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Purchasing insights

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

Michael De Giovanni avatar
Written by Michael De Giovanni
Updated over a month ago

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]

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