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During the interview, we asked Shannon a few questions to answer in her own words. De ne
category management and why it is an important component within the procurement
department. ‘’Category Management is the strategy of cost management and strategic supplier
relationship management within an organization.’’
Better client satisfaction:- Category management is the single responsibility of a category manager
who looks after all the elements related to a given contract or service like sourcing requirements,
collecting bids, and negotiating contracts with diverse suppliers. This provides plenty of time for
business people to focus on their work and deliver diversity and value-based services to satisfy the
client’s desires.
Better insights into spending and negotiating product price so resources are met – accurate
accounting:- Usually when a category is not maintained by anyone, there is hardly anyone who can
provide vital insights into the accuracy of price, cost, and spending because no one is familiar with the
contracts that are on the way. The full list of vendors is unidenti ed, and hence, the complete extent
of expenditure is unknown too. It can facilitate a better understanding of expenditure of standard
cost and actual cost on the existing as well as upcoming contracts.
And in her own words, Shannon explained what the biggest misperception is when it comes to
Category Management: ‘’The biggest misperception is that Category Managers are just cutting
purchase orders. Category Managers are having deep strategic discussions. They are building multi-
year growth plans for their categories; they are doing in-depth category reviews and they are taking
their category growth to the next level. They are not just cutting purchase orders or buying more
products. They are growing and managing the category to achieve double-digit growth and they are
leveraging their vendors to achieve these goals.’’
Finally, we were eager to nd out what product Shannon Wegner suggests to her clients when it
comes to Category Management: Simfoni Spend Analytics. I wasn’t lucky enough to have access to a
tool like this when I was a Category Manager but it would have saved me a lot of time and countless
Vlookups and pivot tables. It does so much of the analytical work that I needed to get to the data
that I needed to get my job done. It would have been a Godsend.
The CIPS Category Management Cycle is a 4-phase process with six key activity steps to successfully procure
signi cant categories of spend.
Credits CIPS.org
Learn more:- Spend Analytics Guide The comprehensive Guide by Simfoni’s Procurement
Professionals
Supplier Management Dashboard and Reports by Simfoni Analytics evaluates if the suppliers are performing
as per the organizational requirements and help identify areas of improvement while engaging with suppliers
throughout their lifecycle. The report enables companies to evaluate and select suppliers, negotiate future
contracts, and evaluate supplier performance. The Supplier Management Dashboard provides a detailed report
on each supplier by spend category, spend trends, spend transactions by Business units, and payment terms.
The advance lters can help deep dive by PO, Non-PO, contracted or non-contracted, supplier diversity, and so
on.
The supplier management process is used to centrally review and manage the relationship with each contractor which is
owned by an individual.
It provides value for money to all the parties involved and benefits the entire supply chain
It ensures that the targets in all the contractor agreements and contracts are resource aligned with the needs
of the business and within the service level agreements.
It ensures the seamless delivery of quality IT services which are aligned to the expectation of the business.
To ensure that maximum value for money spent is obtained from all the vendors and contracts.
To make sure that the underpinning contracts (UCs) and agreements with the suppliers are in
line with the business needs and agreed on targets of the organization.
To manage the supply chain and relationships with the various vendors and monitor their
performance by keeping accurate records.
To negotiate with the suppliers, nalize contracts, and manage them throughout their lifecycle.
To establish and maintain a policy regarding suppliers and also to maintain a supporting Supplier
Contract Management Information System.
Category Management
Simfoni Named 2022 Globee Simfoni Retains Position as Value Simfoni Brings Industry-Leading
Award Winner for Innovation and Leader on 2022 Spend Matters Procurement Technology
Advancement in Arti cial SolutionMap and Expands Expertise to Private Equity
Intelligence for Spend Analytics Machine Learning & Arti cial International’s (PEI) Operating
June 8, 2022
Intelligence Capabilities Partners Forum
June 2, 2022 May 31, 2022
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