We’ve posted a great deal of analysis on the buyer’s market conditions that currently exist in direct and indirect spend categories. This Thursday, members of our category management team will host a webinar where they’ll identify the top sourcing opportunities and strategies for each of them. You can register for the Top 5 Categories to Sourcing Now webinar here.

The categories include:

• Metals - News of declining demand and prices in steel and nonferrous metals continue to pour out of producers across the globe, making now a great opportunity for competitive sourcing.
• Plastics, Chemicals & Raw Materials - Plummeting commodity prices provide opportunity for raw materials sourcing.
• Paper & Packaging - Like their counterparts in metals, packaging manufacturers are pulling production offline to compensate for sagging demand.
• Transportation - Numbers for air freight, ocean freight, rail & intermodal travel, and truckload are all down. A weak holiday season for retailers and a recession that does not appear to have hit bottom has the T&L sector scared and hungry for business.
• IT & Services - With companies delaying many purchases, many IT & service providers are willing to bargain. Certainly in such a broad category, there are some opportunities that are better than others. So, look to the category management team to provide concrete advice on where best to focus your resources.

I’ll be doing some post-webinar recaps of the highlights - data, analysis and strategies - in the coming weeks. However, if possible, I’d recommend getting the information straight from the horse’s mouth and attending the webinar (register here). It’s a great opportunity to ask questions of some experts who are deep in the trenches with sourcing projects and auction events.

Justin Fogarty is Managing Editor of Supply Excellence. For any questions or feedback on the blog or its contributors, Justin can be reached at jfogarty[at]ariba.com.