Category Management Strategy (Auck)

The Category Management round-table is designed to enable members to explore best practice in developing a category plan or strategy and to drive continuous improvement in a category through periodic review.  It does not focus on any single category, but rather the generic process. It is anticipated that the group will meet for a few sessions to work through all of the elements of the programme.

Among the issues you will explore will be:

• How do we define category management?
• When would we apply category management?
• Where do we start in applying category management principles?
• How do we analyze the market to inform our make versus buy decisions?
• What role does risk play in category management?
• How do you effectively manage stakeholders and get their buy in?
• What steps do you need to take to finalize your sourcing strategy?
• How important is supplier/vendor and contract management in achieving success?
• What are the spend levers we can enable to extract savings or deliver greater value?
• How do you pull all of this together into a category plan?
• How and how often do you conduct a category review?
• How do we drive continuous improvement in a category?

More detailed prompts will be provided for each of these questions in the final agenda. And of course there will be additional specific issues raised by participants before or during sessions. Please add any issues you have for inclusion in the agenda when registering.