A major player in industrial manufacturing, sourcing a wide range of components and raw materials globally, was facing significant challenges in its procurement organization:

• Lack of strategic alignment across purchasing categories, leading to fragmented supplier relationships and suboptimal costs.
• Over-reliance on certain suppliers, increasing risk exposure and dependency.
• Absence of a structured approach to supplier evaluation, segmentation, and negotiation strategies.
• No clear visibility on total spend by category and supplier, limiting the company’s ability to leverage economies of scale.

The leadership’s goal: deploy a procurement strategy that secures supply continuity, optimizes costs, and supports growth ambitions.

CoreChain conducted a detailed spend analysis and procurement capability assessment.

Data collected:

• Supplier base mapping by category, spend, and geography.
• Historical purchasing data (volume, price trends, payment terms, delivery performance).
• Supplier risk profiles (single sourcing, geographical exposure, financial health).
• Procurement process maturity assessment (from sourcing to contract management).

• Strategic sourcing methodology (7-step sourcing process).
• Kraljic matrix for supplier segmentation (strategic, leverage, bottleneck, routine).
• Total cost of ownership (TCO) analysis.
• Risk analysis (supply chain risk mapping, dual/multi-sourcing strategies).
• Benchmarking of category management best practices.

CoreChain defined a comprehensive procurement strategy based on three key pillars:

1. Supplier segmentation and strategic sourcing plans by category.
2. Cost optimization levers: negotiation strategies, demand aggregation, supplier consolidation where appropriate.
3. Risk mitigation measures: dual-sourcing, nearshoring options, supplier development programs.

Key recommendations included:

• Deployment of structured RFQ / RFP processes for key categories.
• Implementation of supplier scorecards and performance reviews.
• Integration of risk monitoring in supplier selection and contract management.

• Phase 1:

Quick wins — renegotiation of priority contracts and sourcing alternatives for high-risk suppliers.

• Phase 2:

Rollout of category management frameworks and sourcing plans.

• Phase 3:

Supplier relationship management (SRM) program deployment with performance tracking.

Delivered tools:

• Spend analysis dashboards.
• Supplier risk assessment templates.
• RFQ / RFP standard packages.
• Supplier scorecards and contract templates.

• Average purchasing savings of 8% to 12% on addressed categories.
• Supplier risk exposure reduced by 30% through dual sourcing and supplier diversification.
• Improved supplier performance via structured evaluation and corrective action plans.
• Enhanced negotiation power through better visibility on spend and demand consolidation.
• Procurement maturity elevated from reactive to strategic partner level, supporting the company’s growth and resilience objectives.