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Category Management Category management requires a deep understanding of the market and the suppliers in a particular category to develop a viable Strategy for each of the materials. To do this well requires experience and an on-going commitment of resources. However, the effort and the benefits tend to be more periodic and focused on competitive bidding activities. Companies may be interested in outsourcing their Category Management as a way of accessing the experience and knowledge base when needed, without the financial commitment required to maintain a senior level Category Manager. Innovative strategies should also be considered to consolidate Spend or to broaden the Supplier Base to include Asian or South American suppliers. Project Management The bulk of the work begins once the strategy has been established. Finding the best suppliers generally starts with a competitive bidding process know as a Request for Proposals (RFP). This often requires several rounds of communications to make sure the proposals are appropriate and comparable. Implementing alternative materials cannot be accomplished without a significant level of support from disciplines other than Procurement. Regulatory will need to update the registrations for all of the products using the material. R&D will need to test the alternatives to ensure high quality products. And Supply Chain will ultimately have to complete their Management of Change process so that the alternates can be used in production. Establishing a complete plan to identify all of the projects will help to set priorities and drive the projects to completion. Business Development Understanding how a company’s product offerings line up with current suppliers in the US market requires an in-depth understanding of that market and the supplier base. It may also require some regulatory activities to enable breaking into the market.