Clinker Market Procurement Intelligence Report

Business practices within Clinker market are heavily influenced by changing trends across the category as well as within the broader Construction Supplies market. 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.

The growing need for smarter and resilient construction has encouraged a rapid implementation of advanced BIM solutions. The integration of 4D BIM and geographical information system (GIS) is helping in improving construction productivity, construction supply chain management, material supplier selection, estimation of deliveries, and overall coordination between construction companies and material suppliers.

Over the years, regional boundaries have blurred as suppliers foray into different continents, increase their capital expenditure and spend on cross-border M&A initiatives. The deployment of geographic diversification strategies through such consolidation initiatives has enabled the large suppliers to improve their performance and expand their business footprint.

As a result, category managers need to closely monitor the Clinker procurement trends and identify changes required in their procurement environment for the category.

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 Clinker. 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.

Service providers may outsource certain aspects of the project if they lack the required expertise or to expedite the project progress. If the subcontractor is not covered by a reliable liability insurance or does not abide by the same terms and conditions that were laid down for the main contractors, then it can hinder the main contractor's ability to perform its services. It may also entangle the buyers in legal complications and negative publicity.

Buyers should engage with service providers that offer a wide portfolio and can act as a one-stop solution provider for multifaceted requirements of projects. This enables buyers to save significant costs and increases their spend visibility.

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