Consortia, Buying Groups, and Trends in Demand Aggregation

Author(s):

Keven Gray
Keven Gray, VP Corporate Strategy, Corporate United, Inc., 440/895-0938 kgray@corporateunited.com

88th Annual International Conference Proceedings - 2003 - Nashville, TN

Abstract

Purchasing consortiums are rapidly establishing themselves as a vital link in today’ world-class supply chain strategies. There now exists a significant body of evidence indicating purchasing consortiums are commonly being utilized as a powerful tool to significantly drive down costs by supply chain managers in the best-run procurement organizations in Corporate America. This paper will review the recent history of group purchasing models and discuss the benefits and challenges to Supply Chain Managers and their suppliers.