Practical Training: Mastering Sourcing & RFx Processes

Your Personal Learning Coach: Dr. Stephan Hofstetter

Dr. Stephan Hofstetter has over 25 years of experience in strategy and procurement consulting. His career includes 9.5 years at Kearney, most recently as Country Manager Switzerland, and 7.5 years as Chief Procurement Officer at HUBER+SUHNER.

Since 2015, he has been a Partner in the DACH region and Managing Director Switzerland at Kloepfel Consulting. His focus: future-proofing procurement organizations, strengthening implementation competence, and successfully leading international projects to optimize procurement costs.

Structured Tenders – The Underestimated Lever

Many medium-sized companies still procure larger needs without systematic tenders – often due to time pressure or historical habit. Price lists are updated or selective offers are obtained instead. The problem:

• Undiscovered potential – multi-year savings remain untapped
• Lack of market transparency – price and supplier structures are often unknown
• Increased price risks – familiar suppliers have an easy hand

Professional sourcing follows a clear, structured process – from demand analysis to tendering to final supplier selection and implementation. This is exactly where our practical training comes in: we enable procurement professionals to plan RFx processes precisely, execute efficiently, and leverage them strategically.

Understanding and Using RFx Processes

The training covers all steps of the professional Source-to-Contract process:

• Baselining – consolidate suppliers, demands, quantities, prices, and item profiles
• Procurement market research – identify benchmark suppliers, create long/short lists
• RFI (Request for Information) – gather supplier profiles and pre-qualify them
• Supplier visits – build trust, verify technical feasibility
• RFQ (Request for Quotation) – collect structured and comparable offers
• RFP (Request for Proposal) – issue detailed tenders for complex services

Participants learn to create lean but complete tender packages – including technical specifications, NDA clauses, evaluation methods, and submission formats.

Practical Example 1: Beer Bottle Tender

In a current project, we tendered beer bottles for leading beverage manufacturers. Sounds simple – but it wasn’t. Different bottle types, transport costs, and volatile raw material prices made precise comparability essential.

Together with procurement, we created a structured RFQ package with defined specifications and a clear evaluation matrix. Result: much greater transparency, increased supplier competition, and optimized purchasing prices.

Practical Example 2: Welded Assemblies in India

We are currently sourcing welded assemblies in India – a project with specific challenges:

• Supplier identification – online research alone often fails; websites don’t reflect reality.
• On-site presence – personal visits motivate suppliers to submit binding offers.
• Quality management – technical performance varies greatly, often below Western standards.
• Legal framework – NDA clauses, local laws, and cultural differences require tact.
• Project timelines – the process takes longer than many clients expect.

In such projects, standard methods are limited. Targeted stakeholder management, intensive supplier qualification, and cultural adaptation of RFx processes are critical.

More Confidence in Complex Sourcing Initiatives

The training teaches not only methods but also strategic project management:

• Engage stakeholders early – from departments to management
• Prioritize projects – balance potential savings and implementation costs
• Realistically assess risks in international procurement markets
• Ensure smooth transitions – from award to supplier integration

Training at a Glance

📌 Master the entire RFx and sourcing process
📌 Develop your own tender packages (RFQ)
📌 Ensure comparability of offers
📌 Build transparent evaluation and decision-making foundations
📌 Case studies, tools & templates for direct application

Your Benefits

✅ Greater transparency in the supplier market
✅ Stronger negotiating position through comparability
✅ More efficient decision-making processes
✅ Reduced risks in international projects
✅ Structured tenders instead of opportunistic ad-hoc requests

This practical training transforms procurement professionals into active creators of competitive advantage – not just order processors.

Dr. Stephan Hofstetter, Your Learning Coach

More information about the KLOEPFEL Academy and the RFx Module:

Telefon: +41 41 248 08 88
Mobil: +41 79 829 34 77
E-Mail: s.hofstetter@kloepfel-consulting.com