What We Do
Indirect Procurement Program
Turn Your Indirect Procurement into a Strategic Advantage
While most companies tightly manage direct procurement, indirect procurement — often 15–30% of total spend — remains under-optimized, creating hidden inefficiencies and missed savings opportunities.
Our proven approach uncovers these gaps and guarantees at least 10% cost reduction — without disrupting operations or increasing headcount.
Are You Leaving Money on the Table Without Realizing It?
When indirect procurement isn’t managed strategically, costs rise silently — and value slips through the cracks. Without proper oversight, categories like IT, marketing, facilities, and professional services often operate in silos. The result?
Unlike direct procurement, indirect spend lacks structure in many companies — which makes it a hotspot for waste, inefficiency, and risk. If procurement isn’t involved early, or if there are no clear processes in place, you’re not just missing savings — you’re eroding profitability.
Fragmented suppliers
Untracked spending
Missed negotiation opportunities
Inconsistent service levels
Low compliance
And little to no visibility for decision-makers
Indirect procurement often represents 15–30% of total spend — and poor management can waste 10–20% of it. We help you unlock that value.
Our Approach to Indirect Procurement Optimization
We specialize in helping mid-sized and large organizations regain visibility, control, and savings across their indirect spend.
With decades of hands-on experience across industries, we offer customized, high-impact solutions that go beyond traditional consulting.
How It Works (Our Methodology)
We follow a proven 5-step approach to uncover hidden savings, improve procurement performance, and build long-term capability:
- Health Check Survey: Start with a short, strategic questionnaire to uncover hidden inefficiencies in your indirect procurement — quick to complete, rich in insight.
- Indirect Procurement Audit: We begin with a focused audit of your current indirect procurement setup — including interviews, maturity scoring, and a clear gap analysis.
- Opportunity Scan: We pinpoint quick wins and strategic levers — from cost savings to process improvements — across your indirect spend.
- Execution & Change: We lead hands-on implementation, from supplier negotiations to sourcing events and process upgrades.
- Stabilization & Enablement: We ensure long-term success by training your team, optimizing workflows, and supporting hiring if needed.
Start with Our Health Check
Before you can fix what’s hidden, you need to see it clearly. Our Health Check is a quick, high-impact survey that assesses your current indirect procurement setup across key areas:
Spend Visibility: How well you track, manage, and analyze indirect spend.
Supplier Landscape: The structure, fragmentation, and performance of your suppliers.
Processes and Compliance: How consistently sourcing, contracting, and purchasing processes are applied.
Procurement Involvement: When and how Procurement is engaged in purchasing decisions.
Digital Enablement: The use of tools and systems to drive efficiency and transparency.
Internal Collaboration: Alignment between Procurement and key business stakeholders.
The Health Check takes only a few minutes to complete and delivers valuable insights into where inefficiencies, risks, and savings opportunities lie — the first step to unlocking hidden value.
Key Indicators It's Time to Act
You might need support if you’re seeing signs like:
Rising costs and shrinking margins without clear cost-control strategies
Siloed purchasing across departments with little Procurement involvement
Unmanaged suppliers, inconsistent service, and compliance risks
Procurement stuck in reactive mode, lacking tools, policies, or data visibility
Overloaded teams with no capacity to drive change
Procurement viewed as a cost center, not a strategic partner
If any of this sounds familiar, it’s time for a structured, expert-led intervention.
Case Studies
Case Study 1: Financial Services — Unlocking Hidden Cost Levers
A European insurance group with 2,500 employees struggled with fragmented sourcing across departments and uncontrolled indirect spend.
The procurement audit revealed:
Over 120 duplicate suppliers across IT and marketing
Lack of spend visibility for 40% of indirect categories
No standardized sourcing or contract renewal process
What we did:
We consolidated suppliers, implemented contract automation, and trained department leads on sourcing alignment.
Results:
€3.2M in annual savings across indirect categories
25% reduction in supplier base
Full contract visibility achieved within 90 days
Case Study 2: Tech Services — Enabling Procurement Through Digital Tools
A 1,200-person IT consultancy faced pressure to reduce overhead while improving service quality across support functions.
We uncovered:
Heavy reliance on manual approvals and email-based purchasing
Limited use of digital procurement tools
Low compliance with procurement policy in 3 out of 5 departments
What we did:
Introduced a lightweight e-sourcing platform, realigned the approval chain, and rolled out procurement guidelines with hands-on coaching.
Results:
30% faster sourcing cycles
20% fewer non-compliant purchases
€1.8M saved through better contract renegotiations
Case Study 3: Manufacturing — From Tactical to Strategic Procurement
A global automotive supplier with 5,000+ employees had a reactive procurement team overwhelmed by daily firefighting.
The audit showed:
No clear prioritization of indirect spend categories
Limited stakeholder engagement
Procurement seen as a cost center, not a business partner
What we did:
Defined category strategies, conducted an opportunity scan, and embedded procurement into early decision-making processes.
Results:
15% cost reduction in indirect spend
Procurement involved from project initiation in 80% of cases (up from 25%)
Repositioned procurement as a strategic contributor in board discussions
*Results from real industry implementations; company names are withheld due to NDAs.
Why Choose Our Indirect Procurement Program Over Traditional Consulting?
- Targeted. Actionable. Fast.
- Procurement-Specific – Built by procurement leaders for procurement leaders. No vague frameworks, just deep expertise in indirect categories.
- Quick Wins + Long-Term Value – We deliver savings and improvements in months, not years.
- Clear Metrics. Real Insights. – Our audits and opportunity scans lead straight to execution, not just PowerPoint.
- End-to-End Partnership – From survey to savings, we stay hands-on.
Indirect Procurement Program
- Slow. Generic. Detached.
- One-size-fits-all - Generic models with little understanding of indirect spend complexity.
- Extended Timelines - Long, high-cost projects with slow ROI.
- Unclear Outcomes – Lots of data, little direction, no follow-through.
- Disconnected Phases – Assessment and implementation handled separately, often by different teams.
Traditional Consulting
Meet Dirk-Stefan Sauer
Dirk brings over 35 years of international leadership experience in indirect procurement, having led transformation initiatives across global corporations. He combines strategic vision with hands-on execution — from supplier consolidation to digital tool implementation.
With deep expertise in managed services, sourcing strategy, and procurement digitization (including e-auctions and marketplace solutions), Dirk is known for driving measurable results fast.
He has delivered high-impact projects in sectors such as financial services, chemicals, IT, logistics, and insurance — always working closely with C-level leaders to turn complex procurement challenges into actionable, high-value solutions.
Frequently Asked Questions
It’s a structured, outcome-driven consulting engagement focused on optimizing your indirect spend. We combine a Health Check survey, audit, opportunity scan, and hands-on execution to deliver measurable savings and long-term improvements.
We go beyond slide decks. Our work is targeted, fast, and execution-oriented — with deep procurement expertise and full involvement from assessment to delivery.
Absolutely. We complement internal teams by uncovering blind spots, bringing external benchmarks, and accelerating initiatives your team may not have capacity to execute.
Great — but tracking alone doesn’t create savings. We analyze what’s behind the numbers and act on opportunities your data might be signaling but not solving.
Most clients see the first impact within 2–3 months. Full engagements typically run for 3–6 months, depending on scope.
o. High-performing companies use our program to stay ahead, strengthen control, and unlock value from overlooked categories.
We typically deliver at least 10–15% cost savings across indirect categories, improved supplier performance, and faster procurement processes.
We follow strict data privacy protocols and are happy to work under your standard NDAs. Your information stays secure and confidential throughout the engagement.
Not unless it’s needed. Our goal is to optimize what you have — and suggest alternatives only when they offer clear, quantifiable gains.
Our pricing is tailored to scope and company size. The initial Health Check and Audit are low-risk entry points — and most clients recover the full cost through savings quickly.
Disclaimer
The consultants (B&P Partners) featured here operate as independent service providers. Brandt & Partners assumes no responsibility or liability for the accuracy, completeness, or quality of the content displayed, nor for any actions or outcomes resulting from services provided independently by these consultants.