Strategic Category Management Certification

Duration: 2 months
Live Sessions: 3
2 weeks apart (2 hours each)
Upcoming Cohorts:
October 14th, 2026 start date
Standard Price: $1,099 USD
Early Registration: $999 USD
Questions?
Download Brochure
Register Now

Align suppliers with corporate goals for optimal performance

This two-month online program equips purchasing professionals with the skills, tools, and structured approach required to build and execute effective category strategies aligned to corporate objectives.

Participants complete a hands-on category strategy project using their own data, enabling them to improve supplier performance, align internal stakeholders, and deliver measurable results across their categories.

Course Curriculum

  • Module 1: Category Foundation and Objective Setting – Defining scope and establishing aligned, measurable objectives
  • Module 2: Category Intelligence and Strategy Development – Building category knowledge using data, market insights, and supplier analysis
  • Month 3: Supplier Alignment and Cost Strategy Execution – Aligning suppliers, developing cost strategies, and executing category plans
  • “This course helped me connect all aspects of category management: costing, savings, VA/VE, and priorities, into one structured approach. It really changed how I look at category strategy.”
    Purchasing Analyst at a billion-dollar automotive group
  • “Working through the storyboard was the most valuable part of the course. I had never completed one before, and it gave me a very effective way to break down and structure category strategy.”
    Sr. Buyer at a leading plastic manufacturer
  • “The real-world examples made the course highly valuable. It was well structured and easy to apply directly to my day-to-day responsibilities.”
    Category Manager at a major packaging and containers manufacturer

Course Activities to Earn Certification

  1. Attend (3) 2-hour live virtual training sessions
  2. Complete activities on APD Learn online training platform
  3. Apply skills learned to a real-world category strategy project
    • Expected hours to complete course – 24 CE Credits

After completing the program participants have learn how to:

  • Build structured category strategies that align directly to corporate objectives and business priorities
  • Establish clear, measurable category objectives using proven frameworks such as SMART
  • Align suppliers and internal stakeholders to a defined category direction that supports execution
  • Evaluate and improve buyer-supplier power dynamics to strengthen negotiation position
  • Use AI tools and benchmarking techniques to accelerate category analysis and insight development
  • Develop cost strategies based on market conditions, cost drivers, and long-term savings opportunities
  • Communicate and execute category strategies effectively across cross-functional teams
  • Identify gaps in current category performance and prioritize actions that drive measurable improvement
  • Apply structured sourcing and supplier evaluation methods to support long-term category success

Meet the Trainer

Jeoff Burris is the Founder and Principal of Advanced Purchasing Dynamics (APD), a firm established in 2004 and committed to helping manufacturers create competitive advantage through the application of knowledge-based cost management and negotiations.

Burris has thirty years of specialized experience in manufacturing working globally for companies such as Ford, Magna and Simpson Industries across a diversity of roles from Buyer to Group General Manager.

Interested in other APD Procurement Training topics? Download the full catalog here:

Questions about this course, group pricing, company-specific classes, or in-person training options?
Reach out to APD’s Director of Training, Denise Mattern, for guidance.
Email
Schedule a Meeting
Call