Strategic Sourcing and Category Management

The programme

Programme overview

As procurement continues to evolve toward a strategic enterprise function, procurement teams are routinely evaluated on their strategic contribution to the overall business.

Organisations are increasingly turning to category management as an effective lever to drive greater strategic value and growth for the business. A structured category management approach can not only help you generate higher savings, but also improve supplier performance, mitigate supply risks, and drive innovation and continuous improvement. This course now delivers genuine category management methodology — spend segmentation, portfolio analysis, and category strategy development — alongside the broader strategic procurement capability, metrics, and benchmarking content that builds the case for procurement as a strategic function.

Who should attend

Who is this programme for?

This course is ideal for professionals involved in procurement, sourcing, and supply chain functions who want to enhance their strategic contribution to the organisation. It is particularly beneficial for:

• Procurement Managers and Officers seeking to transition from tactical to strategic procurement practices
• Category Managers looking to strengthen their category planning and supplier engagement strategies
• Sourcing Specialists and Buyers interested in driving value through more structured and strategic sourcing processes
• Supply Chain and Logistics Managers who want to better integrate procurement into overall supply chain strategy
• Contract Managers and Vendor Managers aiming to improve supplier performance and manage risks more effectively
• Finance and Operations Professionals involved in budgeting, cost control, or operations where procurement plays a strategic role
• Business Unit Leaders and Project Managers who work closely with procurement teams and want to align purchasing strategies with business goals

Learning outcomes

What you will learn

• Understand the evolving role of procurement and how it can best contribute strategically to the business
• Segment spend and apply portfolio analysis (including the Kraljic Matrix) to prioritise category focus
• Develop a genuine category strategy: from category definition through to supplier segmentation and sourcing approach
• Examine critical areas of procurement capability for development and change
• Understand and develop effective procurement and category-specific metrics
• Apply recognised procurement benchmarking and maturity models
• Gain insights to heighten strategic procurement and category management excellence

Explore the programme

Detailed programme outline

• The evolution of procurement as a strategic enterprise function
• How procurement teams are driving business strategy
• Group activities: identifying how procurement can contribute to overall business strategy
• What category management is, and why organisations use it to drive strategic value, savings, and innovation
• Spend segmentation: grouping spend into meaningful, manageable categories
• Introduction to portfolio analysis and the Kraljic Matrix: segmenting categories by supply risk and business impact
• The category strategy development process, from category definition to sourcing approach
• Supplier segmentation within a category: strategic, leverage, bottleneck, and routine suppliers
• Aligning category strategy with organisational objectives and stakeholder needs
• Workshop: developing a category strategy for a sample category
• Case studies: successful category management implementations
• Category life-cycle management and periodic strategy review
• Examination of critical procurement capabilities for development
• Case studies focusing on successful procurement transformations
• Workshop on developing and understanding effective procurement metrics
• Category-specific metrics: savings by category, supplier performance, and category risk indicators
• Practical exercise on creating a metrics dashboard
• Detailed review of the procurement benchmarking model, referencing recognised frameworks (Hackett Group, Gartner maturity models)
• Role-play exercises to apply benchmarking in different scenarios
• Final insights into enhancing strategic procurement and category management
• Group discussion and reflection on key takeaways
• Building your own category strategy action plan

Learning approach

How you will learn

Our diverse instructional approaches ensure effective learning:

– Lectures & Presentations: Engage with expert-driven, stimulating content.– Course Material: Access well-crafted supporting resources.– Group Work: Collaborate on discussions and case studies for practical insights.– Workshops & Role-Play: Participate in immersive, scenario-based activities.– Practical Application: Focus on applying theoretical knowledge in real situations.– Post-Training Support: Receive extensive support after training for skill implementation.

Discuss your requirements

Dates, duration & arrangements

Contact Ratomac to confirm dates, duration, delivery format, entry requirements and any applicable assessment or certification before booking.