1. What percentage of your purchasing volume is currently supported by a Procurement Strategy? 

A robust and sustainable procurement strategy, along with corresponding product group strategies, positively influences business profitability. Whether the goal is to achieve savings under the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) principle, establish strategic supplier partnerships, drive innovation and standardization, create purchasing synergies through bundling, prevent maverick buying, or deepen understanding of supply markets, a comprehensive strategy is essential.

Conducting risk analyses—both internal and external—enables proactive alignment of demand requirements with market dynamics. Engaging key business stakeholders early in the strategy development process leverages their expertise and fosters organizational buy-in.

A well-developed procurement strategy can yield potential savings of up to 20% of total expenditure. 

2. Are you planning a major expenditure soon through a tender project, contract negotiations, e-auction for further cost savings, or supply base consolidation? 

Strategic procurement precedes operational procurement and represents the creative dimension of the function, aiming for long-term quality improvement, risk mitigation, and cost reduction. Modern procurement emphasizes frequent collaboration with business functions such as development, technology, production, or supply chain management, collectively referred to as cross-functionality.

Strategic procurement executes product group strategies through tenders and contract negotiations. Additional savings of 10–20% can be achieved by leveraging international procurement markets, such as low-cost country sourcing, and conducting e-auctions for specific product groups and services. 

Strategic procurement enhances organizational structure, efficiency, and transparency, which are also critical from a compliance perspective.  

3. Are there areas for improvement in your Procurement Processes that you wish to implement? Does your company have organizational prerequisites to separate Strategic and Operational tasks? 

Processes and tools are the foundation of an efficient and transparent procurement organization. The procurement process begins with identifying internal business requirements and evaluating the existing supply base, followed by tendering (RFX) or contract renegotiation, and culminating in supplier management. While fully digitized and automated Procurement 4.0 is not yet universally attainable, adequate integration of multiple e-tools with ERP systems and procurement processes is often sufficient and beneficial.

E-sourcing and supplier management tools can save time, streamline tender execution, enable quantitative supplier performance measurement via KPIs, and enhance procurement transparency both internally and externally.

Another critical factor is a well-trained and agile procurement organization with the expertise to meet current market challenges.

4. How important are strategic partnerships with suppliers to your organization? Do you host supplier days and recognize outstanding supplier performance? 

Strategic supplier management via Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) is a vital component of procurement, especially considering that external value creation in Western European industrial companies accounts for approximately 60–70%. 

The focus is on medium- to long-term strategic supplier management, where partnerships can reduce costs and supply risks, foster innovation, and improve product and delivery quality. This is particularly relevant for strategic suppliers that are difficult to replace, as progress toward shared objectives can be regularly and quantitatively monitored using KPIs. 

It is important to note that supplier management programs require ongoing effort, beginning with the selection and qualification of new suppliers and continuing with the evaluation and development of existing suppliers.