Sourcing and Procurement
Glossary
Your trusted guide to exploring sourcing and procurement terms & definitions,
from the world’s leading procurement experts and companies
Cartel
A group of companies claiming to act independently, but actually acting together to control prices by price-fixing, limiting supply or other restrictive practices
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Cashable savings
Savings that has no impact on the product or service quality but which result in a sustainable reduction in the budget for purchases of that item
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Category
Refers to a group of products or services that share a common set of characteristics. A single product could belong to multiple categories, for example detergents could be included in 'Household Cleaning', "Non- Grocery" and "Liquid". Categories are typically used to analyze consumer usage or warehouse zoning.
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Category Management
The process of categorizing goods and services and then managing these categories as "business units" to achieve improved outcomes in the most effective and efficient way. It is about taking a project management approach to buying goods and services which is structured, measurable and drives continuous improvement.
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Category Playbook
Contains the details regarding the management of a category.
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Cash Flow
The total amount of money being transferred into and out of a business. In accounting it's a revenue or expense stream that changes a cash account over a given period. Cash outflows result from expenses or investments. Cash inflows results from sales, loan proceeds, and the sale of assets.
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Cash flow statement
An accounting document that summarises the incomings and outgoings of cash in an organisation
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Catalogue
A list of items for sale that often contains descriptions, pictures, prices and availability
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Category Compliance
The process of adhering to procurement policies and guidelines that regulate procurement and sourcing activities. A compliance program policy sets operating controls and parameters for all expense commitments and purchasing activities, requires all employees to comply with policies and guidelines, covers activities that span from requisitioning and requirements gathering, negotiations, supplier selection to contract management and compliance (and every step in between).
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Category Management Plan
A formal plan that outlines how an organization will deploy their sourcing strategy for a specific spend category.
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Category Profile
The Category Profile is the main document that consolidates all information about the product or service. The Category Profile may be a Microsoft Word or Excel file, or an online template if the organization uses eProcurement software. Reporting on the category is done through this profile, to ensure all stakeholders have visibility to the category information. It includes the requirements, objectives and spend data from our Internal Analysis. It also includes the information that we will gather in future work from our External Analysis, such as the current supply state assessment, and from our Cost Analysis which will allow us to segment the category relative to other categories. In summary it includes four parts: requirements gathering, current state assessment, spend analysis and category segmentation.
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