What procurement transformation really means
Procurement transformation is a systematic overhaul of how an organisation manages its external spend. It touches the whole operating model: team structure, processes and policies, technology, and how procurement works with the business. It is not a one-off improvement or an IT project.
In practice, it means moving from reactive purchasing (order fulfillment) to strategic procurement (proactive management of value, risk, and supplier relationships). I have done this from both sides: as Head of Procurement at PKN Orlen (PLN 500M/year portfolio), then as a PwC consultant for PGE, PGNiG and Aeroflot. Today I lead SAP Ariba deployments for KGHM, Żabka and Motor Oil Hellas.
Procurement maturity assessment
Every transformation project starts with an honest assessment of how the organisation buys: how much it spends, with whom, and on what terms. No 1-5 self-scoring questionnaires. The assessment covers:
- Spend analytics: classification and visualization of expenditure by supplier, category, business unit, and contract terms. Identification of maverick spend, supplier base fragmentation, and untapped spend-consolidation potential.
- Process assessment: mapping of current-state (AS-IS) source-to-pay (S2P) and procure-to-pay (P2P) processes. Identification of bottlenecks, manual steps, missing controls, and compliance gaps.
- Capability assessment: analysis of the procurement team's structure, role allocation, and proficiency in negotiation, analytics, and management. Benchmarking against market best practices.
- Technology assessment: audit of existing systems (ERP, procurement platforms, analytics tools), their utilization levels, and integration potential.
- Procurement function positioning: the role of procurement in the organisational structure, reporting lines, involvement in strategic decisions, and how the business perceives the function.
At PZU, I conducted this kind of assessment as Strategic Project Director: from analysing spend at the largest insurer in CEE, through process benchmarking, to recommending the target model and selecting the IT platform. At PwC, we used the CAPP (Complete & Agile Procurement Performance) methodology, which I applied for PGE SA, PGNiG SA, and PKN Orlen, among others.
Target Operating Model (TOM)
The assessment answers the question "where are we." The Target Operating Model answers "where are we going", defining the concrete architecture of the future procurement function. A TOM covers:
- Organisational model: centralisation vs. federation vs. hybrid. Centers of Excellence (CoE), shared services, and the role of category managers.
- Process architecture: target S2P/P2P processes with clear SLAs, control points, escalations, and KPIs.
- Category management model: category segmentation (Kraljic and beyond), ownership assignment, and strategic planning cycles.
- Technology architecture: platform selection (SAP Ariba, Coupa, Jaggaer, Ivalua), ERP integration (S/4HANA, Oracle), and analytics tooling.
- Governance & compliance: procurement policies, approval thresholds, supplier risk management, and board-level reporting.
When designing the TOM for the ORLEN Group under the CONNECT platform, we had to account for the specifics of 15 entities across 4 countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania), each with different ERP systems (SAP, Oracle EBS), legal frameworks, and procurement cultures. The model had to serve a refinery, a network of 1,800 fuel stations and a chemical company, and still enable centralised reporting and joint price renegotiations.
Category strategies
A category strategy is a plan for managing a specific group of expenditure: from supplier market analysis through defining the negotiation approach to specifying the target contract structure. I develop category strategies based on real data, not templates:
- Spend analysis & segmentation: how much we spend, with whom, on what terms, and to what degree it is consolidated.
- Supplier market analysis: market structure, bargaining power, alternatives, barriers to entry, and price trends.
- Approach definition: consolidation, renegotiation, specification change, insourcing/outsourcing, or strategic partnership.
- Implementation roadmap: priorities, timeline, responsibilities, and expected savings.
At PKN Orlen, I developed strategies for IT/Telco, consulting, maintenance, and retail categories (1,800 fuel stations, SAP RETAIL): a portfolio exceeding PLN 500M/year. At PwC, I prepared category strategies for PGE SA and PGNiG SA as part of optimisation programs covering both direct and indirect procurement.
Spend analytics & expenditure visibility
Spend analytics is the foundation of every transformation, and the area where most organisations have the largest gaps. I work with data from ERP systems (SAP, Oracle), procurement platforms, and external sources to build a complete picture of organisational spend:
- Data extraction & cleansing: consolidation of data from multiple systems, supplier deduplication, and naming standardisation.
- Spend classification: mapping to a unified category tree (UNSPSC or proprietary taxonomy), identification of unclassified expenditure.
- Dashboards & reporting: interactive reports for the CPO, the board, and category managers. Real-time visibility.
- Opportunity identification: maverick spend, tail spend, supplier duplication, contract compliance deviations, and early payment opportunities.
At ORLEN CONNECT, one of the first deliverables was a centralised procurement category tree: a unified taxonomy across all 15 entities enabling spend aggregation and internal benchmarking. For the first time, it allowed the ORLEN Group to see total spend by category and total supplier count by country.
Procurement process redesign
Process transformation is the shift from AS-IS to TO-BE, with concrete changes in ways of working, tools, and accountabilities. I design end-to-end procurement processes:
- Source-to-Contract (S2C): from need identification through RFI/RFP/RFQ, negotiations, and e-auctions to contract signing. Template standardisation and workflow automation.
- Procure-to-Pay (P2P): from requisition through approval, purchase order, goods receipt to invoice and payment. Elimination of paper-based processes and ERP integration.
- Supplier Lifecycle Management (SLM): from supplier qualification through onboarding and periodic assessment to deactivation. Risk management, compliance, and ESG.
- Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM): centralised contract repository, deadline alerts, automatic renewals, and compliance monitoring.
Change management & adoption
The best operating model and the best platform are worthless without user adoption. I run change management from week one, not as a sprint at the end of the project:
- Stakeholder mapping: identification of stakeholders, their expectations, concerns, and influence on the project. Communication and engagement plans.
- Communication & training: separate training tracks for different user groups (buyers, business, management, suppliers). E-learning materials, workshops, and train-the-trainer sessions.
- Adoption measurement: adoption KPIs (% of orders through the system, % of suppliers onboarded, cycle time), regular progress reporting.
- Post-go-live support: hypercare, helpdesk, and iterative improvement based on user feedback.
On the CONNECT project for the ORLEN Group, I managed a 60-person project team: buyers, IT, SAP consultants, and business users from 15 entities across 4 countries. Driving adoption required a tailored approach for each entity: different maturity levels, different source systems, different expectations. At PZU, I built a full change management roadmap as part of the transformation strategy.
Technology selection & implementation support
I help organisations select and deploy the procurement platform that fits their needs, scale, and IT architecture. My experience covers:
- SAP Ariba: Sourcing, Contracts, SLP, Buying, Supplier Risk. 20+ deployments across CEE.
- SAP Fieldglass: contingent workforce and contract services management.
- SAP S/4HANA Procurement: integrated procurement within the S/4HANA environment.
- SAP SRM: previous generation, with hands-on SRM-to-Ariba migration experience.
- Other platforms: practical knowledge of Ivalua, Basware, Marketplanet, and Coupa.
I support both the selection process (RFI/RFP to technology vendors, scoring, demos, license negotiations) and implementation oversight: from the business side, not the technical side. I ensure the deployment delivers on business objectives, not just functional requirements.