Category Planning Services

Category Planning and Management Services from Corcentric

Category Planning lays the groundwork for a more impactful, strategic approach to spend management.

Embracing Strategic Sourcing is just the beginning of realizing a Procurement Transformation. The Procurement function can further drive it’s strategic evolution by distinguishing itself as a Category Manager. When Procurement aligns itself with other business areas to develop strategic, actionable Category Plans, the entire enterprise benefits. Effective Category Plans drive the maximum value from department budgets, building on top of the foundation of strategic sourcing to deliver ongoing cost savings, mitigate risks, and strengthen strategic vendor relationships.

With Corcentric’s Category Planning services, organizations begin to develop a Procurement function capable of enabling enterprise-wide initiatives and more effectively managing spend across all direct and indirect categories. Together, we enhance Procurement and align the function’s resources to produce maximum strategic value. Our customized Category Planning efforts are informed by each client’s unique Procurement goals and objectives.

Effective Category Plans . . .

• Are developed by Procurement alongside spend owners.
• Affect the scope and strategy of sourcing projects in the category.
• Help to optimize existing supplier relationships.
• Impact Procurement’s contract management efforts in the category.
• Are updated regularly to serve Procurement’s evolving goals and responsibilities.

Category Planning Process

Corcentric’s Category Planning process requires our spend management experts to embed themselves within your organization to assess Procurement and its historical approach to the spend category in question. Our spend management team takes a particularly thorough and transparent approach to Category Planning, including. . .

• Conducting interviews with Procurement’s leaders and all relevant internal stakeholders to better understand Procurement’s approach to the category and goals for the future.
• Leveraging our spend analytics tool to assess the category and begin identifying strategic opportunities
• Assessing existing supplier relationships and established contracts within the category to further bolster our category plan.

The Category Planning process culminates in an exchange of market intelligence and category insights that prepare Procurement to embrace a role as a Category Manager. Corcentric’s Category Planning services arm Procurement with . . .

• A high-level overview of the category taking into account sourcing strategies, upcoming events, and Procurement’s relevant metrics to help drive decision making
• An assortment of strategies and tactics to employ for optimizing the spend category and delivering on Procurement’s goals.
• A detailed breakdown of spend associated with the category to assist in identifying cost reduction opportunities and developing sourcing strategies.
• A snapshot of suppliers associated with the category to provide insights into consolidation opportunities.
• An outline of existing contractual commitments including all necessary information to proactively plan for upcoming activity.
• A SWOT assessment of the category to help Procurement build on its strengths and target areas for improvement.
• A dedicated Category Planning training program to educate Procurement on template customization and other best practices.
• A long-term road map for measuring Procurement’s performance against its goals and objectives and help communicate the function’s strategic value.

Gain access to all this and more with Category Planning services from Corcentric. Our spend management experts will leverage their collective decades of experience to boost Procurement’s awareness and prepare the function for long-term value generation.