Four Steps to Future Procurement: become Proc expert! (2026)

Name: Four Steps to Future Procurement: become Proc expert! (2026)
Rating: 4.5 (1951 reviews)

Proven Practices for Procurement: from Beginner to Professional (with the updates 2026)

Created byRobert Freeman

Last updated 5/2026

English

What you'll learn

What is Procurement and how does Procurement organization function?
How can an effective Procurement organization contribute to the entire company results, including Profit level?
What is Category management, Supplier portfolio management, how to build relations with your suppliers and vendors?
What are the risks connected to Supply and to Procurement as such? How to calculate the risks and how to work with Risk management?
What is Supply chain management and what is Procurement's role in it?
What is Strategic cost management and how to apply it in your organization?
How to prepare, run and conclude negotiation in Procurement?
What is Strategic sourcing and how to implement it in your organization?

Course content

6 sections • 28 lectures • 7h 58m total length

Introduction: general overview of the Step 1 to Future Procurement2:06
In this video you will see the general overview of the Step 1 to Future Procurement
Procurement Processes Overview33:53
In this chapter we will have the intro to Procurement process and have the general overview of Procurement:
-What is it?
-What are the goals and objectives of Procurement?
-What are the products and types of Procurement?
- What are the key processes of Procurement?
Leverage effect of Procurement8:16
This chapter will help you to establish the right mindset before going forward.
And also you will understanding the potential impact of the Procurement organization to the entire company, and to profit of entire company!
Procurement development model30:14
Procurement development model is important for 2 reasons:
You understand better a Procurement organization at the current moment of time. This is the most simple way to describe the very complex theory behind the Procurement development stages in the company.
You will understand quickly what are the development ambitions that should be placed to come to the next level? The model helps to identify the development directions for the Procurement organizations.
Procurement decisions14:38
The best advice I can give from my experience is to evaluate the three things when taking any procurement decision:
Prices
Risks
Values
Quality aspects in Procurement19:02
Quality aspects are quite often underestimated and the RISK connected to quality aspects is also often forgotten. It is not the primary topic for most Procurement organizations. And not even the secondary for some others….
So in this part of our development program I want you to form a proper quality mindset and perception of quality for Procurement organization.
Food for Thoughts11:36
After the theoretical part (after videos and presentations) – the real work starts.
And what you should to do now –is to apply this knowledge and tools in real life. To your company, to your business, your Category or your segment.
And believe me – if you will really apply this course now – you will remember this new things forever, you will fix this materials in your brain for a long time. Not in the shelf of the short-term, operative memory, but in the cells for the long term memory.
Especially if you will think, analyse and write down these new findings – you will fix this new knowledge for yourself. I guarantee.

Introduction: general overview of the Step 2 to Future Procurement5:46
In this video you will see the general overview of the Step 2 to Future Procurement
Supplier portfolio management20:12
You will start with Supplier portfolio management and we will look into the good ways to differentiate the suppliers that we have, how to build a stronger business development strategy for EACH of the supplier
Supplier portfolio management (continuation)24:58
Competitive mode and price cutting practices20:37
In this chapter you will have a deep dive into Competitive mode of supplier development. Here we will concentrate on the Leverage suppliers (as you have learned in the previous chapter – Leverage suppliers are the ones with the low complexity or low risk but high turnovers).
And also in this chapter we will look into the question of price cutting. How can we secure the optimal prices for the leverage suppliers, what tools and techniques we can use here and what are the preconditions for that?
Cooperative mode and cost cutting practices13:55
Cooperative mode is the best one to be used with strategic suppliers. The ones with the high volumes (the high turnover), and the ones with the high complexity or risk. So if you remember the four sectors we had on the Krajlic matrix – these suppliers are the ones in the right upper corner.
Cooperative mode and cost cutting practices (continuation)43:18
Food for Thoughts6:27
What you should to do now is to apply this knowledge and tools in real life.

Introduction: general overview of the Step 3 to Future Procurement2:14
In this video you will see the general overview of the Step 3 to Future Procurement
Supply chain complexity26:18
In this lesson you will have a general look on the Supply chains and understand it from different angles, from different points of view, and from different perspectives. You will see that however simple this may sound or look like from the first glance – in reality supply chains are quite complex and difficult to manage.
Value adding, Value Stream Mapping27:00
This particular chapter you will elaborate more on the topic of value creation and value-adding.
Here you will create a decent understanding about value creation throughout supply chains, value-adding processes, and non-value-adding processes. About the wastes and types of wastes, and about the ways how to eliminate wastes.
Responsiveness vs Efficiency10:58
In this short chapter you will learn about responsiveness and efficiency in relation to supply chains. These two words are very important in description of any supply chain.
And these are very important parameters of supply chains, which are having a huge impact on the cost picture, on the reaction time to the changes, risk management and many other areas.
Supply chain dilemmas29:22
In this chapter of our course we will talk about supply chain dilemmas.
This will be the real choices that every procurement specialist, or supply chain professional needs to take in everyday job. Some of the dilemmas will be big and strategic, but also some of the examples you will see are quite down-to-earth and straightforward.
Supply chain risks14:43
Risk management is very often underestimated area, and honestly very few companies are having methodological approach to risk management, and even less companies have written procedures about it.
For this reason I have decided to include risk management in our big course.
Food for Thoughts7:12
What you should to do now is to apply this knowledge and tools in real life.

Introduction: general overview of the Step 4 to Future Procurement2:32
In this video you will see the general overview of the Step 4 to Future Procurement
Strategic Sourcing19:35
Here you will investigate if the principles of Strategic Sourcing. After this lesson you will be able to organize and manage the self developing organization, built on the principles of continuous improvement.
Strategic Sourcing (continuation)30:19
Win-Win: Negotiations at its best35:54
We negotiate with suppliers about prices and prize development. We negotiate with suppliers about delivery and payment terms, about requirements and quality deviations. Also we negotiate with the different departments in our company, trying to pursue our standpoint, and trying to push through our decisions. And of course we negotiate a lot within the team we are working in.
So in this chapter you will get some hints how to make negotiations in a win-win way. This means how to make it possible for both parties to feel happy and motivated after the negotiation has happened.
Food for Thoughts6:15
What you should to do now is to apply this knowledge and tools in real life.

Requirements

This course was prepared based on my own experience and the best practices I have used by myself. Also this course contains some theoretical knowledge and practical tools that are used by the world class companies and supply chain managers.

Description

After 20+ years I was working in Procurement – I decided to compile a really useful and practical course.

This course is for you if you:

- would like to know practical tips and advice regarding procurement and supply chain management,

- don't have the formal education, but want to know the basic tools and methods used in the world class Procurement organizations,

- want to understand the basic knowledge and some advanced principals in a very short period of time..

And as you already understood, we learn step-by-step here. We have designed the course in four steps, and the best approach to learning would be to take one step in one week.

So I recommend you to make the course in four weeks. This will give you a decent time to think through and study all the materials, to digest the info, and what is the most important - to apply the information you learn!

In the end of the course you will be able to:

Understand the role and importance of Procurement in the company
Design and build your Procurement Organization based on 14 cornerstones of Procurement Organization
Develop, implement and follow-up the KPI’s for your Procurement Organization
Optimize your work with Suppliers Portfolio
Proactively manage suppliers in Competitive and Cooperative modes, involving Value Stream Mapping and Risk assessment
Create the Long term directions and Strategic sourcing plans for your Procurement Organization
and much more...

This course was prepared based on my own experience and the best practices I have used by myself. Also this course contains some theoretical knowledge but mostly practical steps and advice that are used by the world class companies and supply chain managers.

I do all my courses in a way that I would like to listen to the course on my own as well. So the material is easy to follow and understand, well structured and presented in a simple and straightforward way. And what is the most important – you can start using the tools and the knowledge already after finishing the course!

I am proud of the materials collected in this course and I am sure that you will bring your Procurement knowledge to the very next level! Also I am sure that you will improve your organization and your career!

Have a look into the preview lessons. If you like them - just go for the course. You will not regret it!

P.S. As a bonus - I have decided to share my e-books on Procurement. Some useful and fun read for you, some motivation and inspiration.

Enjoy your course and leave me a comment after you complete the course :)

Robert

Who this course is for:

Procurement, Purchasing and Manufacturing specialists: beginner level

Four Steps to Future Procurement: become Proc expert! (2026)

What you'll learn

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Course content

Step 1: Procurement Basics7 lectures • 2hr

Step 2: Proactive work with Suppliers7 lectures • 2hr 15min

Step 3: Supply Chain Management7 lectures • 1hr 58min

Step 4: Strategic Sourcing5 lectures • 1hr 35min

Final word1 lecture • 11min

Course materials and slides1 lecture • 1min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: