In this column, Aldo Barreto—Founding Partner & Co-CEO of Unilink—reflects on how the real challenge of spot sourcing lies not in the urgency of each purchase, but in the lack of visibility and organizational control over a flow that becomes permanent.

With more than 13 years leading Unilink and a previous career spanning 11 years at SAP Ariba and Quadrem, Aldo brings an expert perspective on the need to manage exceptions as an integrated system capable of generating learning, traceability, and market-based decisions.

Spot purchases: a permanent operational reality

In mining, unplanned purchases are part of daily operations.

When a material is not available in the warehouse, the usual supplier does not have stock, or an unforeseen need arises, the procurement team must resolve the issue directly in the market.

Each case is handled individually.

The material arrives.

The operation continues.

From an operational standpoint, the system works.

The challenge arises when looking at the whole picture.

Many small decisions, little information

Spot purchases have common characteristics:

• Low amount per transaction

• High frequency over time

• Wide variety of materials

• Participation of multiple suppliers

• Management distributed among different operations or buyers

Each requirement is correctly handled as an exception.

However, at the organizational level, the flow remains scattered.

Over time, this creates a less visible problem:

• There is no consolidated view of off-contract spending.

• It is difficult to identify recurring or more competitive suppliers.

• There is no systematic comparison of prices or response times.

• The information is distributed in individual orders, emails, or quotes.

• The organization fails to see the actual behavior of the market.

When the exception becomes permanent

Spot procurement is not an occasional event.

It is a continuous flow.

In operations with multiple sites or maintenance centers, this flow is multiplied every day.

However, it is usually handled on a case-by-case basis, with a focus on resolving the urgency.

The result is a process that responds operationally, but does not generate learning or control at scale.

Each purchase is closed.

But the system is not improving.

The real turning point

The relevant change is not to reduce the number of exceptions.

It's about stopping seeing them as isolated events and starting to manage them as a continuous flow.

When these purchases are viewed in an integrated manner, it becomes possible to:

• Identify consumption or repetition patterns

• Identify opportunities for standardization

• Expand access to available providers

• Compare actual market conditions

• Improve process traceability

At that point, the supply stops responding.

Start managing.

Beyond the urgency

In mining, much of the efficiency of supply does not depend solely on large contracts or supply agreements.

It also depends on how the thousands of small decisions that occur every day are managed.

When these decisions are no longer invisible, procurement gains a new capability:

Not just solving the urgent problem.

But rather to understand and control the flow behind it.