM)

Certificate Program

TVPPA’s Utility Purchasing & Materials Management curriculum is designed for public power purchasing personnel. This course of study focuses on contracts, quality metrics, work order systems, negotiations, business strategies and utility case studies

Register

About this Certificate:

Topics Covered

- MRO
- Negotiations
- Order systems and processes
- Communication
- Contracts

Curriculum:

- Quantities, Quality, Pricing & Supplier Selection 
- Workorder, Inventory & Plant
- Negotiations & Contracts 
- Case Studies in Utility Purchasing

Additional Information:

Format: In Person
Duration: 7 days
Certificate Awarded: Attendees at the Purchasing & Materials Management conference who have recently completed the Purchasing & Materials Management certificate program will be recognized at the Purchasing & Materials Management conference and will receive their certificate at the conference. 

 

Individual Coursework

The USP Certificate program contains four modules.

Quantities, Quality, Pricing & Supplier Selection
2 Days: This class will examine the important aspects of the purchasing world and how it relates to local power companies here in the valley. Topics discussed will include, EOQ, OPM, the 5 Ws, MRO, centralization and decentralization, policies and procedures, ROP, SOE, contracts, negotiation, quality metrics, supplier selection and SPC.
Work order, Inventory & Plant
1 Day: This class will introduce you to the work order system and how it operates in a utility. Participants will see how the work order system processes impact each department of the utility and gain a better understanding of each other’s responsibilities. It is designed to give the participants a high-level overview of manual work order closing from the time a work order is approved until it is completed and its plant units and costs are closed.
Negotiations & Contracts
2 Days: Interpersonal skills and relationships are key to a diverse business strategy. In this class we will focus on how to use different personality traits to gain better strategies of communication within and outside our companies. With learning different traits and communication, we have a better understanding of how to control negotiations and contracts. Knowing that these two go hand-in-hand, we will learn new tactics, how to handle old tricks and what the law references in both of these scenarios.
Case Studies in Utility Purchasing
2 Days: Each participant will be asked to present their purchasing case study to the group during this class. Through the analysis and debate of real-life case studies participants will have the opportunity to review all cases and apply the principles introduced in class as well as their own experiences.

Not a member?

Join today to enjoy discounted pricing.
Explore Membership

The Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, Inc. is the nonprofit, regional service organization that represents the interests of consumer-owned electric utilities operating within the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) service area. TVPPA members include both municipal and electric cooperatives, and they serve more than 10 million people in 7 states.

General

Social

©2025 Tennessee Valley Public Power Association, Inc.