when we hear this, the real underlying question is:
Can we afford not to?
Most procurement teams get stuck in the same loop:
– Chase the lowest unit price
– Replace. repeat. dispose.
They they focus on the main budget alloacted to purchase the product, not costs spent when it travels through its life within and out of the organisation
The biggest barrier isn’t the budget.
It’s the assumption that
– “how we’ve always bought” is the THE way and
– not seeing the “whole-life cost” and “total organisational value” upfront when you buy.
When you stop buying the product with cheapest value upfront and start buying smart, things start to shift:
– Products last longer fewer replacements
– Materials have reusability, less waste, more value
– Suppliers innovate because you’re asking better questions
They’re rethinking the ‘as is’ before they rethink the budget.
You would ask:
– Can this be repaired instead of replaced?
– What happens to this product at the end of life?
– If not us (purchasing department), who within and out of this organisation would bear its costs along its ownership cycle?
Which then leads to the question
– How do we bring total cost of ownership of this item to the decision table?
Procurement shouldn’t just keep the lights on. It should light the way forward.
The shift is not hard; it requires only the willingness to question the default.
Ready to rethink how you buy?
