Underwater Cable Market Procurement Intelligence Report

The market for Construction Supplies and its sub-segments such as Underwater Cable are at an interesting intersection. To attract investment and drive long-term value, suppliers are building unique business models and implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives and stakeholder engagement programs. Such strategic initiatives are pivotal to acquire a social license to operate, generate consumer awareness, and have easy access to input commodities.

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.

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.

Trends like these and many others discussed in this report are necessitating a relook at the way Underwater Cable is procured and the procurement cost saving opportunities that exist.

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 Underwater Cable. To help quick decision making, this report advises on several procurement best practices that have worked well for category managers.

For example, It is highly recommended that buyers prioritize regional suppliers unless the project specifications are extremely sophisticated and require specialized vendors. A regional supplier base enables buyers to have significant negotiation power due to spend consolidation and exhaustive knowledge of the local codes and environmental regulations. It also insulates them from adverse fluctuations in currency exchange rates.

Establishing strategic partnerships with suppliers allow category managers to enhance management and planning vision. By adopting a strategic engagement approach, buyers can optimize their category spend by streamlining the category management process. For instance, a risk/reward-sharing approach for construction management providers helps buyers to transfer ownership of projects to service providers.

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.

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