Zero-based budgeting applied to procurement means questioning every category, every supplier, every spec — not just renewing last year’s contracts at last year’s prices plus inflation. It’s painful and slow, but it’s also where the largest savings live, particularly in indirect categories that have escaped scrutiny for years.
Lexicon entry
Zero-Based Budgeting
A budgeting approach where every line item must be justified from scratch each cycle, rather than rolled forward from last year.