Procurement Setup & Operating Model
Many organisations reach a point where procurement can no longer run on individual habit: a new plant is opening, the company is growing into regulated markets, an audit is approaching or the people who knew how things were bought have left. At that point, the organisation needs a procurement function that works regardless of who is in the chair.
We design procurement policies, responsibilities, approval workflows and records, set them up on the tools the organisation already uses, and prepare teams for internal, customer and certification audits.
Our approach
Assess where you stand.
We review how purchasing actually happens today: who requests, who approves, who selects suppliers, where records are kept and what data exists. Often the most valuable information is scattered across mailboxes, personal files and paper archives.
Consolidate and validate procurement records.
Before designing anything, we rebuild a usable picture of past spend, suppliers, prices and contracts, so that the new function starts with a history rather than a blank page.
Design the operating model.
Roles, responsibilities and approval limits are defined, along with how procurement works with finance, legal, quality and the requesting departments. The design matches the organisation's size: a lean function with clear rules, not a structure copied from a multinational.
Write the procedures and build the process.
Procurement policy, procedures, purchase request and approval flows, supplier appraisal and approved supplier list, contract and framework agreement templates. Where budget for a dedicated system is limited, processes are digitalised on the platforms already in use.
Prepare for audit and hand over.
The function is reviewed against the requirements of the audits it will face, and the team is trained to run it. Documentation and training material stay with the organisation.
Key themes
When a procurement function depends on individuals, it leaves with them. Documented procedures, shared records, defined approvals and a supplier list maintained by the process rather than by memory make the function resilient to people changes, and make its decisions explainable to auditors and management.
A dedicated procurement platform is not always affordable or necessary. Much of the benefit, including traceable approvals, a single supplier list, searchable records and faster cycle times, can be achieved on collaboration and document platforms many organisations already license. The system can come later, when the process is mature enough to justify it.
Certification bodies, regulators and major customers examine procurement closely: supplier selection, approvals, traceability and the handling of non-conformance. A function designed with those audits in mind is ready for them as part of its normal operation, rather than preparing for each one as a project. The outcome of any audit still depends on how consistently the process is applied.
What we deliver
- Current state assessment of purchasing practice and records
- Consolidation and validation of spend, supplier and contract records
- Procurement operating model: roles, approval limits, interfaces
- Procurement policy and procedures
- Purchase request, approval and ordering process, digitalised on existing platforms
- Supplier appraisal procedure and approved supplier list
- Contract and framework agreement templates
- Audit readiness review
- Team training and handover documentation
Related case studies
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Building or rebuilding procurement?
Tell us where you are starting from and what you need to be ready for.