Structuring procurement function for household goods manufacturer
Our customer is a manufactorer of consumer plastic products
| Customer | Manufacturer of household goods |
| Segment | Consumer plastic products |
Challenges
WeY's in this project was to take over and structure the procurement function after the Supply Chain Manager had left and the only purchaser was due to leave shortly for a sabbatical.
Approach
It was a turbulent start, as the company had just implemented SAP S/4HANA and the entire organisation was still adapting to and learning how to work with an integrated, supply-chain-focused ERP system instead of the previous, largely manual way of working. Part of my role was to take ownership of the procurement processes and support the operational buyers (planners) with SAP-related issues that were blocking forecasting, purchase orders and invoice processing.
I set up Teams channels for the planners and other departments to keep track of outstanding topics and monitor their progress. For my own work, I used a PDCA board (Plan, Do, Check, Act) to stay focused in a highly dynamic environment.
The war involving Iran and the resulting oil crisis put additional pressure on the supply chain. This required careful management from a legal and financial perspective, as well as close cooperation with suppliers, to minimise the risk of disruptions while keeping costs under control.
Another important topic was New Product Introductions (NPI). I ensured that Purchasing was involved at an early stage together with R&D, helping to reduce risks and establish an objective vendor selection process for new products planned for 2027.
Another priority was onboarding a purchasing assistant to help stabilise the department and hand over first-line support for the planners, allowing more focus on strategic topics.
Results
Despite the many changes throughout the project, we remained flexible and adapted quickly to ensure continuous support for the business. By building trust and strong partnerships with strategic bottleneck suppliers, we were able to manage volumes more effectively and respond quickly to supply issues. This significantly reduced out-of-stock situations and strengthened supplier collaboration. It also created opportunities to expand their scope of services, including packaging and assembly for a high-pressure project
New organizational and meeting structure, enabling improved supplier performance management.
Early-on warning of capacity issues (internal and external) and being able to source constructor-capacity months ahead and in advance.
Draft-up of a flowchart and roadmap for the internal organization, enhancing a route for all procurement related questions and potential tenders, fully aligned with the Alliander Procurement Methodic and in synchronization with local and nationwide procurement law.