Chemicals · Case study
Redesigning procurement for a global chemicals company.
A chemicals company defined global, regional and local procurement responsibilities after acquisitions expanded its international operations.
Client context
The business context.
A chemicals company had expanded through acquisitions, taking its procurement activities from a regional to a global scope. Its procurement organization needed to reflect that wider footprint and provide a consistent view of purchasing across the business.
The company needed to decide which purchasing categories should be coordinated centrally and which required regional or local management. Those choices had to be supported by clear reporting lines, sufficient specialist capacity and common procurement policies.
The work
How the engagement was delivered.
Determine where each category should be managed
Analyzed company spending and updated the sourcing category structure. Assessed purchasing volumes, specifications, supplier overlap, supply-market geography and where products were used to assign global, regional or local category responsibilities.
Design the organization and governance
Compared centralized, decentralized and hybrid models against the company’s design principles. Developed a model combining central category coordination with regional and site responsibilities, and defined reporting lines and support for procurement analysis, systems and performance management.
Assess staffing and develop the talent plan
Benchmarked the procurement function to estimate staffing needs under the proposed model. Set out how existing site resources, internal development and recruitment could fill the roles, alongside career paths and succession planning.
Prepare the procurement-policy rollout
Developed a rollout plan for the company’s procurement directive. Connected the organizational recommendations with the policies and responsibilities needed to put the model into practice.
What changed
A defined procurement organization and a plan for rollout.
The company received an operating-model design covering category ownership, governance, reporting lines and staffing, supported by a policy rollout plan. The model provided a basis for coordinating more purchasing centrally while retaining regional and local responsibilities. Savings and improved organizational resilience remained expected benefits of implementation.
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