For private equity firms and operating partners
Introduce us to the manufacturers in your portfolio. We analyze what they buy, find where cost can come out, then review prints and quote those parts. There's no consulting fee: a company only pays for the material it decides to order.
No fee for the spend analysis or quotes. No obligation to order.
1997
Founded in Warsaw, Indiana
100+
Qualified suppliers
$10M+
In customer savings
$0
Fees for spend analysis and quotes
The opportunity
In a manufacturing portfolio company, purchased materials and components are often the largest line in COGS. The purchasing team is usually small, and its day goes to keeping production supplied, not re-sourcing parts.
Across a portfolio, it compounds. Each company buys similar materials on its own, from its own suppliers, at its own price.
Chapman Smith becomes the team that does that work, at every company you introduce us to.
How we're paid
Most procurement help bills for the analysis. We don't. We analyze a company's spend, review its prints and quote the parts at no charge.
The only transaction is for material: the parts a company decides to order from us, at the price we quoted. If the quote doesn't save them money, they don't order, and finding out cost them nothing.
For a business trying to cut costs, there's nothing to lose by asking.
What a portfolio company pays
From first look to first order
No retainer, no hourly billing and no share of the savings.
What you get
We analyze each company's spend, quote the parts where cost can come out, then handle the sourcing, qualifying and supplier transitions that make the savings real.
Every company that makes things buys through one team. Because we buy for many manufacturers, our combined volume brings leverage with mills and suppliers that one company rarely has.
Regular reports to each company and the deal team on savings, delivery and quality, so you know it's working without chasing it.
Stocking programs at our warehouse improve availability without tying up working capital. Outside suppliers add capacity without new equipment.
How it works
To the CEO, COO or purchasing lead at a portfolio company.
We look across their spend categories and identify where we can reduce cost.
For the parts where we see savings, we quote against what they pay today.
The only transaction is for material and parts. The analysis and quotes are free.
First article and our own PPAP, inventory to bridge the switch, and results to the deal team. Then the next company.
Reporting
On a schedule we agree on up front, the deal team and each portfolio company get a short report on what changed. No portal to log into and no data requests to chase.
Larger changes come to the company and the deal team for sign-off before we act on them.
Portfolio procurement report
Sample layoutSavings against baseline
By part and by company, measured against the price before we started
Parts transitioned
Completed, in qualification, and next in line
Delivery and quality
On-time performance and any issues, with what we did about them
Next opportunities
What we're working on and what needs a decision
For the portfolio company
An introduction only works if the purchasing team wants the help. We keep the change low-risk for them.
The spend analysis, print review and quotes are free. They order only what saves them money.
We run first article and our own PPAP before theirs, and hold inventory at our warehouse through the transition.
Laser cutting, forming, welding and powder coating coordinated into one finished part, ready for their line.
Specifications and approvals stay with them. We work within agreed guidelines.
How we compare
| Option | What they deliver | Who does the sourcing work | Custom parts made to prints | What you pay for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Procurement consultants | Savings analysis and recommendations | Usually the company's own team | Sometimes | Project fees or a share of the savings |
| Group purchasing organizations | Pre-negotiated contracts, mostly for indirect spend like MRO, services and supplies | The company buys off the contract | Rarely | Usually nothing to join; you buy off their contracts |
| Procurement software | Spend visibility and tools to run RFQs | The company's own team | No | A subscription |
| Chapman Smith | Savings found and put in place, with finished parts delivered | We do: sourcing, qualifying, transitions and stocking | Yes: extrusions, tubing, castings and fabricated parts | Only the material you order. No fee for the analysis or quotes. |
Straight answers for operating partners and portfolio company leaders.
Read: Private equity procurement with one sourcing partner across your portfolio
Request a Free Spend AnalysisNo. You make the introduction and each company decides. Most start with a spend analysis and decide once they've seen the quotes.
No. There's no fee for the spend analysis, the print review or the quotes. We're paid through the material and parts a company orders from us, at the price we quoted, and only after they've decided it saves them money.
Manufacturers that buy metal materials and custom components: aluminum extrusions, steel tubing and pipe, castings, flat rolled steel and fabricated parts. Company size and order size aren't the test.
GPOs mostly negotiate contracts for indirect spend. We work on the direct materials and custom parts that go into the product, and we take responsibility for delivering them.
No. They keep control of specifications and approvals. We work within agreed guidelines and bring larger changes to them and the deal team first.
Yes. An add-on can move onto the suppliers the portfolio already uses, and we manage the transition so production keeps running.
One introduction. We analyze the company's spend, then review prints and quote the parts where we see savings, all at no charge.
Introduce us to one company. We'll analyze its spend, show where cost can come out and quote the parts, at no charge. The only thing they pay for is the material they choose to order.