Building a category-led operating model that lasts
Most sourcing transformations deliver a first wave of savings and then fade. The difference is in the operating model underneath.
A sourcing transformation usually starts with a burst of energy: new category strategies, a round of tenders, an early savings number for the board. Twelve months later, the savings have leaked and the organisation is back where it began.
What separates programmes that last is rarely the quality of the first sourcing wave. It is whether the operating model underneath has changed: who decides, what data they decide with, and how performance is reviewed.
Organise around categories, not sites
Category ownership gives one accountable leader a full view of demand, suppliers and market dynamics. Sites and regions still matter, but as stakeholders in a shared strategy rather than as independent buyers.
Make the numbers indisputable
Savings that finance does not recognise will not survive budget season. Agree the baseline and the tracking method with finance at the start, and report against it with the same discipline as any other financial result.
Build capability, not dependency
Playbooks, templates and coaching mean the second and third waves of savings are delivered by your own team. That is the real test of a transformation, and the reason we design for it from day one.
