A short kickoff: targets, priority, and quick wins

• How many commodity categories are on your current annual cost-reduction plan? Options: 1, 2-3, 4-6, 7+
• What percent saving does your CFO expect procurement to deliver this fiscal year? Options: <1%, 1-3%, 3-5%, 5-10%, >10%
• Who on your team will need to approve a pilot recommendation to scale it into a program? Options: CPO / Head of Procurement, VP Supply Chain, Commodity Director / Manager, Finance (CFO / Controller), Program Director, Other
• When did you last run a 60 to 90 day pilot on a commodity and what changed because of it?
• List the single commodity category you would prioritize for a pilot and one sentence why.

Where negotiations stop finding extra margin

• If you miss your annual cost target, what is the immediate operational or budget consequence for procurement?
• How many competitive bid rounds has the priority commodity seen in the last 18 months? Options: 0, 1, 2, 3+
• Describe the quote lines suppliers most frequently refuse to break out, for example tooling, yield loss, or cycle time premiums.
• Which supplier artifacts are rarely provided but would materially change negotiation confidence: tooling amortization, process flow diagrams, disassembly BOM, or press-rate studies? Options: Tooling amortization, Process flow diagrams, Disassembly BOM, Press-rate studies, Supplier cost buildups, Other
• When your buyers lack should-cost evidence, which concessions do they commonly accept in price or terms?

Can the data needed for a should-cost actually be produced?

• Could your team produce supplier-level BOMs, validated tooling quotes, and cycle time measurements for a pilot commodity within four weeks? Options: Yes, No, Only with seller support
• Provide the systems and file formats that hold purchasing and engineering records relevant to the commodity, for example ERP extracts, PLM exports, or supplier Excel quotes.
• Who controls access and authorizations for ERP, PLM, and quality system extracts, and can they approve an extract within two weeks?
• Estimate the percentage of spend lines today that include tooling or capital amortization details. Options: 0-10%, 10-25%, 25-50%, 50-75%, 75-100%
• If validated supplier tooling quotes are unavailable, what alternative evidence would convince your stakeholders to proceed? Options: Supplier estimates with backup, Engineering teardown data, Third-party benchmarking, Historical program teardown, Other

What success looks like and the handoff decision

• Imagine the pilot proves the forecasted savings, what decision milestone would move procurement to commit to a broader program within 14 days?
• Which stakeholders or committees must sign pilot acceptance and program expansion, and who holds final budget authority? Options: Procurement leadership, Finance / CFO office, Program / Program Management Office, Engineering / Program Owner, Executive committee, Other
• Provide the concrete acceptance metrics you would use to validate savings, include threshold percentages, sample size, and acceptable variance.
• Identify the person or role who will own supplier negotiations and the program governance after pilot handover.
• Assuming the acceptance metrics are met, what budget or authority exists to sign new supplier agreements within 30 days? Options: Procurement has authority to sign, Requires CFO approval, Requires executive committee approval, Requires additional budget request, Unsure

Alternatives on the table and what would keep you with them

• Name the incumbent approach or internal option leadership prefers instead of running an external pilot.
• Select which of these options have been evaluated recently: keep incumbents, run additional bidding rounds, insource the work, or hire a generalist consultancy. Options: Keep incumbents, Run additional bidding rounds, Insource the work, Hire a generalist consultancy, Hire a specialist consultancy, Other
• Identify the conditions that would have to be true for you to stay with the current approach rather than change.
• Has any internal team proposed solving this without an external partner, and if yes, who proposed it and what was the plan?
• List the main reasons leadership might reject an external pilot and keep the status quo. Options: Cost, Risk of supplier disruption, Satisfaction with incumbent, Internal capability to solve, Timing, Legal or contractual constraints, Other

Readiness: data, access, timelines, and gating risks

• Confirm whether your team can provide anonymized supplier quotes, tooling worksheets, and cycle-time logs within four weeks if we request them. Options: Yes, No, Only with NDAs / legal review
• State the primary system that stores purchase order history for the commodity and indicate if an API or CSV extract is available.
• Name the day-to-day sponsor for the pilot and the technical contact responsible for data extracts.
• Estimate the internal hours or FTEs your team can dedicate weekly to pilot coordination and supplier engagement. Options: <4 hours/week, 4-10 hours/week, 10-20 hours/week, 20+ hours/week, Dedicated 1.0 FTE
• What regulatory, legal, or confidentiality approvals could delay data sharing, and how long do they typically take?

Risks, escalation, and the real stop signs

• Describe the one supplier or validation risk that would cause you to stop the program immediately, and why.
• State the supplier performance metrics you require during validation, for example PPAP completion, qualified parts per million, or process capability. Options: PPAP stage completion, PPM (parts per million), Process capability (Cpk), First article inspection, Other
• Explain who the escalation owners are and the order of notification if a supplier quality escape occurred during ramp.
• Specify the acceptable delay in weeks for supplier development before production launch windows are at risk. Options: 0-4 weeks, 5-8 weeks, 9-16 weeks, >16 weeks
• Confirm whether your legal team is prepared to accept proposed tooling ownership clauses if a supplier requests them. Options: Yes, No, Only with negotiated contract language

Next steps, timing, and the fastest path to a decision

• Assuming the pilot delivers the projected savings, what exact procurement decision and timeline would follow?
• Select your ideal pilot start window. Options: Immediately, Within 4 weeks, Within 8 weeks, Next quarter, Other
• Declare any blackout dates, major program milestones, or launch freezes in the next six months that could block supplier validation work.
• Share the roles and contact points that should receive the pilot charter and weekly progress updates from the seller's delivery team. Options: Procurement lead, Commodity Manager, Program Manager, Engineering owner, Legal, Finance, Other
• Indicate the earliest date you can commit to an initial scoping call and to provide required data extracts.

• Solution Experience Session

• Confirm the current state and its cost
• You confirm the stated current state and agree the quantified consequence accurately reflects the risk to the annual target and procurement credibility.
• Provide a trimmed spend file for the nominated commodity and the most recent supplier quotes for the nominated part within three business days.
• You confirm the live should-cost model shows where validated savings can be realized for the nominated part and accepts the projected savings band as credible evidence.
• Run a live should-cost walkthrough using your part
• Run an initial should-cost model on the provided sample part and deliver a model summary and savings projection within five business days.
• You agree the negotiation playbook would change the buyer's negotiation stance without unnecessarily damaging supplier relationships and identify any remaining evidence required to decide on the pilot.
• Show the negotiation playbook tied to the model
• Draft a one page pilot scope with success metrics and proposed timeline and circulate for written agreement within two business days after the model summary is shared.
• Validate fit and remaining evidence needs
• You and the seller agree the next deliverables and a short timeline to finalize pilot scope and authorization.
• Decision and next steps check

• Solution Experience Session
• Solution Experience Deck
• Pilot Solution Brief

• meeting
• slides
• document

• Build commodity-specific should-cost model
• Calculate tooling amortization and ownership schedule
• Model press-rate and production economics
• Prepare competitive sourcing RFQ and technical package
• Run competitive bid event and manage supplier quotes
• Reconcile bids to engineered cost (bid-to-cost analysis)
• Deliver supplier selection and commercial recommendation
• Negotiate supplier agreement with price and escalation clauses
• Design tooling ownership and handover agreements
• Execute supplier development and quality improvement program
• Oversee PPAP, pilot production trials, and launch readiness
• Implement dual-source allocation and supply continuity plan

Build commodity-specific should-cost model

• Provide the part number and latest drawing revision used to define geometry and tolerances for the should-cost model
• List the bill of materials (BOM) lines and material grades (e.g., AISI 1018, 6061-T6) we must include in the cost build-up
• Identify the current annual and program-year unit volumes and planned lot sizes used for amortization and rate assumptions Options: Under 10,000 per year, 10,000-50,000 per year, 50,000-200,000 per year, More than 200,000 per year
• Estimate the target accuracy threshold for modeled piece price versus negotiated price that you will accept for pilot decisions (for example within 5%) Options: Within 2%, Within 5%, Within 10%, More than 10%
• Confirm which supplier cost inputs are available from your side (select all that apply): raw material price history, supplier tooling quotes, machine cycle time studies, scrap/yield reports Options: Raw material price history, Supplier tooling quotes, Machine cycle time studies, Scrap or yield reports, None available
• Which acceptance criteria will confirm the should-cost model is fit for negotiation use (for example tolerance band, validated supplier datapoints, signed-off assumptions)? Options: Tolerance band agreed, Supplier datapoints validated, Assumption sign-off from commodity manager

Calculate tooling amortization and ownership schedule

• Provide the tooling types and tool IDs that apply (progressive die, transfer die, injection mold) and indicate which are owned by your organization
• List the original tooling cost records or supplier tooling quotes and their invoice dates that we can use for amortization schedules
• Identify the expected useful life in cycles or years you use for each tooling family for amortization purposes Options: 10,000 cycles, 50,000 cycles, 100,000 cycles, Custom (describe)
• Specify whether tooling maintenance and repair costs should be included in amortization or treated as year-of-run operating expense Options: Include in amortization, Treat as operating expense, Split by percent (describe)
• Indicate the ownership transfer constraints we must assume (for example tooling stays with supplier at termination, tooling reverts to buyer after payback, joint ownership) Options: Supplier retains tooling, Buyer takes ownership after amortization, Joint ownership, Other
• Provide the fiscal depreciation or accounting treatment your finance team requires for tooling schedules (for example straight line years or unit-of-production) Options: Straight line years, Unit of production, Tax-driven method, Not specified

Model press-rate and production economics

• Provide the target machine types and press models in scope (tonnage class or transfer press family) and the associated available cycle times
• List the current run-at-rate evidence you have such as time studies, SPC run charts, or supplier cycle-time logs Options: Time studies, SPC run charts, Supplier cycle logs, No evidence available
• Identify typical scrap and rework rates for the part during pilot production and steady state by operation (blanking, forming, trimming, welding, finishing) Options: Under 1%, 1-3%, 3-7%, Over 7%
• Estimate downtime assumptions to include (planned maintenance, die changeover minutes per shift, preventive maintenance frequency) Options: Minimal (<=2%), Moderate (2-5%), High (>5%), Custom (describe)
• Specify energy and utility cost inputs we should apply per press hour or per part if available Options: Provide kWh rate, Provide per-hour cost, Not available
• Describe any secondary operations (heat treat, plating, CNC finishing) that must be included in production economics and whether you control those operations or they are outsourced Options: In-house, Outsourced, Mixed

Prepare competitive sourcing RFQ and technical package

• Provide the drawing package and any APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) milestones, control plans, and target PPAP level required in the RFQ Options: Drawing package provided, APQP plan provided, Target PPAP level specified, None provided
• Identify the nonnegotiable technical requirements such as dimensional tolerances, surface finish Ra, heat treat hardness, or material certification grade
• List required sample sizes, inspection reports, and testing certificates you expect suppliers to submit with their RFQ responses Options: First Article Inspection, Material certificates, Process capability studies, None
• Specify commercial terms to include in the RFQ such as target lead times, payment terms, incoterm, and initial lot acceptance criteria
• Indicate packaging and shipping standards required for supplier quotes (for example kitting, EDI ASN, vibration-protected crates) Options: Kitted and labeled, EDI Advanced Shipping Notice, Standard palletized packaging, Custom (describe)
• Describe any supplier prequalifications we must enforce in the RFQ such as ISO 9001 certification, IATF 16949, or prior program references Options: ISO 9001, IATF 16949, Financial stability check, Prior OEM references required, No prequal

Run competitive bid event and manage supplier quotes

• State the preferred auction or sealed-bid cadence: single round sealed bids, two-stage best-and-final offers, or live reverse auction Options: Single sealed-round, Two-stage with BAFO, Live reverse auction
• Name the supplier pool to invite by qualification tier and whether you want incumbent suppliers included Options: Incumbent only, Incumbent plus tier 1 targets, Open market
• Provide timing windows for quote submission and supplier Q&A, including local plant holidays or blackout dates
• Identify which commercial levers you permit suppliers to offer (tooling credits, volume discounts, price breaks by cumulative volume, currency pass-through clauses) Options: Tooling credits, Volume discounts, Price breaks by cumulative volume, Currency pass-through
• Indicate the preferred method for receiving and tracking quotes (email, secure portal, spreadsheet template) and any required quote template fields Options: Secure portal, Standard spreadsheet template, Email with template
• Describe escalation rules for late or noncompliant quotes and whether you want automatic disqualification for missing required certificates Options: Allow cure period, Automatic disqualification, Case-by-case review

Reconcile bids to engineered cost (bid-to-cost analysis)

• Identify the bid line items to reconcile against the should-cost model such as piece price, tooling line, freight, and warranty provisions
• List supplier backup supporting documents you require for reconciliation such as machine-hour worksheets, material certificates, and subcontractor quotes Options: Machine-hour worksheets, Material certificates, Subcontractor quotes, None
• Specify allowable reconciliation tolerances by cost element (for example +/- X% on material, +/- Y% on labor) that will be accepted in the pilot Options: Material +/-2%, Labor +/-10%, Tooling +/-5%, Custom (describe)
• Indicate the owner on your side who will adjudicate disputed cost assumptions and their authority level (commodity manager, procurement director, finance) Options: Commodity manager, Procurement director, Finance review required
• Describe the process to handle confidential supplier cost lines if redaction or non-disclosure is required during reconciliation Options: Full NDAs, Redaction with certified review, Data room access only
• How will you verify that bid-to-cost reconciliation meets acceptable thresholds before progressing to recommendation? Options: Sign-off by commodity manager, Independent audit by finance, Joint supplier verification

Deliver supplier selection and commercial recommendation

• Provide the decision criteria weighting you want used for supplier selection (example: price 50, quality 30, delivery 20) or supply your scorecard template
• Identify required evidence to support a recommendation such as capability studies, on-site audit reports, and financial health summaries Options: Capability studies, On-site audits, Financial summaries, References
• Indicate whether recommended suppliers should be classified for phased ramp (pilot supplier, dual-source, sole-source) and the allocation rules for initial volumes Options: Pilot only, Dual-source, Sole-source
• Specify the expected deliverable format for the recommendation (executive one-pager, full commercial model workbook, slide pack with annexes) Options: Executive one-pager, Full workbook, Slide pack with annexes
• Name the approval chain and required sign-offs for supplier selection on your side (commodity manager, CPO, program owner) Options: Commodity manager, Procurement director, CPO
• Outline the timeline you expect between recommendation delivery and contract signature to allow scheduling of implementation activities Options: 1-2 weeks, 2-4 weeks, More than 4 weeks

Negotiate supplier agreement with price and escalation clauses

• Provide the target commercial terms to negotiate including baseline price, currency, payment terms, and warranty period
• Identify the allowed price escalation triggers you want included such as raw material index, energy index, or fixed annual CPI adjustments Options: Raw material index, Energy index, CPI, No escalations
• Specify required acceptance criteria for price adjustments such as benchmark index sources and lookback windows
• Indicate whether tooling credits, milestone payments, or performance guarantees should be codified in the supplier agreement Options: Tooling credits, Milestone payments, Performance guarantees, None
• State the dispute resolution mechanism you prefer for commercial disagreements (for example escalation path, mediation, jurisdiction) to include in drafts Options: Escalation path only, Mediation then arbitration, Local jurisdiction court
• Describe whether you require contractual SLAs for on-time delivery and quality including accepted penalties or remediation steps Options: Yes include SLAs and penalties, Yes include remediation only, No SLAs required

Design tooling ownership and handover agreements

• Provide the preferred tooling ownership model for each tool class: vendor-owned, buyer-owned, or shared custodial ownership Options: Vendor-owned, Buyer-owned, Shared custodial
• List required handover artifacts on tooling transfer such as tool history log, maintenance records, die tryout reports, and calibration certificates Options: Tool history log, Maintenance records, Die tryout reports, Calibration certificates
• Identify the acceptance test and run-at-rate evidence the receiving party must obtain before confirming tooling handover Options: Run-at-rate report, Sample parts inspection, Cpk > target
• Specify warranty and repair responsibilities for tooling after handover including spare parts provisioning and lead times Options: Supplier warranty, Buyer maintains warranty, Shared responsibility
• Indicate preferred logistics and cost allocation for transporting tooling between sites including packaging and insurance requirements Options: Supplier bears transport, Buyer bears transport, Shared cost
• Outline the metadata we must capture for tooling (tool ID, original cost, amortization start date, expected life cycles) for contract schedules

Execute supplier development and quality improvement program

• Provide the current supplier capability gaps identified (for example inability to hold flatness, Cpk below target, inadequate fixture control) that development must resolve
• List the APQP phase activities you expect in supplier development including PFMEA, control plan updates, and process flow diagrams Options: PFMEA, Control plans, Process flow diagrams, Gage R&R
• Identify the training or on-site support you require such as die tryout support, process engineering coaching, or SPC setup Options: Die tryout support, Process coaching, SPC setup
• Specify KPIs to track supplier improvement during development such as first pass yield, Cpk, on-time delivery, and defect per million opportunities (DPMO) Options: First pass yield, Cpk, On-time delivery, DPMO
• Indicate escalation thresholds for development issues that trigger program owner involvement or stop shipment actions Options: Cpk below target, DPMO above threshold, Late corrective actions
• Describe whether you require a supplier development workbook and cadence of review meetings and who must attend from your side Options: Weekly workbook reviews, Biweekly, Monthly

• Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
• Master Services Agreement (MSA)
• Statement of Work (SOW)
• Fees & Payment Schedule
• Data Processing Agreement (DPA)
• Data Sharing & Access Authorization
• Supplier Data Release Authorization
• Pilot Schedule & Milestone Acceptance
• Change Order Agreement

• decision_readiness
• success_criteria
• stakeholders
• gaps
• current_state
• desired_state
• current_state
• desired_state
• stakeholders
• gaps
• success_criteria
• decision_readiness
• stakeholders
• decision_readiness
• gaps
• current_state
• desired_state
• success_criteria
• decision_readiness
• decision_readiness
• decision_readiness
• decision_readiness

• Go-live Health Check (weeks 1-4)
• First Measurement Review (weeks 4-10)
• Acceptance Gate and Savings Ratification (around day 90)
• Quarterly Realization Review
• Annual Savings Validation and Handover

• Ensure supplier performance issues with the greatest dollar impact are on a tracked remediation path.
• Restate acceptance criteria from Engagement Scope
• Produce a documented pass/fail outcome for each acceptance criterion recorded in Engagement Scope and capture the buyer's named signatory decision.
• Confirm the incumbent wind-down status to avoid dual-running systems or supplier overlap.
• Publish the signed acceptance record and attach the reconciled source data and calculation workbook.
• Create a tracked remediation plan for any conditional or failed criteria with milestone dates for verification.
• Produce an incumbent wind-down report documenting contract termination or retention terms, data archive status, and closure of fallback workarounds.
• Cumulative savings reconciliation
• Validate that cumulative realized savings remain aligned with the forecast and identify any material slippage.
• Re-confirm success criteria and owners
• Publish the quarterly reconciliation showing realized vs projected savings with variance explanations by supplier and commodity.
• Update the open remediation tracker with current status and next verification dates.
• Refresh should-cost assumptions where market changes (raw material, energy) materially affect projections and circulate the updated model.
• Full-year savings reconciliation
• Produce a final annual reconciliation of realized savings and document any residual items requiring follow-through.
• Handover ownership of ongoing monitoring and confirm the escalation pathway for new supplier or quality issues.
• Publish the annual savings report with final reconciliations, tooling amortization reconciles, and supplier incident log.
• Document the ongoing monitoring cadence and the escalation channel details in the shared workspace.
• Archive final project data and models in the agreed retention location and confirm access controls.
• Confirm that data feeds and sample should-cost runs are complete and usable for measurement.
• List and timebox critical blockers so the pilot proceeds to the first measurement window.
• Publish a short deployment validation checklist with timestamps for each data feed and tooling input.
• Log every open blocker with a target remediation date and the system owner field to be closed before the first measurement meeting.
• Provide a sample reconciled dataset (raw supplier quotes and the pilot should-cost outputs) for audit before the next meeting.
• Present reconciled savings and price variance
• Determine whether pilot savings and unit-price variances are tracking toward the targets recorded in Engagement Scope.
• Agree a concrete set of corrective actions with clear completion dates to close any measurement gaps before the acceptance gate.
• Publish a reconciled savings workbook showing realized vs projected savings by commodity and supplier, with supporting calculations.
• Document model input changes required (volume, tooling amortization, yield) and update the should-cost models accordingly.
• Open remediation tickets for any supplier performance issues and attach expected resolution dates.
• Present final outcome data per criterion
• Deployment and data feed validation
• Diagnose gaps against targets
• Tooling amortization and model variance review
• Supplier performance and quality review
• Supplier quality and supply continuity summary
• Early adoption and usage signals
• Document pass or fail per criterion
• Supplier performance check
• Open issues and remediation burn-down
• Formal acceptance decision and signatory confirmation
• Handover of monitoring and escalation process
• Blockers and open issues
• Continuous improvement and escalation channel
• Agree corrective actions and timeline to acceptance gate
• Agree immediate remediation actions
• Incumbent wind-down confirmation
• Agree remediation items and final resolution timeline