Turning Disruption into Strategic Advantage – Navigating Margin Pressure, Freight Volatility, and Ever-Changing Tariffs
When ACR embarked on its procurement transformation journey, the best path forward was to accelerate while transforming – executing strategic initiatives across resilience, global sourcing, data transformation, and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG). From building China-plus-two sourcing strategies to delivering rapid EBITDA impact and enabling future acquisitions, every move with speed.
Looking back, what made this transformation possible was strong sponsorship from the Board of Directors, who not only recognized the importance of Procurement but also made a strategic investment to position it as a key driver of value, rather than a mere back-office function. Together, we then built an agile, category-led operating model designed not just to weather disruption but to thrive in it. Our baseline? Integrating over six recent acquisitions with siloed procurement practices, limited visibility, and growing exposure to geopolitical and supply chain risks. We knew it was time to shift gears, so we reengineered procurement function from the ground up by doing the following:
We launched focused category teams, equipped them with tools, talent assessments, trainings/development plans, playbooks, and drove stakeholder alignment. We built strategies and constantly refreshed our game plan with execution urgency.
From “China-only” to “China-plus-two,” our teams rebalanced sourcing across India, Vietnam, and Southeast Asia to North and South America. We qualified food-grade suppliers, established capacities, and mapped risk across the portfolio. We ensured continuity by planning ahead, stopping the cycle of reactive responses to every new announcement. Country-of-origin shifts became deliberate and strategic.
We invested in robust dashboards, Project Management Offices (PMOs), and scenario planning engines. Hundreds of analytics cycles informed our decisions – from cost modeling and forecast shifts to risk simulations. Procurement became a data-informed command center.
From Shenzhen and Ningbo to Hong Kong, Malaysia, and India – our overseas teams did not just follow the playbook – they wrote it. From building should-cost models to auditing new facilities and onboarding suppliers, they delivered speed, resilience, and value with unmatched commitment and energy.
Procurement domain continues to evolve as a high-impact, cross-functional strategic lever, especially in a world that demands both agility and foresight. Procurement teams across industries are scaling AI-led sourcing, launching innovation hubs, and continuing to evolve their chessboard strategies; balancing offense, defense, and strategic positioning to drive value for our companies.
Authored by Suhas Petkar, VP of Procurement at ACR.
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