How One Buyer Used Category Management to Cut Costs 23 Percent

The Buyer's Side with Fexingo: Procurement, Sourcing, and B2B Purchasing Decisions · Jul 23, 2026 · 8m · transcript

In episode 129 of The Buyer's Side, Lucas and Luna explore how a mid-sized manufacturer applied formal category management to a fragmented packaging spend. The buyer — a procurement director at a consumer goods company with $50 million in annual packaging costs — consolidated 12 sub-categories, created strategic category plans, and negotiated tier-one supplier agreements that delivered a 23 percent cost reduction over 18 months. The episode walks through her five-step process: spend segmentation, market analysis, strategy development, supplier negotiation, and performance monitoring…