Companies with their own procurement teams rarely think they need outside sourcing help. Usually they are right that the team knows the product better than anyone. What a second look adds is not knowledge of the product. It is distance from the existing supplier list.
The situation
A Greek industrial manufacturer had already selected a supplier through its own procurement team. The choice was reasonable and the team was experienced. We were asked to look at the market independently, on the same requirement.
What we found
We identified an alternative supplier that was 15% cheaper than the one already chosen. It was also aligned with the EU deforestation rules (EUDR) and ready to provide the compliance data the manufacturer’s own customers were going to ask for. In other words, the cheaper option was not cheaper because it cut corners. It was cheaper and better prepared.
Why this happens
None of this was a failure by the in-house team. It is how procurement normally works. Teams buy from suppliers they know, and they compare new offers against those suppliers. Over time the list stops growing. A supplier who would be a better fit may simply never have been asked to quote.
There is a second reason, which is becoming more important. Price is no longer the only thing being compared. When EU rules require importers and manufacturers to show where materials come from, a supplier who cannot supply that data creates a cost later, in time, in paperwork or in a lost customer. A quote that looks cheaper today can be the more expensive one by the end of the year.
What to take from it
- Before a large or long-term order, test the chosen supplier against at least one serious alternative on exactly the same written requirement.
- Ask every candidate for the compliance data your market will require, at quotation stage, and count its absence as a cost.
- Have someone outside the existing supplier relationships do the search. The value is in the distance, not in replacing the team.
If you have a supplier decision coming up and want an independent comparison before you commit, tell us what you are buying.