Procurement and Purchasing Professionals Association

Procurement Focus - IT, Real Estate and Out-Sourced Services

Join NLPA

NLPA is the world’s largest Procurement Association with over 196,482 purchasing professionals from around the world. As a member, you’ll receive exclusive access to valuable educational material, member-only webinars, essential Procurement Templates, Community Access, Express Courses, and much more.

Join NLPA

Get Certified

The NLPA is the only place where you can access the globally recognized SPSM^®, SPSM2^® and SPSM3^TM Certifications. These certifications provide powerful insight to improve procurement skills and the performance of any procurement team.

Get Certified

Training Courses

Our self-guided online learning courses give you first-hand access into proven techniques that have been used to deliver measurable results in the real world. Each course is designed to empower Procurement professionals to master today’s most critical purchasing processes.

Purchasing Professionals: Want to Increase Your Value?

The SPSM certification is recognized worldwide and provides prestige to those who have earned it. The SPSM courses provide valuable insight into the procurement profession to empower you to improve your career, boost your earning potential, and acquire the most sought after procurement skills.

In addition to adding the coveted acronym next to your name, getting your SPSM certification gives you exclusive access to the NLPA library of Procurement resources including templates, resources, on-demand webinars, slide decks, and more.

The SPSM Certification will:

Increase your earning potential
Make your resume/CV stand out to hiring managers
Give you valuable skills and resources to improve job performance

So, which online purchasing courses or programs are right for you?

Take this brief quiz to begin your journey to earning more, becoming more impactful in your procurement role, and gaining the skills you need to excel.

Test Your Skills

"I've learned a bit with each class but all of the material presented in this class was new to me so I learned a great deal. I'm in talks now with a company that does much of its business overseas and this class will prove to be invaluable. All of the courses have been great. I anxiously await the next one!"

Basics of Smart International Procurement Review

Basics of Smart International Procurement Review

Karen M Bushnell, MBA, SPSM
Purchasing/Facilities Manager
Jacksonville, Florida, USA

"Executing a Global Sourcing Strategy is a useful course for any sourcing professional who interacts with suppliers outside of his/her own country. While it undoubtedly covers information which seasoned purchasers would have learned by experience, it also offers a fairly detailed examination of the impact of varying cultures in business interaction. Incoterms are aptly and simply explained, consideration is given to risks which are inherent in international procurement and the lessons offer useful information about supplier evaluation and contract monitoring as well. Some of the information is specific to regulations within the USA but as a national of Barbados I still found the course to be relevant and worthwhile."

Katharine Caddle, SPSM
Procurement Officer
Barbados

"We have seen SPSM as a change management tool to support our people to go on the journey to world-class procurement."

-Robert Semethy, SPSM, SPSM2, SPSM3
Chief Procurement Officer – Erste Group

"I have worked in the procurement field for almost 30 years and I felt it was time I received some professional training to complement all my years of experience. NLPA's Senior Professional in Supply Management^® Program was just the program for me. Even with all my experience, I learned something new in every single course. The value this program has brought will benefit both me and my employer for years to come, and for that I will be forever grateful. Thank you NLPA!"

Catherine Shaw, SPSM, SPSM2, SPSM3
Purchasing Manager
California, USA

"Professional Purchasing Project Management is one of the best online courses that I have undertaken. The entire module is very well structured with excellent flow and explanations. With the number of projects that we all work in the corporate sector parallely, this is a excellent course which gives an insight and learning on managing resources, timelines while we strive to meet the project deadlines. Microsoft Project is a highly powerful tool, which, if used effectively, will lead to successful tracking of purchasing projects. I would highly recommend the usage of this tool to manage various projects. I would recommend my fellow colleagues in the industry to subscribe to this course and help manage their projects in a very professional manner."

Anshuman Mishra, SPSM
Assistant Vice President, Analytics, Supply Chain Services - GENPACT India
Bangalore, India

"As a Lean Six Sigma Certified Professional, I found that this course is tremendously on target and simplifies complex issues in the Supply Chain. World-class and professionally put together, this course shows the Next Level Purchasing Association's ability to produce Fortune 100-caliber classes."

David Millington, SPSM, SPSM2
Director of Purchasing and Process Management
New Jersey, United States of America

"The Exemplary Supply Chain Social Responsibility course helped me not just understand the challenges associated with the emerging problems associated with sustainability, globalization and social responsibility, but also showed me how to convince stakeholders to take action and not just run operations 'as usual.'

In addition, this course inspired me to make a difference; after completion of this course I feel more empowered and motivated to contribute in 'reasonable sourcing' and developing a more social responsible supply chain."

Ervin Valach, SPSM3
Strategic Purchaser - Zapadoslovenska Energetika (AZE)
Slovakia

"This was an excellent course and something I could take to my job immediately and put to work. The information like Pivot tables and VLOOKUP are things that are helping me daily with sourcing and quoting decisions."

Troy Emehiser, SPSM
Senior Buyer
Phoenix, Arizona