# Procurement Maturity Self-Assessment > Source: https://netray.co/tools/procurement-maturity-assessment > Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems. > Section: Free Tools ## Short answer Nine scored questions that show how mature your purchasing function is across spend visibility, contracts, supplier management and ERP use. ## Category supply-chain ## Audience - Procurement manager - Operations leader - Controller ## Tool **Kind:** assessment **Questions:** #### How well can you see total spend by supplier and category? **Help:** Think about the last time finance asked for spend by category. **Options:** ##### Only by pulling reports manually from several sources **Score:** 0 ##### By supplier from the ERP, but categories are inconsistent **Score:** 1 ##### By supplier and category from one report, refreshed monthly **Score:** 2 ##### Cleansed, categorised spend available on demand **Score:** 3 #### How much spend is covered by contracts or agreed price lists? **Options:** ##### Little, most buying is at quoted price per order **Score:** 0 ##### Some top suppliers have agreements **Score:** 1 ##### Most strategic categories are contracted **Score:** 2 ##### Contracts are tracked with renewals, price rules and compliance reporting **Score:** 3 #### How are suppliers approved before the first order? **Options:** ##### Anyone can add a vendor **Score:** 0 ##### Buyer judgement, little documentation **Score:** 1 ##### Standard checklist and approval by quality or finance **Score:** 2 ##### Risk-tiered approval with verified certificates and system-enforced status **Score:** 3 #### How do you measure supplier performance? **Options:** ##### We do not, we react to problems **Score:** 0 ##### Informal feedback from buyers and planners **Score:** 1 ##### Scorecard for OTD and quality on key suppliers **Score:** 2 ##### Scorecards for all strategic suppliers with reviews and improvement plans **Score:** 3 #### How are sourcing decisions made for new or high-spend parts? **Options:** ##### Reorder from the incumbent **Score:** 0 ##### Ask for one or two quotes **Score:** 1 ##### Structured RFQ with comparable quotes and a cost breakdown **Score:** 2 ##### Category strategy with should-cost, total cost and negotiation plans **Score:** 3 #### How much of your buying follows an approved requisition and PO? **Options:** ##### Many invoices arrive without a PO **Score:** 0 ##### POs are raised, often after the goods arrive **Score:** 1 ##### Most spend goes through PO before commitment **Score:** 2 ##### Nearly all spend is on a PO with workflow approval and three-way match **Score:** 3 #### How does your ERP support buying? **Options:** ##### Spreadsheets run purchasing, the ERP records the result **Score:** 0 ##### ERP issues POs but planning suggestions are ignored or untrusted **Score:** 1 ##### MRP-driven requisitions, price files and lead times are mostly maintained **Score:** 2 ##### Clean master data, automated releases and exception-based buying **Score:** 3 #### How do you manage supply risk? **Options:** ##### Not formally **Score:** 0 ##### We know the sole-source parts informally **Score:** 1 ##### Sole and single-source parts are listed with mitigation owners **Score:** 2 ##### Risk is scored by supplier and part and reviewed on a schedule **Score:** 3 #### How are savings and price changes tracked? **Options:** ##### Not tracked **Score:** 0 ##### Buyers report savings in their own format **Score:** 1 ##### Common baseline and method, reviewed by finance **Score:** 2 ##### Savings and avoidance tracked separately against ERP price history **Score:** 3 **Bands:** #### Reactive purchasing **Min:** 0 **Max:** 34 **Verdict:** Buying is driven by urgent requests and individual habits. The biggest gains come from basic visibility and control. **Recommendations:** - Get one consolidated spend report by supplier - Block vendor creation without approval - Require a PO before commitment for all material spend #### Developing control **Min:** 35 **Max:** 64 **Verdict:** Core processes exist but are inconsistent. Focus on contracts for your top suppliers and clean master data. **Recommendations:** - Agree contracts or price lists for the top 20 suppliers by spend - Introduce a basic supplier scorecard for OTD and quality - Clean lead times and price files in the ERP #### Managed sourcing **Min:** 65 **Max:** 84 **Verdict:** You have structure and data. Gains now come from category strategy, risk management and systematic negotiation. **Recommendations:** - Build category plans for the three largest spend areas - List and mitigate sole-source risks - Separate savings from cost avoidance in reporting #### Strategic procurement **Min:** 85 **Max:** 100 **Verdict:** Your function is well governed. Keep improving through automation, supplier collaboration and exception-based buying. **Recommendations:** - Automate routine releases and approvals - Share forecasts with strategic suppliers - Review the model yearly as products and risks change ## Content **Intro:** Procurement maturity is how consistently and deliberately a company buys. This nine question self-assessment scores your function from reactive buying to strategic sourcing and suggests where to focus first. **Sections:** #### How to use it **Body:** Answer for how things work on a normal day, not for the best project you have run. Ask two or three colleagues to answer separately, including someone from finance and someone from planning, and compare. Differences are usually more informative than the score. Repeat once or twice a year to check that your investments move the number. **Bullets:** - Answer from evidence, not intention - Include planners and finance in the exercise - Retake after major changes such as a new ERP or reorganisation #### What the questions measure **Body:** The questions cover five areas: visibility of spend, contract coverage, supplier approval and performance, sourcing method, and process discipline with ERP support. Visibility comes first because you cannot manage what you cannot see. Contracts and approval protect price and quality. Sourcing method and risk management determine whether you buy strategically or only transactionally. #### Reading your result **Body:** A low score is not a verdict on the team: many small manufacturers grew faster than their systems. Look at the single lowest-scoring question and fix that before spreading effort. Typical early wins are consolidating spend data, enforcing PO before commitment and writing price agreements with the largest suppliers. Improvement beyond that depends on clean ERP master data such as lead times, standard costs and vendor records. **Cta:** If spend visibility is your weakest answer, Netray can connect to your ERP and show spend by supplier and category through a read-only question interface. **Faq:** #### Is this assessment tied to a formal maturity model? **Answer:** No. It is a practical self-check built around common purchasing practices, not a certified model. Use it to start a conversation and prioritise actions. Formal frameworks exist if you need an audited benchmark. #### Which question should I fix first? **Answer:** Fix the lowest score among spend visibility, PO discipline and supplier approval. These three give control and the data that every later improvement relies on. Advanced steps like should-cost modelling are wasted without them. #### Does a small company need a high maturity score? **Answer:** Not necessarily. A ten-person shop buying simple parts can do well at a mid score if its few big suppliers are contracted and its risks are known. Match the sophistication of the process to your spend and risk. #### How does ERP quality affect the score? **Answer:** A great deal. Accurate lead times, price files, vendor records and item-supplier links make exception-based buying possible. Without them, buyers spend their time fixing data and chasing, which holds your maturity down whatever the policy says. ## Search terms procurement maturity assessment, procurement maturity model, purchasing function assessment, procurement self assessment, procurement capability assessment, strategic sourcing maturity, purchasing department audit checklist --- Talk to an engineer: https://netray.co/contact?intent=erp_ai | Machine catalog: https://netray.co/agent/catalog.json