1
Bundle the demand
Approved purchase requests for the same part are grouped across plants, with quantity, specs and budget summarised.
Ten requests from three plants become one event, with the full volume behind it.
Direct Sourcing
Every cent of direct spend, negotiated
Mercu, bundles demand across plants, collects a cost breakdown from every supplier and negotiates in parallel against your target.
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Mercanis × Brose
How we rebuilt direct sourcing for Brose
Thousands of parts, multiple plants, and every cent counts. Together with Brose, one of the largest family-owned automotive suppliers, we rebuilt direct sourcing.
Watch the story · 2:06
“With Mercanis, we didn’t just find a software provider, we found a true innovation partner. A partner we work with to set new standards for direct procurement in automotive.”
Head of Digitalization Purchasing at Brose
10 → 1
purchase requests from three plants, bundled into one sourcing event
3 suppliers
negotiated in parallel, over several rounds
10x
faster from demand to negotiated price
Proven 10x impact
across industries.
“
Sourcing events are easier to set up, so we can invite more suppliers. With that I expect better prices that fit into the market situation, and that makes us more competitive.
“
For the first time, we have absolute transparency across sourcing events, suppliers, and prices, without slowing the business.
“
At some point, the question won’t be, “Which system do I open first in the morning?” Every procurement professional will open Mercanis alongside Outlook and manage their tasks there.
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“
The simplicity of Mercanis has enabled us to integrate our stakeholders into the tendering process by using the platform as a self-service solution, and to steer procurement in a more strategic direction.
“
With Mercanis, we can automate and optimize many processes in sourcing and supplier management. This saves us process costs, allows us to obtain four times as many quotes, and gives us more time for important strategic tasks.
“
What impressed us most was how quickly we could achieve results. The onboarding process is smart, allowing us to efficiently engage with suppliers. We reduced supplier onboarding from 6 weeks to 2 weeks.
Where direct sourcing breaks down
Bundling
The same part is requested by several plants and bundled by hand.
Cost breakdowns
Every supplier sends its cost breakdown in its own Excel, compared line by line by hand.
Negotiation
Negotiation runs one supplier and one email at a time, with days of waiting per round.
Mercanis closes all three. Mercu bundles, sources and negotiates in one flow.
From scattered demand to a negotiated price, in one flow.
Mercu runs the process. Buyers keep the decision.
2
Send to suppliers
The event is created with the cost breakdown template attached, and every approved supplier is invited.
Project buyer and cost analyst are notified, and the first bidding round starts on its own.
3
Collect cost breakdowns
Suppliers fill one structured cost breakdown in the portal: BOM, material, production, overhead, logistics and tooling.
Mercu reads the supplier’s own offer file and pre-fills the price sheet, ready to review before it is submitted.
4
Compare against targets
Every cost breakdown is mapped to one data model and compared line by line against project and cost targets.
Outliers are flagged while the bidding round is still open.
5
Negotiate in parallel
The buyer sets target, budget and flexibility. One playbook runs with every supplier at once, over several rounds.
Offers far off the target are escalated to the buyer, and every message is kept in the audit trail.
6
Award on total cost
Final offers are compared on total cost of ownership, with the best offer highlighted.
The award stays a human decision, and suppliers are informed through the portal.
The buyer’s part:
target and award.
Mercu ran every
round in between.
round in between.
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#sourcing-before
#sourcing-how-it-works
#sourcing-roles
Built for the whole business
Project buyers
Steer each event from bundle to award, and step in only where Mercu escalates.
Suppliers
Fill one cost breakdown in a dedicated portal, pre-filled from their own offer.
Cost analysts
See every cost breakdown in one structure, compared against target as it arrives.
CPO
Full volume leverage across plants, and negotiated savings on every part.
How the results show up in practice
One event instead of ten
Requests for the same part are bundled across plants, so suppliers quote on the full volume.
Negotiated in parallel
Mercu negotiates with every supplier at once, round after round, with the target as the line to beat.
Every cost breakdown in one structure
Cost breakdowns come back in the same format from every supplier, so nothing has to be rebuilt from Excel.
Empower your entire procurement journey
Mercanis connects every process, from intake to sourcing, contracts to suppliers, in one AI-native Procurement Platform. Your team gains full visibility, control, and confidence across the entire lifecycle of spend.
Hello, John!
Repeat complete orders, add individual
items or just state your need
items or just state your need
I need 4,000 common-rail injectors
for 2.0L Euro 6 diesel engines
for 2.0L Euro 6 diesel engines
Intake Management
One path for every department. Mercu routes every request through procurement as a complete, policy-checked purchase requisition.
Agentic Negotiation
Send Only
Assisted
Autonomous
Price Negotiation Progress
DieselCore GmbH
EuroFuel Systems
Precision Ltd.Sourcing
Launch RFQs in minutes. Mercu structures requirements, invites suppliers, negotiates and compares offers.
Contract analysed
3 risks identified
Liability
Price adjustment
Automatic renewal
Action needed
Contract Management
Mercu extracts, reviews and monitors every contract. Risk flags and renewal reminders before anything slips.
Supplier Profile
Precision Automotive
Approved
Movement of Goods
Delivery Reliability
Defect Rate
Total Ordered Quantity
Risk & Compliance
92
97
84
74
Supplier Relationship Management
One profile per supplier: performance, compliance, documents and risk signals. Guided onboarding, and a free supplier portal for communication and data maintenance.
Spend Analytics
Across your procurement data, Mercu recommends where to renegotiate, switch supplier, or bundle demand.
Procure-to-Pay
An automated 4-way match checks the purchase order against order confirmation, goods receipt and invoice. Discrepancies surface instantly.
Mercanis seamlessly integrates
with your existing systems
Runs alongside your ERP, SRM and collaboration tools, from SAP and NetSuite to Slack and Teams.
ERP & Financial Systems
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Communication & Collaboration
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Market & Financial Data
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Made in Germany.
Enterprise-level security with SOC certification, full audit transparency, and peace of mind built into every workflow.
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FAQ
Everything You Need to
Know About Mercanis
What is direct sourcing?
Direct sourcing is buying everything that goes into your product: components, raw materials and assemblies. It runs on cost breakdowns and high volumes across plants, so small differences per unit add up fast. Mercanis covers direct sourcing in its sourcing module, with Mercu handling bundling, offer analysis and negotiation.
How does Mercu bundle demand across plants?
Mercu looks at approved purchase requests and groups those for the same part, for example the same injector requested by three plants. The buyer reviews the bundle, can deselect individual requests and starts one sourcing event with the full volume.
What is a cost breakdown, and how do suppliers fill it in?
A cost breakdown splits the price of a part into material, production, purchased parts, overhead, profit, logistics and tooling. Suppliers fill it in the supplier portal or hand in their own offer file. Mercu then pre-fills the price sheet, and the supplier reviews it before submitting.
How are offers compared against our targets?
Every cost breakdown is mapped to the same data model and compared line by line against the project and cost targets in the event. Outliers are flagged while the bidding round is still open, not weeks later in Excel.
Does Mercu negotiate on its own?
That depends on the mode you choose. In Send Only, the buyer writes and sends. In Assisted, Mercu drafts and the buyer approves. In Autonomous, Mercu negotiates within the mandate the buyer set: target price, maximum budget and how flexible each term is. Offers far off the target are escalated to the buyer.
How do we stay in control of what Mercu does?
Mercu has the same permissions as a buyer in the platform and can only take actions a buyer could take. Every step runs through the same fixed, audit-proof workflows, and every message to a supplier is kept in the audit trail. The award always stays a human decision.
Do suppliers need a license or training?
No. Suppliers work in a free supplier portal where they receive the event, fill in the cost breakdown and answer negotiation rounds. Mercu helps them by pre-filling the price sheet from their own offer.
Does Mercanis replace our ERP?
No. Mercanis runs alongside your ERP and connects to SAP and other systems through APIs. Requirements come in from the ERP, and the result goes back to it.
