{"id":1488,"date":"2020-11-26T11:29:03","date_gmt":"2020-11-26T10:29:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/case-study-redukcja-ryzyka-w-zakupach-posrednich\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T16:18:36","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T15:18:36","slug":"case-study-risk-reduction-in-indirect-purchasing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/blog\/case-study-risk-reduction-in-indirect-purchasing\/","title":{"rendered":"Case study. Risk reduction in indirect purchasing."},"content":{"rendered":"<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\t\t\tRisks in indirect purchasing. Brief characteristics of the project\n\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Industry:<\/strong> FMCG<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Project Objective:<\/strong> risk reduction and process optimisation in indirect purchasing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Areas:<\/strong> investment, maintenance, logistics, trade and brand marketing, customer service<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Duration:<\/strong> 3 weeks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Number of people in the project:<\/strong> 3<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ryzyko2.png\" alt=\"risk management\" title=\"Risk2\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\tEstimated results of the project\n\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Savings<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Savings potential for indirect purchases 20%<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Risks<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Safeguarding the company's interests through a new contract structure<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Process<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Implement a transparent process for indirect expenditure<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\tHow are purchasing organisations evaluating leaders in their industries?\n\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While describing the case study from the FMCG industry, we would also like to refer to other industries and companies that are continuously improving their processes and organisations. As part of the initiative <a href=\"http:\/\/www.whypurchasing.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Why Shopping?<\/a> we spoke to the Purchasing Director, Mr. Jacek Rybka of the company <a href=\"https:\/\/pwrze.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pratt&amp;Whitney<\/a> from the aviation industry. He highlighted the challenges in generating savings and the risks faced by companies with a complex, international organisation. He also spoke about the need to transform the purchasing function in Poland and increase accountability for business performance. Watch the entire speech in the video opposite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HIAfKFTtoxA\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\tHow does this relate to our case study?\n\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Transforming the purchasing function and taking responsibility for the business locally are also important points for another of our clients. The CFO of a German group from the FMCG industry, which also has production facilities in Poland, asked us to review purchasing processes in the area of indirect purchasing. During initial discussions, he pointed out that the company was growing steadily in Poland and had opened, among other things, a second production location and a distribution centre. The CFO emphasised that direct production purchasing is well organised, centralised and coordinated by the head office in Germany. The situation is different for indirect purchasing. Indirect purchasing in the Polish branch is carried out directly in the business units. As he noted himself, he sees several risks at first glance:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>the company takes over production lines from other plants, sometimes without proper documentation and start-up support<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the accounting department receives a large number of invoices for services for which no purchase orders have been created, and the documents are difficult to decode<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>the recent warehouse expansion showed a lack of coordination between the logistics and investment departments<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of the agreed scope of the project, the Eveneum team was responsible for mapping value streams in the departments implementing purchasing individually. The result of the collaboration was a report illustrating risks and improvements in the area of indirect purchasing. Below are some facts from the project that we can share with you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\tWhat do market trends say?\n\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For employees in departments such as marketing or maintenance, strictly purchasing processes will always be a secondary or even tertiary concern. Due to a lack of time, counter-risks, purchasing process steps and supplier cooperation planning may be treated neglectfully. In line with market trends and best practices, managements of companies that achieve a certain scale of business create a dedicated department or dedicate expert buyers responsible for indirect production purchasing. A dedicated purchasing person can develop his or her competences in specific product groups and coordinate the purchasing process to deliver savings and minimise risks in supply chain collaboration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\tDetails of a case study in a manufacturing company in the FMCG sector\n\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As part of the project, we mapped value streams across departments. We proposed process and organisational changes to reduce risk, speed up processes and generate savings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\tInvestment department\n\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Areas for improvement:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The archived documents do not fully illustrate the purchasing procedure.<\/strong> The selection of suppliers is done in meetings with the head of the department, there is no documentation of the decisions made.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Contracts are created on the basis of <strong>the model provided by the supplier<\/strong> but after consultation with the law firm<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>No rules for formalising specifications<\/strong>. It is presented in various forms: email, drawing, photo, sample, conversation. The investment department is responsible for establishing the specification if it is not available.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Demands arise in different areas: technical department manager, shift manager in production, maintenance foremen, ERP (warehouse system), external service company. Demands are communicated in various forms <strong>without an approval procedure<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Proposed solutions:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Transfer of responsibility for <strong>purchase of electricity and utilities<\/strong> to the purchasing department. These are purely commercial purchases and do not need to be handled by the technical department. The time saved in the technical department would allow demands and specifications to be systematised.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Creation of <strong>supplier competence grids<\/strong> to systematise and record staff expertise in the system. Currently, every employee has a view of the competence of suppliers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Defined <strong>principles for the formation of a multidisciplinary project team<\/strong> and responsibilities of the members.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Clarification of the translated German <strong>a generic classification for fixed assets<\/strong> to facilitate the classification of fixed assets in Poland.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Developing your own standard and <strong>mandatory model contract<\/strong>, containing a standard set of bid performance parameters and archiving the orders in the Investment Book.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mandatory offer<\/strong> at least three suppliers where possible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\tMarketing department\n\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Areas for improvement:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Model framework and one-off contracts<\/strong> - no obligation to return and destroy confidential material in the event of termination or expiry of the contract<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lack of clearly defined <strong>the hierarchy of documents in the legal structure<\/strong> (general terms and conditions, framework agreement, procurement)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In defining the specifications and requirements for quantitative service providers <strong>no measurable indicators<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Proposed solutions:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Development <strong>general terms and conditions<\/strong> (e.g. boundary conditions - payment terms, warranty period, contractual penalties, intellectual property) which must be accepted by the supplier when submitting a tender<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Creation of <strong>supplier competence matrix<\/strong> (e.g. printing) built on staff expertise<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Creation of a formal <strong>delegation matrix<\/strong> for contracts and agreements<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Implementation <strong>document archiving policy<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\tCustomer service\n\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Areas for improvement:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Lack of a structured method of process documentation and <strong>decisions taken<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lack of consolidation and <strong>standardisation for GSM services<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>No <strong>mandatory model contract<\/strong>, containing a standard set of bid performance parameters.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Proposed solutions:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Analysis of responsibility for purchases<\/strong> - e.g. internet access and landline services are purchased by the IT department, mobile phones by the DOK department.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ad-hoc purchases should also be made by <strong>purchasing platform<\/strong> in the form of a purchase request or electronic auction.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Work out general contractual conditions (e.g. boundary conditions - payment terms, guarantee period, contractual penalties, intellectual property) that the supplier must accept when submitting a bid<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\n\t\tLogistics department\n\t<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Areas for improvement:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Clarification of the principle of application <strong>road subsidies<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Some of the orders are fulfilled outside the system and <strong>no traceability of purchases<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lack of clearly defined <strong>authority to issue orders<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Discretionary use of a law firm<\/strong> in contract negotiations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Proposed solutions:<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ad hoc services should be implemented using a purchasing platform.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Introduction <strong>a procedure setting out rules for the receipt of materials and services.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Opportunity to consolidate spending and increase bargaining power for <strong>combining investment and operational purchases in warehouses<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ryzyko w zakupach po\u015brednich. Kr\u00f3tka charakterysyka projektu Bran\u017ca: FMCG Cel projektu: redukcja ryzyka i optymalizacja proces\u00f3w w zakupach po\u015brednich Obszary: inwestycje, utrzymanie ruchu, logistyka, trade i brand marketing, obs\u0142uga klienta Czas trwania: 3 tygodnie Liczba os\u00f3b w projekcie: 3 Szacowane rezultaty projektu Oszcz\u0119dno\u015bci Potencja\u0142 oszcz\u0119dno\u015bciowy dla zakup\u00f3w po\u015brednich 20% Ryzyko Zabezpieczenie interes\u00f3w firmy poprzez now\u0105 [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1491,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,48,72,74,75,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-doradztwo-biznesowe","category-opracowywanie-struktur-i-procesow-zakupowych","category-zarzadzanie-ryzykiem","category-case-studies","category-case-study","category-bez-kategorii"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1488"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2131,"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1488\/revisions\/2131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1491"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eveneum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}