Category Management Training Course

Duration 10 days 16 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Category Managers, Procurement Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-P-100

Before you join: Participants should have practical experience purchasing goods, services or works, or supporting procurement activities.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Category management converts fragmented purchasing activity into deliberate decisions about demand, supply markets, cost, risk, contracts and supplier relationships. Without a clear category strategy, organisations often renew incumbent arrangements without testing the market, accept poorly specified requirements, miss cost drivers, and expose operations to supply disruption. This course addresses the practical work required to move from spend data and stakeholder needs to an approved, executable category plan.

Participants examine the full category management cycle: spend analysis, demand management, supply-market analysis, portfolio segmentation, total cost of ownership, sourcing route selection, supplier relationship management, tender design, evaluation, negotiation and contract implementation. They use recognised methods including the Kraljic Matrix, Porter’s Five Forces, should-cost analysis, risk registers, BATNA preparation and benefits tracking. The course also addresses responsible sourcing, supplier due diligence, service-level agreements, pricing mechanisms and governance for category decisions.

The 10-day instructor-led programme is delivered in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online. Training days run from 08:30 to 16:30 and provide approximately 6.5 contact hours. Short instructor briefings are combined with cases, group analysis, sourcing simulations and structured application to participants’ own categories. Participants progressively build a category strategy from the first week, then refine its commercial, risk, supplier and implementation components during the second week. They leave with a completed category strategy pack suitable for adapting to a live procurement requirement, plus a certificate of completion.

The course is suited to procurement professionals who already buy goods or services and now need to manage categories with greater commercial discipline, stakeholder credibility and measurable value delivery.

What you will be able to do

  • Analyse category spend using spend cubes, Pareto analysis and supplier normalisation.
  • Develop category strategies using demand, market, cost, risk and stakeholder evidence.
  • Apply the Kraljic Matrix to prioritise sourcing and supplier-management approaches.
  • Build total cost of ownership and should-cost models for commercial decision-making.
  • Select sourcing routes, lotting structures and evaluation methods for category requirements.
  • Prepare negotiation plans using BATNA, targets, concession logs and cost evidence.
  • Design supplier performance governance using scorecards, review meetings and corrective actions.
  • Present an approved category strategy with benefits, risks, implementation milestones and ownership.

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Produce evidence-based category strategies rather than relying on incumbent supplier knowledge
  • Explain cost drivers and total cost of ownership in stakeholder and supplier discussions
  • Run better structured sourcing events with defensible evaluation and award decisions
  • Prepare negotiations with clear targets, alternatives and concession boundaries
  • Build credibility for progression into category manager and strategic sourcing roles

For your organisation

  • Improved visibility of spend concentration, demand patterns and unmanaged purchasing
  • More consistent category decisions linked to business priorities and procurement governance
  • Reduced supply interruption exposure through category risk and continuity planning
  • Better commercial outcomes through should-cost analysis, competition and negotiation preparation
  • Stronger supplier performance through scorecards, governance and corrective action tracking

Course modules

16 modules over 10 days

Participants can define a category management mandate, scope and governance structure.

  • Category management mandate, governance and decision rights within procurement
  • From spend data to category hypotheses and stakeholder questions
  • Procurement operating models: centralised, decentralised and centre-led category ownership
  • Category manager roles, RACI assignments and cross-functional working relationships
  • Stage-gate category process from opportunity assessment through benefits tracking
  • Category charters defining scope, objectives, stakeholders, milestones and approvals

Participants can create a spend analysis that identifies category opportunities and data limitations.

  • Clean purchase-order data using supplier normalisation and UNSPSC coding
  • Pareto analysis identifies high-value suppliers, transactions and spend concentrations
  • Build a spend cube by category, supplier and business unit
  • Tail-spend analysis separates low-value purchases requiring different buying channels
  • Detect maverick spend through contract, catalogue and purchase-order comparisons
  • Data-quality checks for duplicates, currency conversion, tax and missing fields

Participants can establish a defensible demand baseline and challenge unnecessary requirements.

  • Demand management distinguishes specification need from historical consumption patterns
  • Consumption baselines adjust for volume, mix, inflation and one-off events
  • Stakeholder interviews surface service requirements, constraints and demand forecasts
  • Should-cost drivers link demand volumes to budget and sourcing choices
  • Challenge demand through standardisation, bundling, reuse and approval controls
  • Requirement baselines document assumptions, service levels and forecast confidence

Participants can assess market structure, cost drivers and supplier conditions for a category.

  • PESTLE scans external factors affecting supply availability and category risk
  • Porter’s Five Forces assesses supplier power and market attractiveness
  • Supplier-market mapping covers capacity, cost drivers, technology and regulation
  • Benchmark price indices against quoted rates and internal purchase history
  • Supply-market research tests substitution options and barriers to entry
  • Market intelligence sources distinguish evidence, assumptions and supplier claims

Participants can segment categories and select proportionate commercial and supplier approaches.

  • Kraljic Matrix positions categories by profit impact and supply risk
  • Kraljic portfolio quadrants guide differentiated sourcing and relationship strategies
  • Risk exposure combines supply concentration, switching costs and failure consequences
  • Prioritise categories using value, risk, stakeholder impact and feasibility
  • Segmentation criteria prevent one-size-fits-all sourcing and supplier-management approaches
  • Document category boundaries, subcategories and interfaces with adjacent spend

Participants can assess supplier pricing and identify value opportunities beyond purchase price.

  • Total cost of ownership captures acquisition, operation, risk and disposal costs
  • Should-cost models separate materials, labour, overhead, margin and logistics
  • Clean-sheet cost analysis tests supplier quotations against process economics
  • Price-cost analysis links commodity indices, exchange rates and cost movements
  • Cost breakdown requests define evidence needed from shortlisted suppliers
  • Value analysis removes nonessential specifications without compromising required performance

Participants can assess category risks and develop proportionate supply continuity controls.

  • Category risk registers capture probability, impact, controls, owners and triggers
  • Supply continuity plans address single sourcing, shortages and supplier failure
  • Risk heat maps distinguish inherent exposure from residual risk
  • Assess geopolitical, climate, cyber, ethical and regulatory supply threats
  • Business continuity requirements establish recovery times, inventory and alternate sources
  • Escalation thresholds connect category risks to enterprise risk governance

Participants can incorporate environmental, social and ethical requirements into category decisions.

  • Responsible sourcing criteria cover human rights, emissions, waste and traceability
  • Supplier questionnaires test policies, evidence, corrective actions and reporting maturity
  • Life-cycle assessment informs trade-offs between purchase price and environmental impact
  • Modern slavery due diligence identifies high-risk materials, geographies and tiers
  • Contract clauses define audit rights, remediation and supplier disclosure duties
  • Build social-value measures relevant to the category and procurement policy

Participants can select a sourcing route aligned with category value, risk and market conditions.

  • Select sourcing routes: competition, negotiation, framework, auction or direct award
  • Make-or-buy analysis tests internal capability, capacity, cost and control
  • Lotting strategies balance supplier access, aggregation benefits and operational complexity
  • Develop sourcing timelines around approvals, market engagement and transition requirements
  • Route-to-market decisions align category risk, value and procurement rules
  • Sourcing plans specify governance, resources, dependencies and decision gates

Participants can establish supplier governance that improves performance and manages relationship risk.

  • Supplier segmentation differentiates strategic partners, preferred suppliers and transactional vendors
  • SRM governance sets executive sponsors, review cadence and escalation routes
  • Scorecards combine quality, delivery, cost, innovation, risk and sustainability measures
  • Joint business plans convert supplier commitments into dated actions
  • Performance reviews use root-cause analysis and corrective action tracking
  • Supplier development targets capability gaps through agreed improvement plans

Participants can prepare specifications and sourcing documents that obtain comparable supplier responses.

  • Outcome-based specifications define results, acceptance criteria and service levels
  • Statement-of-work structures distinguish deliverables, responsibilities, milestones and dependencies
  • Evaluation criteria align technical, commercial, risk and sustainability requirements
  • RFI, RFP and ITT documents request comparable supplier evidence
  • Bid instructions control timetable, clarification, submission and confidentiality requirements
  • Evaluation matrices weight criteria and document moderation decisions

Participants can conduct fair, evidence-based supplier evaluations and document award recommendations.

  • Bid compliance checks identify mandatory failures before detailed evaluation
  • Consensus scoring uses anchored scales, evidence notes and moderation
  • Commercial normalisation compares offers with differing volumes, terms and assumptions
  • Scenario analysis tests award recommendations against demand and cost uncertainty
  • Supplier due diligence reviews financial health, sanctions, ownership and capability
  • Audit trails preserve evaluation evidence, approvals and conflict declarations

Participants can prepare and conduct negotiations using commercial evidence and planned trade-offs.

  • Negotiation preparation defines BATNA, targets, walk-away points and concessions
  • Supplier cost models support fact-based challenges during commercial discussions
  • Package trades across price, service, risk, volume and payment terms
  • Use principled negotiation to separate interests from stated positions
  • Concession logs record reciprocity, authority limits and unresolved issues
  • Closing plans convert provisional agreements into documented commitments and approvals

Participants can translate category decisions into contract terms, controls and obligations.

  • Contracting strategies allocate risk to parties able to manage it
  • Service-level agreements define measures, reporting, remedies and service credits
  • Pricing mechanisms compare fixed, indexed, cost-plus and volume-based models
  • Contract schedules capture specifications, governance, data and implementation obligations
  • Change-control clauses manage scope, pricing, approvals and documented variations
  • Obligation registers track deliverables, renewals, notices and compliance evidence

Participants can assemble an implementation-ready category strategy with measurable benefits and governance.

  • Category strategies connect business needs, market evidence and sourcing actions
  • Strategy-on-a-page summarises objectives, initiatives, risks, owners and milestones
  • Benefits cases quantify savings, cost avoidance, cash and risk reduction
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence sourcing, contracting, transition and supplier-management activities
  • KPIs track value delivery, compliance, service, resilience and sustainability
  • Stakeholder engagement plans identify influence, messages, forums and decisions

Participants can build, review and present a complete category strategy pack for approval.

  • Integrate spend, demand, market, cost and risk findings into strategy
  • Define category scope, segmentation, objectives and quantified value opportunities
  • Select sourcing route, supplier approach and contract-commercial model
  • Build an implementation roadmap with governance, resources, milestones and controls
  • Review strategy evidence against stakeholder requirements and procurement policy
  • Present recommendations, trade-offs, benefits and risks to an approval panel

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Category charter template
  2. Spend cube and opportunity analysis
  3. Supply-market analysis template
  4. Total cost of ownership model
  5. Category risk register
  6. Category strategy pack

Who should attend

  • Category Managers — need a disciplined method for building and executing category strategies
  • Procurement Managers — need consistent category plans, governance and measurable benefits
  • Strategic Sourcing Specialists — need stronger market analysis, tender and negotiation methods
  • Buyers and Senior Buyers — need to progress from transactional buying to category ownership
  • Contract Managers — need category context for supplier performance and commercial decisions
  • Supply Chain Managers — need to reduce supply risk through informed sourcing choices

Skills and tools covered

Spend analysisCategory strategy developmentSupply-market analysisTotal cost modellingStrategic sourcingSupplier relationship management

Tools and standards

Kraljic Matrix, Porter’s Five Forces, Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), BATNA

How the course runs

Training methodology

Instructors combine concise briefings with procurement cases, data interpretation, group discussions, sourcing simulations and individual application planning. Participants work through the category management sequence, beginning with spend and demand evidence before progressing to markets, sourcing, negotiations, contracts and supplier performance. Cases reflect common procurement situations such as facilities services, technology, logistics, professional services and direct materials. Trainers use participants’ category examples where suitable, while protecting confidential supplier and commercial information. The final sessions are structured around peer review and presentation of category strategy packs.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical experience purchasing goods, services or works, or supporting procurement activities. They should understand basic purchasing documents such as purchase orders, quotations, contracts and supplier records. Familiarity with spreadsheets is helpful because the course uses spend and cost data, but advanced modelling is not required. Participants do not need prior category-management responsibility, formal procurement certification, legal training, finance qualifications or specialist knowledge of a particular industry. Those without procurement experience should first complete an introductory procurement course.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have practical exposure to purchasing, sourcing, supplier management or contract administration. The course assumes familiarity with basic procurement documents but does not require formal procurement qualifications or previous category manager experience.

Bring a laptop if possible, along with a non-confidential example of a category, supplier issue or spend area you want to improve. You may use this example when creating your category strategy materials.

It is designed for buyers, senior buyers, strategic sourcing specialists, procurement managers, category managers and contract managers. Supply chain professionals responsible for supplier risk or sourcing decisions will also benefit.

Strategic sourcing often concentrates on running a sourcing event from specification through award. Category management includes that work but starts earlier with spend, demand, market, cost and risk analysis, then continues through supplier management and benefits delivery.

You will leave with reusable templates and a category strategy pack that can be adapted to an active spend area. The methods support immediate work on supplier reviews, sourcing plans, cost analysis, risk registers and stakeholder discussions.

The first part develops the evidence base through spend, demand, market, cost and risk analysis. The later sessions cover sourcing, supplier evaluation, negotiation, contracting, implementation and a capstone category strategy presentation.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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