Principles of Category Management in Procurement

COURSE DURATION 5 DAYS

Dates: 1^st– 5^th June 2026

Introduction

Category management is crucial because it transforms procurement from a tactical function to a strategic driver, delivering significant cost savings through bulk buying, improving supplier relationships via focused partnerships, mitigating risks with data-driven insights, and aligning purchasing with overall business goals for better resource allocation, efficiency, and innovation. It achieves this by grouping similar products, analyzing spend, and optimizing sourcing for maximum value and competitive advantage.

This ALARDI Africa Category Management training will highlight how to:

• Create a fully integrated Category Management practice that will deliver better overall results for your company.
• Become more disciplined in your approach to Category Management.
• Use enhanced data analytics in category analysis, merchandising, promotions, and pricing to improve decision-making.
• Improve merchandising execution at the store level.
• Better leverage partnerships with suppliers.
• Optimize assortment planning and management.
• Take a more “customer-centric” approach to manage your category.

Objectives

By the end of this Category Management training, participants will be able to:

• Understand the rationale and principles of category management
• Assess the main categories of expenditure
• Use various models to manage categories more effectively
• Analyse market factors to support business decisions
• Implement category management across several spend categories
• Build some behavioural and technical skills required to implement category management
• Make the category management approach work for your business

Training Methodology

This is a highly interactive and action-packed Category Management training course, where the participants will be armed with comprehensive tool sets that they can apply to different scenarios in their jobs. Participants will increase their competencies through a variety of instructional methods, individual and team exercises, group discussions, and specific team assignments covering the main topics presented in the training course.

Who Should Attend?

This ALARDI Africa Category Management training course is suitable for a wide range of professionals, but will greatly benefit:

• Procurement Analyst
• Contract Manager
• Category Manager

• Procurement Manager
• Support Manager
• Quality Assurance Manager

Course Outline

Day 1: Understanding Procurement and Category Management

• Definition and understanding of procurement and purchasing
• Definition of category management
• The evolution of category management
• Models used in category grouping
• The aspects to be considered in category groups
• Managing selective inventory control

Day 2: Maximising Value and Procurement Excellence using Varied Routes

• The Procurement Excellence Roadmap (PER)
• The importance of category management in procurement
• Value improvement using category management
• Value adding from categorization
• Class exercise on category management in procurement

Day 3: Understanding the Supplier Sourcing and Selection Routes

• Traditional purchasing revisited
• Value and risk analysis
• The model for identifying inventory classification
• Best price evaluation
• Understanding collaborative supplier management
• Supplier Portfolio Analysis (SPfA)

Day 4: Recognising and Overcoming the Barriers to Category Management

• Common barriers and challenges
• Overcoming such barriers
• Best practice in the implementation of new ideas
• Managing price-sensitive products
• Economic order quantity
• Criticality analysis
• Class work on Selective Inventory Control (SIC)

Day 5: Category Management and Rethinking the Supply Chain

• Supply chain futures, predictions, and what needs to be done
• The improvements for re-engineering end-to-end supply chains
• Supply chain excellence and shareholder value
• The steps to supply chain excellence
• Developing the supply chain strategy
• Supply chain strategy best practice

Certificate

• On successful completion of this training course, the ALARDI Africa Certificate will be issued to the participants.

Venue:

Kenya-Nairobi                     Cost USD 1800

DRC-Goma                           Cost USD 2100

Dates: 1^st– 5^th June 2026