Global raw material shortages and price escalations during the last few years are reasons why all organizations need to have a commodity - category plan.
When purchasing high volume spend items or services, many best-in-class-companies develop category/commodity management plans which offer a short and long term strategy for controlling costs and mitigating risks.
A plan will identify applicable suppliers and include a supply market analysis using industry frameworks such as Porter’s Five Forces. It will examine an item/service’s cost structures, supply and demand and identify current and potential price drivers. It will also determine the risks that might impact an item/service’s cost, availability and quality and offer solutions for monitoring and managing them.
This Guide and additional resources in CANVAS provide some information resources required for developing such a plan:
Difficult to locate Information on over twenty raw materials is available by contacting the TO 624 librarian.
For further assignment guidance, refer to the Final Project's guidelines on the CANVAS site. Contact the TO 624 Consulting Librarian for a research consultation to review available resources.
Danguole "Dee" Kviklys (dkviklys@umich.edu)
