Ten steps. Every category. Every engagement.
Our protocol does not change because a category is small or a client is new. It changes only in depth. This is the sequence, what it produces, and why each step exists.
Five phases, ten steps, one direction
Select any step to jump to what it involves and what it produces.
Requirement to delivery
Procurement failures are process failures. The protocol is fixed and sequential, so finance, audit, and legal inherit a file they can defend.
Requirements analysis
DefineWe convert an operational need into a procurement-grade specification: technical parameters, volumes, tolerances, certifications, packaging, delivery windows, and total-cost constraints. Ambiguity here is the single largest driver of failure downstream.
Supplier identification
SourceWe build a long list from our qualified network and targeted market research across the relevant sourcing regions, screening for capability fit, capacity headroom, and commercial viability.
Vendor qualification
SourceLong list becomes short list. We verify legal standing, financial stability, certifications, quality systems, references, and production capability — including on-site audit where the category warrants it.
RFQ / RFP development
CompeteWe issue a controlled bid package with a uniform scope, commercial template, and evaluation criteria so every response is comparable on the same basis. Uniformity is what makes competition real.
Supplier evaluation
CompeteBids are normalised to landed cost and tabulated against weighted criteria: price, capability, capacity, lead time, quality systems, compliance, and continuity risk.
Negotiation
CompeteWe negotiate unit price, tiered volume pricing, payment terms, tooling and setup costs, warranty, lead time commitments, and price-hold periods — with credible alternatives held live in reserve.
Purchase order creation
CommitThe agreed position is committed to a controlled purchase order or supply agreement with defined specifications, acceptance criteria, Incoterms, milestones, and remedies.
Quality assurance
DeliverWe define the inspection regime before production starts: pre-production samples, in-process checks, pre-shipment inspection, and documented acceptance criteria with third-party inspection where required.
Logistics coordination
DeliverWe coordinate freight mode, consolidation, customs documentation, duty classification, and delivery sequencing with forwarding and customs partners against the committed delivery window.
Delivery management
DeliverWe manage receipt, discrepancy resolution, claims, and supplier performance scoring — then feed the result back into category strategy for the next cycle.
The engagement file, built step by step
Each step produces an artifact. Together they form a complete, auditable record of how a decision was made and what was committed.
Clients retain full ownership of this documentation, including supplier identities on awarded categories. Nothing in the file is held back at the end of an engagement.
How long procurement actually takes
Timelines are category-dependent and specification-dependent. The bars below show relative scale for scoping, not commitments — a firm schedule is issued with the sourcing approach once the requirement is defined.
Indicative relative duration — not a commitment or a quoted lead time.
Run one category through the protocol.
The fastest way to evaluate a procurement partner is to give them a live requirement.