Strategy Support

Without an understanding of what it costs to make a product, there is just no way businesses can negotiate better deals with suppliers to beat especially volatile pricing scenarios. For many of our clients, cost modeling also serves as the basis for budget forecasting. Our experts boast more than two decades of first-hand experience in should-cost modeling and dexterously combine industry and sector expertise with keen understanding of regulatory frameworks, taxes, and rebates to service an expanding clientele.

The direct and indirect costs of buying a product fail to adequately convey the full picture of the expenses incurred. This assessment misses out the costs accrued across the entire lifecycle of a product till the time it is retired. Only a TCO assessment can tell if your investment is worth all the money in the longer term. An increasing number of clients bank on our TCO analysis to consistently improve their decision-making and save purchase dollars.

It’s the big and vexing question for any CPO: Do I make a good in-house? Or am I going to be better off sourcing it from an external supplier? Our experts employ cost modeling as a tool to help clients take decisions on whether to make or buy. Our approach explores multiple scenarios before getting to the final choice. These include cost versus benefits, the business’s specialized knowledge, as well as the proposed scale of production and the benefits thereof.

The supply chains of large and mid-size businesses thread their way through low-cost and best-cost countries (BCC/LCC), taking advantage of the opportunity to save precious resources without cutting corners on quality. Experience tells us that businesses that reap the most benefits in these markets are also the ones that succeed in forging sustainable win-win relationships with suppliers. To help clients cement relationships with trusted vendors for the longer term, we equip them with proprietary data, market intelligence, and specialized supplier databases.

Assailed by growing risks and challenges (e.g., tightening competition, ever-changing regulations, political turmoil, raw material price inflation), businesses are forever on the lookout for risk mitigation practices to cushion themselves against uncertainties. Our proactive risk mitigation portfolio assists clients by accurately identifying as well as reporting potential risks in the procurement function with meticulous detailing. Our bouquet of risk mitigation products includes world-class risk monitoring platforms and risk reporting dashboards.

Sizing up competitors gives you the baseline to figure out ways to take the edge off your market rivals and pull ahead in the not-too-long run. Deep-dive research into the practices driving the competitor’s stellar outcomes can serve as a make-or-break differentiator for a lot of businesses. Large, medium, and small enterprises routinely dial our best practices experts for hard-to-find insights on vendor technologies and pricing, and our guidance is making a noticeable impact on clients’ procurement function and cost savings.

There is no room for slip-ups when it comes to tracking the effectiveness of the procurement function and figuring out areas for improvement. Ascertaining whether the procurement organization is delivering on its promises is extremely crucial. Our experts track key KPI metrics (e.g., maverick spend, cost saving opportunities, total spend by vendor, and contract compliance) with the end goal of reducing avoidable spend, pruning costs, crunching purchase order cycle time, and ensuring better compliance.

Spend analysis is a tool that no enterprise can live without so long as it desirous of staying competitive and in business! The focus is on aggregating and reporting spend patterns along several key dimensions to cut back costs, drive profitability, and, most importantly, have a leg up over others in the buying process. Our team can audit your procurement spend to help you gain better visibility into spending patterns and pin down opportunities for more cost savings.

Businesses generally strive to buy the same inventory for fewer dollars or get more for the same money. However, this facile approach to cost optimization with a singular focus on purchase effectiveness doesn’t seem to be paying off. Our cost-optimization practice line joins up cost reduction with other buying considerations, like risk and growth prospects, to significantly benefit global clients by way of cost savings, value creation, and opportunities for business process rejuvenation.

The quality, value, and sustainability of a potential deal is too nuanced to be borne out by an apple-to-apple comparison of business metrics. You need to drill down to the details and go over organizational metrics and KPIs with a fine-tooth comb to decide if a business deal meets requisite standards and compares favorably with relevant benchmarks. Marquee brands choose to leverage our deal benchmarking expertise to negotiate, form, and nurture, collaborative and sustainable deals with suppliers worldwide.

The balance of power in procurement negotiations has dramatically shifted from the buyer to the supplier in more recent times. In order to take back control and be in charge of the negotiation process as well as get the best price in the market, CPOs need insights on competitive price points, service, and quality at their fingertips. We help clients develop best-in-class negotiation strategies by providing a wealth of data and recommendations on pricing, discounts, delivery, and more.