⏱ CUTS SPEND ANALYSIS TIME 60%
💰 Procurement
Cost Analyzer
Excel based procurement model pulling from SQL aggregated PO data. Delivers supplier comparison tables, spend heatmaps by category, and automated cost saving alerts whenever a supplier's price exceeds the category average by more than 10%.
€2.84M
Total Spend Analysed
€214k
Saving Opportunities Found
23
Overpriced PO Lines Flagged
60%
Faster Spend Analysis
// live dashboard
Spend Analytics Overview
📊 Total Spend by Category 12 month cumulative (€)
🏆 Supplier Spend Concentration top 6 suppliers
📈 Price vs. Category Average variance % per supplier
📉 Monthly Spend Trend all categories combined (€)
🌡 Spend Heatmap Monthly Spend Intensity by Category (darker = higher spend)
Each cell represents one month of spend. Hover for details.
⚠️ Live Saving Opportunity Alerts suppliers exceeding category average by >10%
▶ Problem
- Procurement teams lacked visibility into supplier pricing trends across categories cost saving opportunities remained invisible in fragmented PO data spread across 3 systems.
- Spend analysis previously took a senior buyer 2 3 days per quarter using manual Excel exports now completed in under a day with automated SQL aggregation.
- No benchmarking mechanism existed: buyers had no way to know if a price quoted by Supplier A was above or below what other suppliers charged for the same category.
- Spend was concentrated: top 3 suppliers accounted for 71% of total spend, yet no consolidation strategy or volume negotiation had been attempted in 18 months.
▶ Solution
- SQL pipeline queries PO header and line tables from ERP, calculates category average unit price per quarter, and flags any supplier line where actual price exceeds average by >10%.
- Excel model consumes SQL output via Power Query refresh one click updates all charts, heatmaps, and saving opportunity alerts for the full 12 month dataset.
- Spend heatmap built in Excel conditional formatting shows monthly spend intensity by category immediately revealing seasonal procurement patterns and spend concentration.
- Saving opportunity alerts categorised by tier: High (>25% above average), Medium (10 25%), with estimated EUR saving if price aligned to category average.
▶ Key Findings
- MRO (Maintenance, Repair & Operations) category had the highest price variance 3 suppliers charging between €8.40 and €14.20 per unit for equivalent items, a 69% spread. Immediate consolidation opportunity worth €47,200.
- Raw Materials spend spiked 34% in Q3 driven entirely by a single supplier (Kovač Chemicals) invoicing at 22% above the category average for 4 consecutive months without buyer challenge.
- Top 6 suppliers account for 68% of total spend strong consolidation leverage available if volume is used in contract renegotiations during the next sourcing cycle.
- Packaging category shows lowest price variance (±4%) suppliers in this category are price aligned. Effort is better directed at Logistics and MRO where spreads are widest.
- 23 PO lines flagged as overpriced totalling €214,000 in addressable savings equivalent to 7.5% of annual procurement budget accessible without changing any suppliers.
// projections
📈 12 Month Forward Spend Forecast with Savings Opportunity
📉 Projected Annual Procurement Spend solid = historical dashed = projected
Base scenario (no action): Total annual procurement spend is projected at €3.12M a 9.8% increase driven by commodity inflation in Raw Materials and increased Logistics volumes. With savings realised: If the 23 flagged overpriced lines are renegotiated to category average and the MRO consolidation is actioned, projected spend falls to €2.91M saving €214,000 vs base. Inflation +8% scenario: Assumes commodity price increases flow through unchallenged, projecting spend at €3.38M underscoring the urgency of locking in price agreements with key suppliers before Q2.
// dataset
📊 Raw Dataset
Real data used in this analysis 50 rows shown. Download full dataset below.
| PO Number | Supplier | Category | Item Description | Unit Price (€) | Quantity | Total Spend (€) | PO Date | Lead Time (d) | vs. Avg (%) | Saving Opp. (€) |
|---|
// strategic guidance
💡 Advice for Companies with Similar Challenges
💡 Practical Recommendations
- Centralise all PO data into a single SQL table before attempting spend analytics. Even a simple union of ERP exports into one table cleaned and deduplicated gives you more spend visibility than most companies have ever had. The analysis itself is straightforward once the data is unified.
- Basic price benchmarking across suppliers in the same category typically surfaces 8 15% in addressable savings within the first quarter. You don't need an external benchmarking tool your own historical PO data is the benchmark. Calculate category average unit price and compare every active supplier to it.
- Target the highest variance categories first, not the highest spend ones. A 20% price reduction in a €200k category beats a 2% reduction in a €1M category. Identify where your price spread is widest and that is where your negotiation effort delivers the most return per hour spent.
- Run the spend analysis quarterly, not annually. Supplier pricing drift is subtle a 3% quarter on quarter increase goes unnoticed but compounds to 12% by year end. Automated SQL refresh means the quarterly run costs a buyer 30 minutes rather than 2 days.
⚡ Key Takeaway
Procurement savings are not found in negotiation rooms they are found in data. Companies that build even a basic spend visibility tool consistently find 7 12% of addressable savings sitting in plain sight in their own PO history. The constraint is never the negotiating skill; it is always the lack of data to support the conversation.