According to a monthly survey of purchasing managers, orders for exports are down and orders for imports are up.

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The purchasing managers index says new orders are poor.

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An index based on purchasing managers' views about new orders, output, employment and the like fell in November to its lowest level since it was started in 1992.

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ACT, and a centralised global purchasing body to co-ordinate the orders.

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American factory purchasing managers reported a sharp jump in export orders in October and a drop in imports.

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At the moment, says Koji Susa, head of purchasing, Matsushita's factories dispatch parts orders once or twice a month.

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In October 2004 Ji and a purchasing director flew to Shanghai to line up orders for Wal-Mart in time for Thanksgiving weekend.

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Purchasing managers in manufacturing firms also report mounting orders.

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As part of its ABC programme, for example, ABB, a Swiss-Swedish power company, divided its purchasing activity into things like negotiating with suppliers, updating the database, issuing purchase orders and handling com-plaints.

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The Bank of Scotland's latest Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) suggested a second successive monthly drop in new business orders.

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An increasing number of orders that include her product have very high transaction totals, suggesting customers are purchasing other products the company sells.

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