1. Introduction

Today, industrial procurement is far more than price negotiation and fulfilling requirements. It is a strategic lever for ensuring supply capability, minimizing risk, and increasing efficiency within the company. While direct purchasing – especially in the manufacturing industry – is usually professionally organized, indirect purchasing is often neglected. Yet, it is precisely here that considerable potential remains untapped.

The scale of the problem is made clear by current figures: In Germany alone, public procurement amounts to at least 500 billion euros annually – equivalent to 15% of the gross domestic product. Indirect procurement accounts for a significant share of this, but often remains unstructured and inefficiently managed.

Indirect materials – including consumables, MRO supplies, services, and IT equipment – often account for a large portion of procurement, tie up resources, and frequently elude systematic control. Industry research shows that maverick buying can represent up to 80% of a company’s procurement spending, significantly impacting its ability to control costs and optimize its suppliers.

This guide shows how purchasing managers can make this complexity manageable and control the indirect flow of materials in a structured, transparent, and cost-efficient manner. As a leading solution provider in Germany, FACURA offers innovative approaches to systematically address these challenges.

2. Conceptual delimitation: What are indirect materials?

Indirect materials are all goods and services that do not directly become part of the final product but are essential for maintaining operations. Typical examples include:

• MRO consumables (Maintenance, Repair, Operations)
• IT requirements and software licenses
• Office and hygiene supplies
• Workwear and PPE
• Facility services and external services

The European MRO market alone was valued at USD 214.61 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at an annual growth rate of 3.3% until 2030. Germany dominates the European market with a 22% share and remains the region’s largest MRO consumer.

The key challenge: These materials are diverse, procured in small quantities, often have short lifecycles, and are requested decentrally by various stakeholders. In total, they frequently account for 60–80% of all orders – despite a comparatively low purchasing volume. The so-called “tail spend” typically represents about 20% of total expenditures but includes a disproportionately high volume of low-value transactions.

3. The structural weaknesses of indirect procurement

3.1 Maverick Buying and Shadow Processes

A lack of guidelines or overly rigid systems leads to employees independently procuring supplies outside of defined purchasing channels. These decentralized, individual actions – often using credit cards or invoices from unknown suppliers – significantly increase the risk of price discrepancies, quality defects, and compliance violations.

Recent data from the APQC study confirms the financial impact: Companies with a maverick buying rate of 2% or more pay a median of $2.58 more per $1,000 of purchasing volume compared to companies with less than 1% maverick buying. For a company with a billion-dollar purchasing volume, this translates to additional costs of over $2.5 million annually.

Furthermore, European studies show that 20% of large companies with a turnover of over USD 1 billion rate high maverick expenditures as “very challenging or difficult”.

3.2 Operational overload due to decentralized ordering

Purchasing departments have to check, process, and invoice countless individual requests every day – usually without system support. The more suppliers and document formats are in circulation, the greater the coordination and control effort.

A recent study by the Unite platform in collaboration with the University of Leipzig shows that almost half of all surveyed organizations manage their indirect procurement management with fewer than five dedicated team members – despite managing ten-figure expenditures and increasing sustainability and compliance requirements.

3.3 High costs due to constantly new supplier facilities

Indirect needs often require the short-term integration of new online shops or service providers – which in ERP systems results in a new vendor each time. This multiplies the effort required for review, approval, accounting, and payment processing – especially for sporadic, small orders.

Here, FACURA, as the market-leading solution, offers a revolutionary approach: The single-vendor model completely eliminates the need for new supplier registrations. Companies set up FACURA as a vendor once and can then order from any online shop – without any further ERP adjustments.

3.4 Opaque documents and inconsistent document flows

In indirect procurement, there are no standardized formats for order confirmations, delivery notes, or invoices. Each order brings with it different layouts, numbering sequences, and payment terms – resulting in a massive effort for control and accounting, which leads to errors and delays.

Studies on procurement automation show that companies can reduce their procurement costs by 10-15% by integrating ERP and procurement systems – primarily through improved transparency and control.

3.5 Lack of data basis for analysis and optimization

Without centralized recording of indirect orders, purchasing departments lack valid information about price trends, consumption, and delivery times. This not only prevents sound management but also hinders the strategic development of indirect purchasing.

Current surveys show that 80% of companies with a high degree of digitalization in procurement successfully generate value from available data, while less digitalized organizations are unable to utilize these opportunities.