SAN MATEO, CA – It’s been one year since Con-way, the freight transportation and logistics services company, named Mitch Plaat as its first chief procurement officer. Since then, Plaat and his team have found significant savings by strategically sourcing certainaccording to the Web site www.purchasing.com.

Con-way spends about $500 million annually on a range of goods and services, from heavy-duty tractors, trucks, and trailers to fuel, tires, computers, and office supplies.

Until January 2006, Con-way, which had been known as CNF until April, had a hybrid purchasing model, with some centralized sourcing and some decentralized buying. Purchasing was focused on three silos: fleet (trucks and trailers), IT (computer hardware, software, and services), and indirect goods and services. There were central processes for sourcing fleet and IT, both considered strategic to the transportation and logistics company. But, for indirect purchases, the company’s 500 locations did much of the buying, managing relationships with some 35,000 suppliers.

There was no real oversight or systems used by all three groups. Helping to break down hurdles that come when centralizing the purchasing function, Plaat has the full backing of the company’s new executive team. Management has approved his strategy to restructure the operation — and has made significant investments in it, according to www.purchasing.com.

In the past year, Plaat and his team have worked to attract talented purchasing professionals, who now receive training in negotiating, managing supplier relationships, and strategic sourcing. Another investment management made in purchasing is for sourcing software and consulting services available from provider Emptoris in Burlington, Mass. With the new tools, Plaat and his team now have a better handle on Con-way’s spending.

And another phase in Con-way’s initiative toward becoming a world-class purchasing operation includes developing processes for managing contracts and measuring supplier performance.