Strategically securing value creation

Management Consulting for Procurement

Procurement as a strategic partner—today, this means more than just cost control: High-performing procurement departments ensure supply and quality, understand the product, and work efficiently and closely with the operational side of the business. As an international boutique procurement consulting firm, KBC helps you integrate all of these elements: from optimizing your internal procurement processes to make-or-buy decisions and supplier management. The goal is a procurement function that is integrated into the entire value chain, from development and quality to production.

Discuss the Project

A man with short gray hair, green eyes, and glasses, smiling, wearing a light blue shirt and a dark blue suit, standing with his left hand in his pants pocket

John Dowling

Partner

Your contact

John Dowling

Partner at KBC and management consultant specializing in procurement, with 20 years of experience in procurement consulting

Challenges in Procurement

Strategic shortcomings in procurement can place a significant strain on value creation and delivery capabilities: Inefficient cost-cutting measures, slow responses to volatile markets, and a lack of direction regarding digitalization jeopardize the entire value chain. In its procurement consulting practice, KBC deliberately employs disruptive rather than traditional approaches to enable faster processes and better decisions: We bring a deep end-to-end understanding not only of procurement, but also of all downstream departments as well as the supplier side.

With experience gained from optimizing over 1,000 supplier locations worldwide, we identify typical patterns and root causes early on and support you not only with advice but also with implementation.

Well-known cost-saving measures are becoming less effective

Traditional programs are losing momentum for mature products and product categories, and there are no clear avenues for significant cost savings.

Too slow for volatile markets

Tariffs, supply chain bottlenecks, geopolitical shifts: Many procurement organizations are slow to respond to change.

Purchasing is not meeting demand

There is a lack of close ties with the academic departments. Requests do not get through, are misinterpreted, or are not reliable.

Single source as a risk factor

Concentrating purchasing volume on a small number of suppliers means cost control, but it also means less flexibility.

Outdated processes and tools face a flood of data

There is uncertainty about how to analyze data effectively and digitize your procurement processes.

Ways to Build a High-Performance Procurement Function

In addition to procurement strategy and operating model design, KBC’s range of services in procurement consulting includes make-or-buy analyses, cost reduction, and process optimization, as well as supplier management and supplier auditing and re-qualification.

Procurement Strategy and Operating Model Design

Purchasing strategies and operating models are often outdated: too rigid for volatile markets, too heavily focused on current needs. That’s why KBC starts with a status quo analysis: How do you source today—and how will you do so in five years? This leads to a list of requirements, target state options, and future scenarios. With our cross-functional experience in development, production, and after-sales, we identify the right levers for measurable impact.

Make-or-Buy Analyses

Make-or-buy decisions regarding in-house production versus outsourcing impact your core strategic competencies and long-term cost structure. KBC supports you in this process with a robust make-or-buy analysis: We evaluate objective decision-making criteria such as capacity, risks, and quality factors. This enables you to make informed decisions about which activities to keep in-house and where external partners can add greater value.

Cost reduction

Cost reduction is one of the primary tasks of procurement—but traditional programs eventually reach their limits. Whether dealing with direct or indirect costs, KBC uses the BOLD method to develop disruptive cost-reduction strategies that enable significant savings even for mature products and product categories. We bring procurement, development, and production together around the table and consistently evaluate measures based on the total cost of ownership.

Process Optimization in Procurement Through AI, Tools, and Digitalization

Purchasing involves many steps that should all work together seamlessly. In its purchasing process consulting, KBC integrates all levels—from suppliers to development and production. Digitalization and AI help to use tools to determine demand, automate processes, and analyze data more efficiently. This makes it possible to identify complex dependencies and critical bottlenecks earlier and make them more transparent.

Supplier Management

Suppliers who do not align with your procurement strategy, are ineligible for selection, or jeopardize the SOP can lead to bottlenecks and significant costs. KBC supports you in supplier management by helping you empower suppliers in a targeted manner, monitor their delivery capabilities, and quickly restore operations in the event of a crisis. From isolated issues to structural crises, we are here to support you—including during product recalls, relocations, or site closures.

Supplier Auditing and Re-qualification

Ensuring long-term compliance with LP standards requires more than just occasional self-reports. KBC supports you in the selection and approval process and conducts independent audits of suppliers directly on-site. This allows us to identify weaknesses in production that the supplier’s internal control mechanisms often fail to detect. Through regular re-certification, we ensure that contractually agreed requirements regarding quality, processes, and delivery volumes are consistently met.

Management Consulting for Procurement by the Numbers

Cost of goods manufactured

Supplier locations audited

Faster supplier selection

This is how we view management consulting for procurement

A component that has been optimized over the course of thirty years—and yet we’ve still managed to cut costs by another twenty percent. That’s the difference between traditional procurement consulting and our disruptive approach.

John Dowling, Partner at KBC

Industries we advise on procurement

Automotive

Industry & Mechanical Engineering

Technology

Topics that strengthen your business

Supply Chain Management

Logistics

Production

Answers that advance purchasing goals

With BOLD’s scientifically grounded and time-tested innovative approach, KBC focuses on disruption rather than optimization: We deliberately break down old ways of thinking, challenge assumptions, and develop solutions that go beyond incremental improvements.

In practice, we have managed to reduce costs by 20 percent even for products that have been optimized for decades.

Future-proof procurement starts with the question: What capabilities does your organization need to remain effective in the long term in a volatile environment? This also means shifting the focus from purchase price to total cost of ownership. Accordingly, procurement objectives at the management level must be adjusted so that they contribute to the company’s overall goals.

Today, genuine competitive advantages are no longer achieved through price negotiations alone. That is why we create the necessary structures to systematically capture valuable insights from your suppliers and incorporate them into your products more quickly. This transforms your supply chain into a competitive advantage that extends far beyond mere procurement.

Those who wait until quality declines or supplies run out to take action end up paying the price in several ways: in time, costs, and trust. As a boutique procurement consulting firm, KBC therefore takes a preventive approach: proactive management rather than crisis mode, with an equal focus on both quality and quantity.

In concrete terms, this means: monitoring systems that do not wait for problems to arise. Regular retraining as an integral part of the process. And early detection of risks before they jeopardize care.

John Dowling

Partner

Talk to us

Whether it’s procurement strategy, positioning procurement within your company, or supplier management: In a brief discussion, we’ll determine which steps make sense and how KBC—an international boutique consulting firm based in Munich—can help you move forward. We’ll get back to you shortly.

Discuss the project