Elevating Global Procurement into a Strategic Value Engine
Scope
Industry
A global pharmaceutical manufacturer with operations across Europe, the Americas, and Asia engaged a global procurement transformation to elevate procurement from a fragmented, operational function into a centralized, strategic business partner. With teams spread across six sites in Switzerland, Spain, the US, China, India and Mexico, the organization sought to optimize spend, strengthen category management, modernize governance, and accelerate digital procurement maturity. The ambition was clear: create a scalable, value-driven procurement model aligned with business priorities and capable of delivering measurable financial and operational impact.
Business Challenge
- Procurement operated through a decentralized structure, limiting visibility, consistency, and strategic leverage across regions and business units.
- The organization needed to manage and optimize an annual spend of €567 million across direct and indirect categories.
- Existing policies, procedures, and governance required redesign to better align operational procurement with strategic sourcing objectives.
- Procurement maturity needed to be assessed, with a clear roadmap defined to move from Stage 2: Sourcing Mastery to Stage 3: Category Strategy.
- Digital tools and processes required evaluation and modernization to improve efficiency, analytics, and decision-making.
Approach
- Conducted a comprehensive procurement maturity assessment using our proven methodology OPTIMA Procurement Excellence Assessment™, followed by a gap analysis and transformation plan.
- Designed and launched a global procurement transformation program, centralizing the function and creating a robust functional strategy.
- Streamlined operations by outsourcing transactional activities, enabling internal teams to focus on higher-value strategic work.
- Led and coached procurement teams across six international sites, strengthening engagement, alignment, and cross-functional collaboration.
- Developed and initiated a 5-year procurement strategy, supported by targeted category strategies approved by leadership.
- Built a digital roadmap integrating Coupa with SAP S/4 HANA, and a fleet management system.
Outcomes
- Delivered 12% savings pipeline, representing average savings of €68 million.
- Repositioned procurement metrics to emphasize business value creation, not only price reduction.
- Implemented an optimized procurement governance model, aligning countries, business units, and sourcing initiatives.
- Strengthened procurement processes through workshops, best-practice deployment, and more disciplined execution.
- Advanced the company’s digital procurement maturity and created the foundation for scalable, long-term performance.
- Simplified employee intake and orchestrated workflows using purchase order management software, reducing contract cycle times by 40% and improving accuracy and supplier engagement.
- Established procurement as a strategic enabler of transformation, resilience, and sustainable growth.
By transforming procurement from a fragmented operational function into a centralized strategic capability, the organisation unlocked significant value across its global operations. Through stronger governance, enhanced category management, digital enablement, and a clear long-term roadmap, procurement became a key driver of business performance, delivering measurable savings, greater efficiency, and a scalable foundation for sustainable growth.
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