Create a centralized flexible procurement function that multiple internal stakeholders embrace, establish best practices, and embed market expertise across a large supplier population to attain cost savings.

Lead supplier diversity initiatives that had laid dormant.

1. Establishing the procurement function at the firm

• • CCM conducted an in-depth analysis of the Firm’s procurement process and identified inefficiencies, redundancies, and opportunities for cost savings.
  • CCM developed a tailored procurement strategy with various options and was ultimately approved by the Firm’s leadership team.

2. ‘Evangelizing’ procurement

• • CCM team socialized and educated the Firm’s key employees on the new procurement processes, including new roles, responsibilities, and procedures.
  • The new guidelines also included best practices for engaging with local and long-standing suppliers to establish a strong network of reliable suppliers.

3. Ongoing Savings Roadmap – Achieving seven-figure savings in the first 12 months

• • The CCM team identified opportunities to reduce costs across the Firm’s supplier population and established a savings roadmap with estimated savings targets.
  • The CCM team renegotiated contracts with existing suppliers, streamlined the procurement process, and added new supplier incentive programs where possible.
  • The CCM team assessed existing procurement technology and designed process improvements, with the CCM team taking the lead in order to attain proper record-keeping of all contracts and purchases.
  • By the end of the first 12 months of the engagement, the firm achieved seven-figure savings. The procurement outsourcing team’s expertise and experience enabled them to identify cost savings opportunities that the in-house team had missed.

4. Creating a process for purchase requests and controls

• • In the second year, the focus shifted towards creating a process for purchase requests and controls to reduce risks.
  • CCM team worked with firm leadership team to develop a process for managing purchase requests, which ensured that all large purchases are reviewed for appropriateness, contractual compliance, and cost.
  • The outsourcing team also implemented controls to prevent unauthorized purchases and ensure compliance with Firm’s procurement policies.

5. Improving contract system compliance

• • The procurement outsourcing team recognized that the Firm’s contract system needed improvement.
  • During the evaluation, it was determined that only 27% of contracts were up to date in the contract management system (covering only 14% of Total Addressable Spend).
  • The outsourcing team also implemented guidelines and appointed a team member to ensure that contracts are updated regularly and tracked appropriately.
  • The CCM team worked with the firm’s legal team to revise contracts to better reflect firm’s procurement policies. Improving contract system compliance.

6. Continuing to improve on diversity and inclusion initiatives

• • CCM team worked with the Firm’s diversity and inclusion team to identify the current supplier diversity status and identify opportunities to promote diversity and inclusion within its procurement process.
  • The team identified opportunities and methods to provide ongoing tracking.
  • Developed a template for uniformly reporting diversity spend for external reporting.