Arjan van Weele’s Procurement Maturity Model provides a clear roadmap for evolving procurement from a transactional, back-office function into a strategic, value-creating partner. Through six stages—ranging from basic order processing to full value-chain orientation—the model shows how expanding your focus from price and lead time to quality, sustainability, innovation and risk management builds a more competitive offering. By benchmarking your current level and targeting the next stage, you can align your category strategies, processes and organizational capabilities with the customer-value priorities we’ve discussed.
Learn more about Procurement Maturity in the course True Role of Procurement.
Content…
Different levels of Procurement Maturity:
What is Transactional Orientation in Procurement
Procurement is largely administrative, focused on order processing and basic buying tasks.Success measured by purchase price variance and efficiency of transactional processes.
What is Commercial Orientation in Procurement
Basic sourcing activities are in place: competitive bidding, basic supplier selection, and contract coverage.Emphasis remains on cost savings, but with more structured sourcing events.
What us Purchasing Coordination
Procurement begins to coordinate across categories, introducing supplier segmentation and basic category plans.Some cross-functional collaboration emerges (e.g., with engineering or operations).
What is Process Orientation
End‐to‐end procurement processes (from need identification through supplier performance management) are standardized and increasingly automated.Key Performance Indicators expand beyond savings to include on-time delivery, contract compliance, and supplier performance.
What is Supply chain orientation
Procurement is integrated into broader supply-chain management, with joint planning, risk management, and inventory optimization (e.g., VMI, JIT).Suppliers are treated as partners; collaboration on innovation and continuous improvement becomes routine.
What is Value-Chain orientation
Procurement drives strategic value creation across the entire value chain—including co-development of new products, sustainability initiatives, and revenue-enabling services.The function is seen as a true strategic partner, aligned tightly with corporate strategy and customer outcomes.
As you advance from Stage 1 to Stage 6, procurement’s remit shifts from “processing orders” to “shaping the business.” At the highest levels, it not only lowers Total Cost of Ownership but also enables innovation, agility, risk resilience, and sustainability—directly enhancing the end-customer offering and competitive positioning. Deep dive into the model using the van Weele’s book.
Listen to Arjan van Weele in following Youtube video from 2014.
Assess your organization versus the Procurement Maturity model
Use the examples below to gauge where your procurement organization sits on Van Weele’s six-stage maturity curve. Simply read each level’s buyer activities and note which description most closely matches your reality.
- Transactional Orientation
If your buyers spend most of their time processing purchase orders, matching invoices, and handling price quotations ad hoc, you’re at the transactional level. There’s little proactive market research or strategic negotiation—success is measured by speed of order entry and basic price variance. - Commercial Orientation
At this stage, buyers routinely run competitive tenders, compare multiple bids, and secure formal contracts. You see early efforts to aggregate spend and capture volume discounts, but supplier relationships remain largely one-to-many and focused on securing the lowest unit price. - Purchasing Coordination
Here, buyers begin to group spend into categories and develop basic category plans. You’ll find dedicated specialists who conduct supplier segmentation (A/B/C), coordinate cross-functional sourcing events, and report on simple performance metrics like on-time delivery and contract compliance. - Process Orientation
Procurement processes—from requisition to payment—are standardized and increasingly automated. Buyers use e-sourcing platforms for auctions, rely on integrated contract-management systems, and monitor real-time dashboards tracking quality, lead time, and first-pass yield. Continuous improvement reviews are part of the cycle. - Supply-Chain Orientation
Buyers partner closely with key suppliers on inventory models (VMI, JIT), joint risk-management workshops, and sustainability scorecards. They negotiate flexible sourcing agreements with rapid-response clauses, share demand forecasts, and co-create improvement roadmaps that reduce working capital and carbon footprint. - Value-Chain Orientation
At the highest maturity, buyers are strategic advisors embedded in product development and innovation teams. They lead co-development projects, use advanced analytics (scenario planning, AI-driven supplier selection), and negotiate performance-based contracts that tie supplier incentives directly to end-customer outcomes—whether that’s new feature adoption, brand reputation, or service excellence.
Quick Self-Assessment:
If your team still primarily handles orders and invoices, you’re at Stage 1.
If you run regular tenders but haven’t standardized processes, look to advance to Stage 3.
If you’re automating workflows, tracking customer-centric KPIs, and engaging suppliers in joint risk or sustainability programs, you’re on your way to Stage 5 or 6.
Identifying your current stage will help you prioritize the next steps—whether it’s introducing category managers, investing in digital procurement tools, or embedding buyers in strategic innovation.
Note: Image ot the blogpost Procurement Maturity Model was created by Chat-GPT on June 22, 2025.