In this session we will go deep with predictive procurement programs for materials procurement, both direct and indirect for manufacturing. Focusing on case studies at Crown Cork & Seal and Provisur, we will look at the challenges associated with taking high-SKU market baskets to market with multiple qualified suppliers, where awards will often include split demand plans as well as other multi-conditional and bi-conditional structures that must account for local preferences and operational requirements for specific production sites while still driving towards leveraged buying power, consolidated demand, and volume based discounts with preferred supplier partners. We’ll also specifically look at acute prior pain points around quote analysis, subjectivity and opinion versus fact-based negotiation science, and the power of cohort analysis in generating Alternative Incumbent maps within the supplier master data.

• Going Predictive with Indirect Materials Procurement in Manufacturing for Branded Packaging: Crown Cork & Seal shares their predictive journey from episodic sourcing events to leveraging Arkestro as a holistic supplier communication platform, and driving towards a set of recurring events that feed the intelligent item master across their portfolio of indirect materials SKUs. We will specifically look at how Crown used AI to overcome legacy challenges in data quality to deliver a sustainable win to their stakeholders.
   
• Going Predictive with Direct Materials for Machine Parts in Equipment Manufacturing: Provisur shares their predictive journey from highly manual quote analysis with long turnarounds to swift campaigns to drive rapid cost reductions on machine parts and highly engineered components.

Attendees will leave this session with an actionable playbook for the role of predictive procurement within materials management for manufacturing, including:

• Overcoming challenges with data quality for high SKU-count, including issues with item master data
• Using quote data to create a self-healing source of truth for the price of an item across the supply base, across geographies, and across time based on custom context buckets related to specific production sites’ operational requirements
• Communicating the power of predictive to stakeholders, including aligning supplier preference with continuous cost improvement and tracking operating impact and margin