Capability template for procurement and suppliers

Category sourcing plan

For the buyer or operations lead who owns one spend category, such as packaging or IT hardware: its spend and suppliers on one page, where it sits on a supply-risk and spend matrix, the value levers the evidence supports, and a dated sourcing plan. A person chooses the approach.

The outcome

A category that has been bought out of habit gets looked at as a whole. Twelve months of spend are laid out by supplier and by item, with every total checked back to the rows, so the conversation starts from what was actually paid. The same box bought at five different prices, a small supplier used for rush orders, a price rise nobody explained: they are on the page, not in someone's memory.

Then comes the judgment, done in the open. The category is placed on the familiar matrix of supply risk against spend impact, and every factor behind that position is shown with its figure and its limit, so anyone can check it. Each value lever is either backed by something in the inputs or marked as having no evidence. Only one figure is given, the gap between what was paid and the lowest price the company already paid for the same item, and it is labelled for what it is: indicative, not a target.

The page ends with two or three ways forward, always including "keep things as they are and fix the named problems", and, once a person has chosen one, a step-by-step plan with owners and dates. Notice dates that land before or during the plan are flagged where nobody can miss them. The decision maker chooses; agreements go to whoever reviews them.

Who starts the work, and when

The buyer, purchasing lead or operations lead who owns the category starts it once a year for each category that matters, when a category has grown without anyone owning it, or before the main agreements in it come up for notice. A new buyer taking a category over can run it in the first week.

It is usually run twice: once to see the position and the options, and again after the decision maker has chosen an approach, so the plan is drafted for that approach.

What they supply

A short brief: the category and what is in it, the objectives in order, the constraints that cannot change, the company's total spend for the same twelve months, the date the plan is due and the date it would start, who approves the plan and who reads agreements, and the chosen approach once there is one.
A spend export: twelve months of invoice or order lines, with the date, supplier, item, quantity, unit price and amount. If the columns are named differently, the capability asks which is which before it reads anything.
Supplier facts: what each supplier provides and which items it is approved to supply, agreement end and notice dates from whoever holds the agreements, lead times, payment terms and any problems in the year.
Market notes, if any: other suppliers that could quote and how long approving one takes.
Notes from the people who use the category, if any: what they need and what worries them.

No connection to a purchasing system, email or any supplier's portal is needed, and none is asked for.

What comes out

One plan, in a fixed order:

The category and its objectives.
Spend by supplier and by item, with the check that every total adds up.
Suppliers, with the items each is approved for, their dates exactly as supplied, and any notice or end date close at hand flagged.
The position on the matrix, factor by factor, and any item that sits apart, such as a printed item only one supplier can make.
Value levers, each supported by evidence or marked as having none, and the indicative price gap with its arithmetic.
Approach options, with the levers each uses, its main risk and who it affects.
The sourcing plan: steps, owners and dates, with every supplier date that falls before or during it.
Concerns and risks, each matched to the step that deals with it, or marked open.
For the contract reviewer: every agreement the plan would touch, with its dates.
Gaps and questions, and the decisions for the person who approves.

Good looks like this: the decision maker can see in two minutes where the category stands, what could be done about it, and the one date that cannot be missed.

An invented example

Illustrative example with invented data. The company, the suppliers, the people, the rows, the dates and every figure below are invented. The company is an invented 140-person maker of jarred sauces. Its purchasing lead owns the shipping packaging category and is preparing a plan for the operations director, who approves it; the company's outside lawyer reads agreements. People are referred to by role and suppliers by letter. The company's settings are the template's defaults.

The inputs come first, in full, so the template can be run on them. The plan follows.

The inputs

1. Category brief (typed by the purchasing lead)

Category: shipping packaging.
In scope: corrugated shipping boxes, divider inserts, printed display
  trays.
Left out: jar labels and glass jars (other categories).
Objectives, in order: cost, then reliable delivery.
Constraints: the six-cell insert must hold six 250 ml jars; its size
  does not change.
If supply fails: orders cannot be shipped.
Company spend with third parties, 1 Nov 2025 to 31 Oct 2026:
  $4,300,000.
Today: Tuesday 10 November 2026.
Plan goes to the operations director by: Friday 4 December 2026.
Plan start: Monday 4 January 2027.
Currency: US dollars.
Decision maker: operations director.
Contract reviewer: outside lawyer.
Approach to plan: Option 1 from the first run (quotes from qualified
  and candidate suppliers for the boxes and the insert, volume
  combined in fewer suppliers), proposed by the purchasing lead for
  the operations director's approval.

2. Spend export (from the purchasing system)

Date,Supplier,Item,Quantity,Unit price,Amount
2025-11-14,Supplier A,BX-12 Shipper box 12x10x8,40000,0.62,24800.00
2025-12-12,Supplier A,BX-18 Shipper box 18x12x10,20000,0.95,19000.00
2026-01-15,Supplier B,BX-12 Shipper box 12x10x8,30000,0.68,20400.00
2026-02-12,Supplier A,BX-12 Shipper box 12x10x8,40000,0.62,24800.00
2026-03-12,Supplier C,TRAY-P Printed display tray,10000,1.40,14000.00
2026-04-16,Supplier A,INS-6 Six-cell divider insert,60000,0.21,12600.00
2026-05-14,Supplier B,BX-18 Shipper box 18x12x10,15000,1.02,15300.00
2026-06-11,Supplier A,BX-12 Shipper box 12x10x8,40000,0.64,25600.00
2026-07-09,Supplier D,BX-12 Shipper box 12x10x8,5000,0.81,4050.00
2026-07-16,Supplier C,TRAY-P Printed display tray,10000,1.40,14000.00
2026-08-13,Supplier B,BX-12 Shipper box 12x10x8,30000,0.68,20400.00
2026-09-10,Supplier A,BX-18 Shipper box 18x12x10,20000,0.97,19400.00
2026-10-08,Supplier A,INS-6 Six-cell divider insert,60000,0.21,12600.00
2026-10-22,Supplier B,BX-12 Shipper box 12x10x8,10000,0.70,7000.00
2026-11-05,Supplier A,BX-12 Shipper box 12x10x8,40000,0.64,25600.00

3. Supplier facts (typed by the purchasing lead; agreement dates from the finance director)

Supplier A: BX-12, BX-18, INS-6. Qualified for: BX-12, BX-18, INS-6.
  Only qualified supplier for: none. Agreement ends 31 March 2027;
  notice date 31 December 2026. Lead time 10 days. Payment terms 30
  days. Problems: two late deliveries of BX-12, 8 June and 22 June
  2026.
Supplier B: BX-12, BX-18. Qualified for: BX-12, BX-18, INS-6 (has not
  supplied INS-6 this year). Only qualified supplier for: none. No
  agreement; buys on purchase orders. Lead time 7 days. Payment terms
  30 days. Problems: none recorded.
Supplier C: TRAY-P. Qualified for: TRAY-P. Only qualified supplier
  for: TRAY-P. Agreement ends 30 June 2027; notice date 31 March
  2027. Lead time 35 days. Payment terms 45 days. Problems: none
  recorded.
Supplier D: BX-12, emergency buys only. Qualified for: BX-12. Only
  qualified supplier for: none. No agreement. Lead time 2 days. Paid
  by company card. Problems: none recorded.

4. Market notes (purchasing lead)

Two other box makers within delivery range have asked to quote:
  Supplier E and Supplier F. Neither is checked or approved yet. Both
  say they make both box sizes and a six-cell insert.
A new box maker can be approved in about 4 weeks, after a sample run
  on the taping machine.
TRAY-P: no other supplier is approved. Moving it needs new printing
  plates and a print approval by the marketing manager, about 12
  weeks in all.
Supplier A raised its box prices in June 2026.

5. Notes from the people who use the category (purchasing lead)

Warehouse lead: the 18x12x10 box often goes out part-empty on small
  orders; would like a middle size. Worried a new supplier's boxes
  may not run on the taping machine.
Production manager: the insert must hold six 250 ml jars. No change
  to its size.
Marketing manager: the tray artwork is approved; does not want the
  tray supplier changed this year.
Finance director: wants Supplier A's June price rise explained
  before any new arrangement with Supplier A.

The plan

CATEGORY SOURCING PLAN: shipping packaging

For: operations director. Prepared by: purchasing lead on 10 November 2026. Plan goes to the operations director by: 4 December 2026.
Spend period: 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026. Currency: US dollars.
Spend export: 15 rows read; 14 in the period; 1 outside it, excluded; 0 outside the scope, excluded. Columns ignored: none. Rows to check: none.
Inputs not supplied: none. Settings: template defaults.

1. THE CATEGORY

In scope: corrugated shipping boxes, divider inserts, printed display trays. Left out: jar labels and glass jars (other categories).
Objectives, in the order given: cost, then reliable delivery. Constraints: the six-cell insert must hold six 250 ml jars; its size does not change.

2. SPEND

Total: $233,950 over 14 rows. Share of company spend: $233,950 ÷ $4,300,000 = 5.4%.
By supplier: Supplier A: $138,800, 59.3%, 7 rows. Supplier B: $63,100, 27.0%, 4 rows. Supplier C: $28,000, 12.0%, 2 rows. Supplier D: $4,050, 1.7%, 1 row.
Check: supplier amounts add to $233,950, the category total.
By item: BX-12 Shipper box 12x10x8: 195,000 units, $127,050, 54.3%, unit price $0.62 to $0.81. BX-18 Shipper box 18x12x10: 55,000 units, $53,700, 23.0%, unit price $0.95 to $1.02. TRAY-P Printed display tray: 20,000 units, $28,000, 12.0%, unit price $1.40. INS-6 Six-cell divider insert: 120,000 units, $25,200, 10.8%, unit price $0.21.
Largest supplier: Supplier A, 59.3%. Top three suppliers: 98.3%. Small suppliers (under 2% each): Supplier D, $4,050.
Shares are rounded to one decimal and may not add to exactly 100.0.

3. SUPPLIERS

Supplier A: supplies BX-12, BX-18, INS-6. Qualified for: BX-12, BX-18, INS-6. Only qualified supplier for: none. Agreement ends 31 March 2027; notice date 31 December 2026. Lead time: 10 days. Payment terms: 30 days. Problems in the period: two late deliveries of BX-12, 8 June and 22 June 2026. NOTICE DATE WITHIN 90 DAYS
Supplier B: supplies BX-12, BX-18. Qualified for: BX-12, BX-18, INS-6 (has not supplied INS-6 this year). Only qualified supplier for: none. No agreement; notice date not stated. Lead time: 7 days. Payment terms: 30 days. Problems in the period: none recorded.
Supplier C: supplies TRAY-P. Qualified for: TRAY-P. Only qualified supplier for: TRAY-P. Agreement ends 30 June 2027; notice date 31 March 2027. Lead time: 35 days. Payment terms: 45 days. Problems in the period: none recorded.
Supplier D: supplies BX-12, emergency buys only. Qualified for: BX-12. Only qualified supplier for: none. No agreement; notice date not stated. Lead time: 2 days. Payment terms: company card. Problems in the period: none recorded.
Dates as supplied by the finance director. No agreement was read. The 90-day notice window runs from 10 November 2026 to 8 February 2027.

4. POSITION ON THE MATRIX

Spend impact: High. The category is 5.4% of company spend, at or above 5%. The brief says that if supply fails, orders cannot be shipped.
R1 Concentration: Supplier A, 59.3% (spend export) against 70%: Low.
R2 Single-source spend: TRAY-P, 12.0% (supplier facts, spend export) against 25%: Low.
R3 Alternatives for the main items (BX-12 and BX-18, 77.3% of spend): 2 qualified (Supplier A, Supplier B), 2 candidates (Supplier E, Supplier F, market notes, not yet checked) against a minimum of 3: Low. Not counted, covering only some main items: Supplier D: BX-12. Qualification assumed from the export for: none.
R4 Switching time for the main items: about 4 weeks to approve a new box maker (market notes) against 8 weeks: Low.
R5 Supply problems: Supplier A, 59.3%, two late deliveries of BX-12 on 8 June and 22 June 2026 (supplier facts): High.
Supply risk: Low (1 of 5 factors High).
Position: Leverage (spend impact High, supply risk Low).
Items that sit apart: TRAY-P: one qualified supplier (Supplier C); about 12 weeks to approve another, above the 8-week limit (market notes). On its own it falls in the high-supply-risk half and is handled as an exception.
For the operations director to confirm.

5. VALUE LEVERS

Price: Supported: BX-12 was bought at five unit prices from $0.62 to $0.81, and BX-18 at three from $0.95 to $1.02. The market notes say Supplier A raised its box prices in June 2026; the export shows Supplier A's BX-12 at $0.64 from 11 June 2026 ($0.62 before) and its BX-18 at $0.97 on 10 September 2026 ($0.95 before). For the main items there are two qualified suppliers (A and B) and two candidates not yet checked (E and F, who have asked to quote). Price gap: BX-12 (lowest $0.62): 30,000 x $0.06 + 40,000 x $0.02 + 5,000 x $0.19 + 30,000 x $0.06 + 10,000 x $0.08 = $6,150. BX-18 (lowest $0.95): 15,000 x $0.07 + 20,000 x $0.02 = $1,450. Total $7,600, 3.2% of category spend.
Demand and specification: Supported: the warehouse lead says the 18x12x10 box often goes out part-empty on small orders and would like a middle size. No figure.
Supplier base: Supported: BX-12 was bought from three suppliers (A, B and D) and BX-18 from two (A and B); Supplier D, a small supplier, is used for emergency buys and its $0.81 is the highest BX-12 price in the period; INS-6 was bought only from Supplier A, though Supplier B is also qualified for it. No figure.
Total cost: Supported: payment terms differ: 30 days (Suppliers A and B), 45 days (Supplier C), company card (Supplier D). No figure.
Working with suppliers: Supported: Supplier A, with 59.3% of spend, delivered BX-12 late twice in June 2026, a problem a supplier could fix with an agreed commitment. No figure.
Baseline: unit prices and quantities by item, 1 November 2025 to 31 October 2026. Later results compare unit prices on the units actually bought, so buying less is never counted as a price saving. The price gap is indicative: not a forecast, a target or a promise.

6. APPROACH OPTIONS

Option 1: ask Suppliers A and B and candidates E and F for quotes on BX-12, BX-18 and INS-6, with a quote for a middle box size as the warehouse lead asks, then combine the volume in fewer suppliers; TRAY-P stays with Supplier C. Levers: Price, Supplier base, Demand and specification. Main risk: a new supplier's boxes may not run on the taping machine (warehouse lead). Affects: purchasing lead, warehouse lead, production manager, finance director; Suppliers A, B, D, E, F.
Option 2: negotiate with Suppliers A and B only, using the $7,600 price gap and their combined volume, including INS-6, for which Supplier B is also qualified. Levers: Price, Supplier base. Main risk: Supplier A, with 59.3% of spend, delivered BX-12 late twice in June 2026 (supplier facts). Affects: purchasing lead, finance director; Suppliers A, B, D.
Option 3: Keep the current arrangement and fix the named issues: Supplier A's two late deliveries of BX-12 in June 2026, fix to be agreed; Supplier A's June 2026 price rise, explained, as the finance director asks; the part-empty 18x12x10 box, a middle size, as the warehouse lead asks. Levers: Working with suppliers, Demand and specification. Main risk: the $7,600 price gap stays (spend export). Affects: purchasing lead, warehouse lead, finance director; Suppliers A, B.
Approach to plan: Option 1, proposed by the purchasing lead. Fits the usual directions for Leverage.

7. SOURCING PLAN

S1 Agree requirements with the people who use the category: purchasing lead. 4 January 2027 to 15 January 2027.
S2 Find and check suppliers not yet qualified (Supplier E, Supplier F): purchasing lead. 18 January 2027 to 5 February 2027.
S3 Request quotes, compare them and negotiate: purchasing lead, with the vendor quote comparison; requests sent by a person. 8 February 2027 to 19 March 2027.
S4 Decision by the operations director; the outside lawyer reads the agreements affected: 22 March 2027 to 2 April 2027.
S5 Move orders, set up suppliers, tell suppliers whose share changes: purchasing lead; every message sent by a person after approval. 5 April 2027 to 14 May 2027.
S6 First check of results against the baseline, reported to the operations director: purchasing lead. 9 August 2027 to 13 August 2027.
Lengths are calendar weeks; holidays and closures are not skipped.
Exception items: TRAY-P: kept with Supplier C, outside the quotes.
Timing: Supplier A's notice date, 31 December 2026, falls before S1 starts. Supplier A's agreement end, 31 March 2027, falls within S4, 22 March 2027 to 2 April 2027. Supplier C's notice date, 31 March 2027, falls within S4, 22 March 2027 to 2 April 2027. Supplier C's agreement end, 30 June 2027, falls between S5 and S6, 14 May 2027 to 9 August 2027.

8. CONCERNS AND RISKS

Warehouse lead: the 18x12x10 box often goes out part-empty on small orders; would like a middle size. Handled in: S1 and S3.
Warehouse lead: worried a new supplier's boxes may not run on the taping machine. Handled in: S2.
Production manager: the insert must hold six 250 ml jars; no change to its size. Handled in: S1.
Marketing manager: the tray artwork is approved; does not want the tray supplier changed this year. Handled in: exception (TRAY-P kept with Supplier C).
Finance director: wants Supplier A's June price rise explained before any new arrangement with Supplier A. Handled in: open.
Supply risk, R5 supply problems (Supplier A, 59.3% of spend, two late deliveries of BX-12 in June 2026): open.

9. FOR THE CONTRACT REVIEWER

Supplier A: agreement ends 31 March 2027; notice date 31 December 2026, as supplied by the finance director. The plan would: end it, change it or let it run on, depending on the quotes and the operations director's decision in S4. Not read or interpreted.
Supplier C: agreement ends 30 June 2027; notice date 31 March 2027, as supplied by the finance director. The plan would: let it run on. Not read or interpreted.
Any new or changed agreement goes to the outside lawyer before it is signed.

10. GAPS AND QUESTIONS

No volumes for 2027 were given; quotes would use the last twelve months' quantities (BX-12 195,000; BX-18 55,000; INS-6 120,000): purchasing lead, with the production manager.
Delivery and minimum-order charges, rejected goods and rush orders were not supplied, so total cost can be compared on payment terms only: purchasing lead, with the finance director.
Whether Suppliers E and F make both box sizes and the insert, as they say, is not checked: purchasing lead.
What Supplier A's June 2026 price rise rested on: finance director.
How often the 18x12x10 box goes out part-empty, and what middle size is wanted: warehouse lead.
Why BX-12 was bought from Supplier D on 9 July 2026: purchasing lead.

11. DECISIONS FOR THE OPERATIONS DIRECTOR

Confirm the position: Leverage (spend impact High, supply risk Low, 1 of 5 factors High).
Approve Option 1 as the approach to plan, or choose Option 2 or 3.
Supplier A's agreement: notice date 31 December 2026, within 90 days and before S1 starts on 4 January 2027; agreement ends 31 March 2027, within S4, 22 March 2027 to 2 April 2027. For the operations director to decide after the outside lawyer has read the agreement.
Supplier C's agreement: notice date 31 March 2027, within S4, 22 March 2027 to 2 April 2027; agreement ends 30 June 2027, between S5 and S6. For the operations director to decide after the outside lawyer has read the agreement.
The exception item: keep TRAY-P with Supplier C outside the quotes.
When Supplier A's June 2026 price rise is to be explained, since the finance director asks for it before any new arrangement with Supplier A.

Status: prepared for the operations director's decision. No supplier has been contacted, no order or record changed, and nothing sent, accepted or signed.

Where it fits

Procurement and suppliers, which owns each category and the case for how it is bought.
Operations and process improvement, where the operations lead often owns packaging, maintenance supplies or equipment without a purchasing team.
Manufacturing, where packaging, raw materials and maintenance parts are bought from a handful of suppliers year after year.
Consumer brands, where shipping and display packaging carry both cost and the brand.
Ecommerce and retail, where boxes, mailers and fulfilment supplies grow with every order.
Professional services, where IT hardware and office services are bought by an office or operations manager.
Established businesses, where categories have been bought on habit for years and nobody has looked at them whole.
Growth & scaling, where spend in a category doubles before anyone owns it.

What has to change for your company

Who approves and who reads agreements. Name the decision maker who confirms the position and chooses the approach, and the person who reviews agreements before any notice or signature.
Your limits. The share of company spend that makes a category matter, the supply-risk limits and the notice window all start from sensible defaults; set them to your own.
Your steps. The plan uses six standard steps with set lengths. Change them to the way your company runs sourcing, and decide how holidays are handled.
Your objectives. Rank cost, supply security, quality and service the way your company ranks them for each kind of category.
Your records. Decide where the approved plan lives, so next year's run starts from its baseline.
Your platform. It runs in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini. Decide which exports and documents the assistant may read.

What has been checked

Fully Powered AI wrote this capability template. It was editorially reviewed on 10 November 2026. This version was tried once on its invented example in Claude on 10 November 2026, and the record of that run is published with it; the record says that the run was made by the model that revised the template, lists two small wording fixes made during the run and checked against its output, and lists the small edits made after an independent review, which were checked against the recorded output but not run again. An earlier run of the first draft, the same day, found the gaps this version fixes. It has not yet been tested in a client environment. It has not yet been tested as a packaged version in ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot or Gemini.

Testing in your environment means running it on one or two categories your buyer knows well, with hard cases written in advance: an export whose headers do not match, a row whose amount does not equal quantity times price, an item only one supplier can make, a notice date that falls before the plan starts. The buyer checks every figure and date against the export and the supplier facts before anyone relies on the plan. Pilot acceptance-test preparation sets those cases up, and what we test before we call an AI workflow ready describes the record we keep.

The full capability template

Everything above is the outline. The complete capability template is the working version: the roles, the inputs, the procedure, the exceptions and stop conditions, the output format, the reviewer checklist, the acceptance tests, the instructions for an AI assistant and what to customize for your company. It comes with a download and the link to its folder in Fully Powered’s public repository.

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