Skip to main content

Purchasing insights

Analyze your company's purchasing trends to make better decisions moving forward.

Michael De Giovanni avatar
Written by Michael De Giovanni
Updated this week

Analyze purchasing trends and supplier performance in Katana to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Purchasing insights provides dashboards that help track spending, lead times, and supplier reliability — empowering you to optimize purchasing processes and strengthen supplier relationships.


Before you start

  • Data rules:

    • Includes all purchase orders.

    • Prices shown in your base currency (excluding taxes).

    • POs in a foreign currency will not appear until received (status = Done).

    • Date range:

      • Received orders = based on Received date.

      • Open orders = based on Expected date.

  • Data updates near real-time.


Accessing purchasing insights

  1. Go to the Insights screen.

  2. Select the Purchasing tab.

    Screenshot showing the Purchasing tab of the Insights screen

  3. You’ll see two types of reports:

    • Overview

    • Supplier


The two types of purchasing reports

1. Overview report

Screenshot showing the sub-tab 'Overview' of the Insights screen

Track essential purchasing metrics across time periods.

Key insights include:

  • Purchase spending → Monitor total spending by month, quarter, or year. Spot trends and compare against budgets.

  • Lead time analysis → See how long suppliers take to deliver goods. Identify suppliers with shorter, more reliable lead times.

  • PO performance → Track on-time delivery and accuracy to identify issues or bottlenecks.

  • Vendor comparison → Benchmark suppliers on delivery, quality, and responsiveness to find the most reliable partners.


2. Supplier report

Screenshot showing the sub-tab 'Supplier' of the Insights screen

Get a detailed view of supplier performance over time.

Key insights include:

  • Supplier scorecards → Rate suppliers on criteria like delivery, quality, and responsiveness. Use these to compare, rank, or negotiate.

  • Delivery performance → Monitor on-time delivery, lead time adherence, and accuracy to uncover recurring delays or quality issues.

  • Cost analysis → Review unit prices, total spend, and price variances to find cost-saving opportunities or negotiate better terms.


Creating custom dashboards

  • Export data from any report using the download button on each element.

    Screenshot showing the download option on a report
  • For advanced analysis:

    • Use Easy Insight to access visual dashboards and create custom reports.

    • Use SyncHub to connect Katana’s data model with BI tools (e.g., PowerBI, Tableau, Excel).


Tips and tricks

  • Use filters to narrow results by date, supplier, product category, or product.

  • Interact with charts:

    • Click on values to cross-filter instantly.

    • Drag across a timeline chart to zoom in on a specific period.

  • Combine filters to drill into exactly the purchasing insights you need.


Key takeaways

  • Purchasing Insights help track spending, lead times, supplier performance, and PO reliability.

  • Two main reports: Overview (big picture) and Supplier (detailed performance).

  • Data refreshes in near real-time, but only includes POs in your base currency once received.

  • Export data or connect BI tools for custom dashboards.


Your feedback is invaluable. Let us know your thoughts on this article or anything in Katana you'd like to see improved: [email protected]

Did this answer your question?