Most CEOs want cost reduction. They want Purchasing to help improve margins, strengthen competitiveness, and lower the company’s cost structure. They want cost reductions that drop to the bottom line and help the business win. But too often, the way they ask for cost reduction…
Most buyers prepare for negotiation by getting their facts together. Great! They review pricing history. They look at spend. They check supplier performance. They think through the company’s savings target. They may prepare a desired outcome, a target, and a walk-away position. All of that…
Procurement teams are already using AI. The real question is whether they are using it well enough to improve business results. That distinction matters. According to the Work AI Institute, 87% of digital workers now use AI at work, and 75% say it makes them…
Indirect purchasing teams in manufacturing companies don’t get much recognition. Direct material savings are usually easier to measure. A buyer negotiates a lower part price. The savings flow into product cost. Finance can see the impact. Indirect purchasing is different. The work is spread across facilities, functions,…
Most procurement teams still approach sourcing as if suppliers are waiting to be selected. They’re not. Strong North American suppliers are busy. They are choosing which customers to support, which RFQs to quote, and where to allocate limited engineering and production capacity. If your team…
Artificial intelligence is creating the same kind of divide we have seen in every major business technology shift. Some organizations are using it to move faster, prepare better, and make more informed decisions. Others are experimenting, getting inconsistent results, and quietly backing away. That second…
Negotiation experts are fairly consistent on one point: when relationships are long term, issues are complex, and both sides have strong shared interests, the best approach is usually collaborative negotiation. That should make automotive a perfect environment for collaboration. OEMs and suppliers are tied together…
Sometimes manufacturers need cost reductions sooner rather than later. The problem is that traditional strategic sourcing takes time. A typical project requires months of spend analysis, stakeholder alignment, supplier discovery, market testing, negotiations, and implementation planning. Then comes supplier validation, customer approvals, and resourcing. The…
Over the past 40+ years working in purchasing, I’ve watched thousands of negotiations. And there’s one mistake that shows up over and over again. It’s not poor preparation.It’s not weak leverage.It’s not even lack of data. It’s this: buyers negotiating against themselves. And the worst…
Indirect purchasing is messy by nature. A direct materials buyer may focus on a handful of categories tied to a production process. An indirect buyer often manages dozens of unrelated categories at the same time. Marketing services. MRO. Fleet. Travel. IT. Janitorial. Temporary labor. Capital…