Comment élaborez-vous et appliquez-vous des stratégies de gestion des catégories pour différents types de biens et services?

Develop and apply category management strategies for different types of goods and services by understanding market dynamics, analyzing data, setting clear objectives, forming cross-functional teams, and continuously monitoring and adapting your strategies.

To get started with category management strategy is to develop a good data analysis, to understand your organization needs and be able to identify critical components, services, key suppliers, spend and lead times. Having a good ERP system where information of material and services is well defined will allow you to develop the data analysis. You need to understand what is your start point so you can jump to the next step.

This will very much depend on the many factors. Many organisations look at the characteristics of the products and services that are being procurement. This may work fine in some supply chains, but it can be quite narrow to focus solely on this in others. There are many different interpretations of what categorisation is and I've seen organisations classifying at a downstream level where buyers are placed dependent on who the client is. Others focus on the market in which the suppliers and/ or customer are. There will never be a standard way to define and classify as each have their own pros and cons.

Detailed spend analysis with data cleansing and requalification for a start. Then defining the categories, verification, segmentation, consolidstion, defining once more :). Positioning of the categories volume/risk- e.g krajlic matrix. There can be defined process but strategy will differentiate for each type of the categories

Defining the level of granularity is of utmost importance. The aim is to find right balance between the visibility and detailing. Also its not always necessary to stick to standards.

When peeling back those layers in your analysis and assessment, it's crucial to keep an eye on current and future trends. You should consider how emerging market trends, technological advancements, and consumer preferences might impact each category. Are there upcoming sustainability standards, technological breakthroughs, or shifts in consumer behaviour that might affect your categories? Furthermore, aligning these insights with your organisation's goals is like connecting the dots in your investigation. Does that emerging trend in eco-friendly products align with your company's sustainability objectives? Will adopting certain technological advancements help you achieve cost-saving targets?

For the step 2 (analyse and assess the categories) depending on the complexity of the spend analysis, an Kraljic matrix can be a very supportive tool, puting in perspective aspects such as impact on the project (shortage), global or local purchase, competitiveness/profitability...this is key for increase purchase index, cash flow and EBITDA.

Gather historical spend data for each category, including total spend, transaction frequency, and supplier performance. Analyze historical usage data to project future demand. Consider factors like production schedules, project timelines, and market trends. Assess current suppliers based on criteria such as reliability, quality, pricing, and service levels. Analyze trends affecting the market for each category, including technological advancements, regulatory changes, and economic conditions. Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your current procurement approach for each category. This could include supplier relationships, internal capabilities, and processes.

Once categories are defined, conduct a thorough analysis and assessment of each category. This involves understanding market dynamics, supplier landscapes, demand patterns, and any unique challenges associated with specific categories. Perform a spend analysis to identify the financial impact of each category and assess the level of supply chain risk. This analysis provides insights into opportunities for cost savings, risk mitigation, and performance improvement.

In my experience, the contract manager will analyse and assess the categories in order to develop a proper understanding of what the applicable category domains mean in practice and how they relate to market trends. It is important to have a strategic mindset and to be able to build and maintain relations and influence outcomes in this area, as well as the ability to create meaningful and value for money outcomes across related sub-categories.

Category strategies sit at the heart of any successful procurement function. The development of a category strategy should listen to your key internal partners come up understand the objectives of the business and incorporate them and have clarity over the market environment that you are operating in. The strategy tries to pull all of these factors together to create best for business solutions

To develop and implement effective strategies 1.Define Objective 2.Analyze Data 3.Choose the Right Approach 4.Create an Action Plan 5.Engage Stakeholders 6.Execute and Monitor 7.Continuous Improvement

The following steps can be applied here; 1) Identify commonality amongst different goods & services and bucket them. One can go upto 2-3 levels of categorisation for every good/service. 2) Once you know the commonality, try to develop the strategies from different perspectives such as buying methodology, cost structure, maintaining inventory, logistics etc. 3) Track the complete value chain of a particular product and extrapolate it to the entire category. That would help develop strategies from a short and long term perspective.

Analyze the competitive forces within each category, including supplier power, buyer power, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, and industry rivalry. This helps identify strategic opportunities and risks. Evaluate all costs associated with a category over its entire lifecycle, including acquisition, operation, maintenance, and disposal costs. This helps identify areas for cost reduction & value enhancement. Analyze what drives value in each category such as quality, performance, reliability, or service levels. Understand how these factors align with organizational goals. Develop strategies that cater to the unique challenges and opportunities of each category, such as mitigating supply chain risks or capitalizing on market trends

Measure cost savings achieved through negotiated contracts, process improvements, or alternative sourcing strategies. Evaluate supplier performance based on delivery times, quality of goods or services, and responsiveness. Consider metrics like on-time delivery rates and defect rates. Utilize procurement dashboards to visualize performance metrics in real-time. This provides a quick overview of how each category is performing against established KPIs. Compare actual performance against established KPIs to identify any gaps or underperforming areas. This analysis can highlight specific categories that require attention.

The process of performance monitoring depends on the maturity of the category strategy / problems you’re trying to solve for. These in turn will influence how you set KPIs. You often have 3 main variables: - Price: How do you improve YoY? How do you measure against the benchmark? How do you handle industry fluctuations? - Service: How do you mitigate risk? How do you reduce lead time for product / service delivery? - Quality: Assessing if goods / services fit within specified categories

It is becoming more and more important to understand how ESG outcomes relate to the applicable category domain areas. Ask yourself- what do these important elements actually mean in practice? -as each category has its own set of dynamic inputs and outputs. And what realistic and effective metrics and indicators can we introduce to measure?

Some monitoring areas may include: Is the category strategy delivering the expected benefits? Is provider performance effectively monitored? Are identified and unforeseen issues and risks effectively managed, mitigated or resolved? Are provider and stakeholder relationships effectively managed?

Usually the commodity mangers in large organizations have visibility on a larger purchase volume by pooling the demand across multiple facilities and therefore can better influence supplier decisions when compared to individual sites trying to negotiate their individual volumes. Also supplier performance for one site can influence the volume awarded to that supplier from another location, if the commodity management is actively engaged in those strategy discussions.

Think about how important it is to do ongoing trend analysis and market research. By keeping up with changes in the market, supplier capabilities, and developing technologies, you can gradually improve your category management tactics and take advantage of new possibilities.

While procurement theory initially proposes linear frameworks, often referred to as 'sourcing steps,' the reality is that category strategy development thrives within an iterative process. Revisiting earlier stages becomes prudent as new insights emerge from subsequent steps. Adapting the category scope may prove necessary, especially when delving into external market exploration or adjusting internal requirements based on information gleaned from suppliers. This dynamic approach ensures the agility required to navigate the evolving landscape of procurement strategies.