Clays Market Procurement Intelligence Report

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

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.

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.

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

Sometimes, procurement functions are unable to timely alter their practices while responding to market conditions. Industry experts acknowledge that periodically reviewing procurement best practices and adopting learnings from across procurement categories can help procurement teams respond to market needs in a more agile way. This report combines our experience of other categories with Clays procurement insights and hand picks best practices that can work for category managers delving in this market.

For example, 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.

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 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.

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