Digital Procurement for Foundries | MetalshubTalks 007 Recap

Foundries sit at the very heart of the industrial economy, transforming raw materials into critical components for automotive, machinery, and heavy equipment manufacturing. However, the environment they operate in is becoming increasingly complex. Procurement teams face a volatile cocktail of raw material price fluctuations, tightening regulatory standards, and supply chain bottlenecks.

Despite these modern pressures, many foundries still manage their sourcing through fragmented tools like emails and spreadsheets, creating blind spots and heavy administrative burdens.

In a recent episode of MetalshubTalks, I sat down with Tim Abbiss, Supplier Conformance and Compliance Manager, and Nick Bolton, Purchasing Manager at the MAT Foundry Group. They discussed the reality of modern foundry procurement, how moving away from manual workflows transforms cost control, and how digital tools help multi-site foundry groups turn localised purchasing into group-wide strategic control.

Nick, from your day-to-day procurement perspective, what are the main pressures foundries are dealing with when it comes to raw material sourcing today?

Nick Bolton: The biggest issue right now is consistency—specifically, consistency of quality, price, and supply. The market is incredibly volatile at the moment, driven by external global factors like geopolitical risks and active conflicts.

In the UK, in particular, the foundry industry is struggling, and we are seeing some scrap merchants shutting down or consolidating. Because scrap steel is our number one raw material, those closures make the supply scarcer. This directly hits pricing and makes it harder to reliably secure the best quality product possible. On top of that, indirect costs like energy and labour have steadily risen, adding more pressure to keep costs stable.

Tim, from a broader Group perspective, how have these pressures changed the way MAT Foundry Group thinks about procurement?

Tim Abbiss: Our response to this volatility has focused heavily on group-wide standardisation. We try to standardise our materials—like our alloying additions and inoculants—across the group where possible. We work with preferred, proven suppliers, and if they have a good track record, we aim to implement them right through the group.

Tariffs, geopolitical risks, and conflicts play a major part in this climate. We need to ensure we maintain strength and reliance in our partnerships with suppliers because we can’t be sure these risks will be eliminated in the short term.

Geographical realities mean we can’t always buy from the exact same source, but we take what works well in one region and replicate that framework elsewhere. Every site utilises Technical Data Sheets (TDS) that define specific grades, sizes, and chemical thresholds. Even when dealing with domestic suppliers in places like Mexico or the UK, we cascade the same quality, compliance, and technical expectations across the board.

Before using Metalshub, what did the raw material procurement process typically look like? And what was the initial reason for moving part of your raw material procurement onto the platform?

Nick Bolton: To put it bluntly: a lot of admin. The traditional process was very “old school” and labour-intensive. We had to email individual suppliers for quotes, ring people constantly, and manually track shared RFQ spreadsheets.

What initially attracted us to Metalshub was the sheer reduction in admin time and the fact that all suppliers could access a tender simultaneously.

It also drastically improved our specification change controls. Previously, if a material specification changed, we had to manually email formal documents to every single supplier. If you accidentally missed someone, they would bid against an outdated specification. On the digital platform, if we update a contract clause or a material spec, the supplier is forced to view and acknowledge the change before they can place a bid. From a compliance and clarity standpoint, that’s a massive win.

Read more: Contract Management on Metalshub

Tim, from a supplier onboarding perspective, what was important when introducing a digital procurement platform into your established supplier network?

Tim Abbiss: It was critical that we could retain our strict onboarding processes but have the agility to edit and evolve them in real time as business requirements shifted. Metalshub allows us to do exactly that. We can seamlessly upload our technical requirements, volumes, and compliance expectations directly into the workflow before a tender goes live.

How did your existing suppliers respond to being invited onto the platform?

Tim Abbiss: To be completely honest, a small quantity of suppliers fell away because they weren’t ready to adapt. However, the vast majority have been highly supportive. The platform is user-friendly, and with a bit of guidance, our core supplier base adapted quickly.

Have you seen a difference in behaviour with suppliers when they participate in a digital tender compared to a traditional email-based inquiry?

Nick Bolton: Yes, it has created a healthy hybrid environment. I always tell new suppliers that they can utilise the platform however best fits their communication maturity.

Some suppliers use it purely transactionally—they upload their offers, we negotiate payment terms or pricing on the platform, and we never actually speak on the phone.

Other suppliers prefer a more conversational relationship. We hash out the details over the phone or via WhatsApp, and then, right before the tender closes, they upload their bid as a formal confirmation of what was verbally agreed upon. The platform accommodates both styles perfectly while ensuring the final, legally binding “source of truth” is recorded centrally.

How does Metalshub support your procurement processes across multiple foundry sites?

Nick Bolton: Centralised visibility completely changes how we buy. Previously, when I was managing procurement across our German and UK sites, the differences in procurement culture were stark. The UK scrap market is very traditional, and it took some convincing to get them on board, but showing them the transparency of the system was the ultimate selling point.

When you centralise visibility, the Head of Procurement or site leaders can look at upcoming tenders proactively rather than reactively. For instance, instead of discovering local purchasing choices after the fact, management can view Q1 tender offers early, analyse cost patterns, and make adjustments before any local agreements are finalised. It makes group procurement far more strategic.

Why is centralised procurement visibility so important for a multi-site group from a management perspective?

Tim Abbiss: It allows us to leverage group-level conversations and explore group buying opportunities. If we see that a specific supplier can serve multiple sites across different geographies, we can aggregate our volumes. This unlocks bulk discounting and guarantees material ubiquity, meaning the product quality remains entirely consistent whether we are pouring iron in Germany, Czechia, or the UK.

Read more: MAT Foundry saves 10% in raw material cost by using Metalshub

Tim, compliance is one of your key focus areas. What are the main procurement-related compliance challenges in a foundry environment?

Tim Abbiss: Our absolute priority is ensuring a stable, safe supply of materials that meet rigid technical requirements. This protects our staff, our furnaces, and ultimately, the safety of the final automotive components.

While ISO 9001 certifications provide a baseline of assurance, they are only one piece of the puzzle. We enforce a rigorous onboarding process alongside phased trial deliveries. A new supplier won’t just start sending full truckloads; we phase them in over three or four successful trial batches until we have maximum confidence in their quality. This disciplined workflow gives our automotive customers and certification bodies clear evidence that we adhere to IATF 16949 standards.

How does having supplier information and transaction records structured all in one place on the platform support your audit readiness?

Nick Bolton: It saves an insane amount of time. Foundries undergo multiple internal, customer, and regulatory audits throughout the year. In the past, if an auditor asked, “How do you prove this supplier agreed to your quality specifications?” you had to go digging through your personal folders, archives, or old email chains. Now, we pull up the platform, click on the tender, and show them the exact contract, terms, and acknowledged technical data sheets in real time.

The same efficiency applies to commercial disputes. We handle a massive volume of invoice queries. If a supplier sends an invoice with an incorrect unit rate, I don’t argue. I simply download the original contract generated by Metalshub three months prior, attach it to the email, and say, “This is what was digitally agreed. Please amend your invoice.” It eliminates back-and-forth communication instantly.

Looking ahead, what do you think will define effective raw material procurement in foundries over the next few years?

Tim Abbiss:

I’ll also add that sustainability legislation is picking up pace. We will see a structural shift toward closer, domestic sourcing where possible to minimise supply chain emissions.

Nick Bolton: I agree with Tim that carbon tracking and green metrics will start showing up directly in tender requirements. However, we also have to be realistic: money still talks. The bottom line will always influence corporate decisions, but digital platforms will make tracking, comparing, and defending those green metrics much easier when businesses do make those choices.

What final piece of advice would you give to foundries that still manage their procurement through fragmented, manual systems?

Nick Bolton: Persevere. Introducing digital processes—especially across multi-site organisations with differing regional cultures—is hard work. When I tried to implement changes in roles where I didn’t speak the native language, it was met with natural pushback. But if you stick with it and constantly demonstrate that this is best practice, the benefits will eventually win everyone over.

Tim Abbiss: Exactly. It fundamentally cuts down the day-to-day workload for both your internal team and your suppliers. Foundries will likely always have some fragmented workflows because we purchase so many varied materials—from scrap steel and alloys to clay, coal, and core coatings. But for your core production materials, centralising your tendering and compliance into a single digital stream is an absolute necessity if you want to keep up with the market.

The insights shared by the MAT Foundry Group paint a clear picture: modern foundry procurement can no longer operate effectively using siloed spreadsheets and unrecorded phone calls. Amid sharp market volatility and unyielding automotive compliance criteria, digital procurement serves as a structural shield.

By centralising supplier onboarding, mandating specification acknowledgements before bidding, and maintaining a localised yet visible group-buying framework, multi-site foundries can extract hidden costs from their supply chain. Ultimately, moving to a structured digital workflow eliminates administrative noise and equips foundry organisations with the visibility needed to turn procurement into a resilient, competitive advantage.