Clay Buliding Materials Market Procurement Intelligence Report

Several macro changes in the dynamics of overall Construction Supplies as well as Clay Buliding Materials procurement trends are poised to change the business practices and procurement thumb rules. Fluctuation in prices of construction materials has made it difficult for project contractors to maintain a steady cost projection on construction projects. Also, the risks associated with project cost overruns are contributing to project delays and abandonment. Procurement functions are more careful while drawing up supplier contracts and insulating their projects from price uncertainties to the extent possible on negotiation tables.

Suppliers across the value chain are increasing their investments in technologies and incorporating systems integrated with IoT, AI, Big data, and data analytics to generate efficiencies and better serve the evolving demand patterns of buyers. This is expected to impact the cost structure of suppliers in the short-term but will help bring down the costs in longer run as suppliers recover the costs of current investment cycles.

Construction activities and manufacturing of construction supplies are known to be a large source of emissions across the world. Regulatory and social pressures to keep emissions in check have transformed the way construction industry operates. Sustainable practices have penetrated the traditional business processes. There is an increasing demand for green buildings, low carbon concretes and other low emission construction aggregates and renewable energy solutions. All these factors are contributing to a significant change in the procurement standards and practices within the category.

Category managers need to take note of the potential of these developments and reassess the changes required in their procurement practices.

It has become imperative for category managers to remain as agile as possible in terms of their procurement practices. However, it is not always easy to quickly spot and implement alternative practices in a category like Clay Buliding Materials. To help quick decision making, this report advises on several procurement best practices that have worked well for category managers.

For example, Large firms should prefer to engage in long-term contracts with a preferred set of suppliers that can provide integrated solutions for all scales of projects (small, mid-sized, or large). Partnerships with preferred service providers lead to category-level innovations and enable buyers to avail customized services.

Buyers must have a clear understanding of the sub-contracting policies of suppliers. Suppliers must be evaluated on factors such as price, quality, and regulatory compliance of their subcontractors before they are selected.

Buyers should invest in benchmarking studies that help them to improve their knowledge of prevalent pricing structures within the industry. This is based on job role and function that allows them to not only save costs but also negotiate better with service providers.

Clay Buliding Materials procurement managers also need to proactively identify and mitigate potential risks that can arise in the supply chain or contracts for Clay Buliding Materials procurement. Some examples include: