About the client
HD Group is a food manufacturing holding that unites several factories and production enterprises. Since 2017, the company’s shareholders have been pursuing a comprehensive transformation to adapt to new market realities and modern business management approaches.
For years, procurement was treated as a purely support function. Buyers worked directly on-site at individual facilities, with no unified structure or oversight tools. This created recurring supply disruptions, a lack of transparency, and no way to manage costs strategically.
Challenge
Procurement operations were entirely decentralized: each production facility managed its own supplier relationships independently. The absence of a shared structure made oversight impossible, undermined negotiating power, and created significant operational risk.
This led to several issues:
- No procurement oversight at the holding level
- Inconsistent approaches to supplier management across facilities
- Recurring supply disruptions due to the lack of coordinated planning
- No transparency in tender processes
- Weak negotiating position resulting from fragmented purchasing volumes
- Inability to strategically manage costs and supply chain risks
Key project objectives included:
- Centralizing procurement under a dedicated entity – Trade Hub
- Automating supplier interaction and tender workflows
- Introducing joint planning to minimize supply disruption risks
- Building a flexible, multi-tier warehousing system
- Transitioning to long-term strategic relationships with key suppliers
- Making the procurement function financially self-sustaining
“We reconsidered our view of procurement entirely. Today, we believe that technology gives procurement not just a seat at the executive table, but it gives it the power to become a true value creator for the entire business.”
— Max Leontiev, CEO, Trade Hub
Solution
Before implementation, the APSentra team conducted a full procurement audit of the group. Based on the findings, the procurement function was spun off into a standalone legal entity, Trade Hub LLC, operating under a business process outsourcing (BPO) model.
A comprehensive solution was deployed on the APSentra platform:
- Strategic Sourcing & Tender Automation: electronic tenders, auctions, and reverse auctions
- Supplier Management System: a unified supplier portal with online access to contracts, purchase orders, and shipments
- Contract & Order Automation: electronic approval, signing, and order placement
- Joint Procurement Planning: synchronization of facility needs with supplier capacity
- Commodity pricing tools: including raw material futures and factoring mechanisms
- Electronic document management: full elimination of paper-based workflows
Results
Full procurement visibility for leadership
Single point of contact for suppliers
Reduced human error and risk
Stronger negotiating position
Procurement as a self-sustaining business
Business impact
Procurement at Hlibodar Group evolved from a fragmented support function into a strategic center for cost and risk management.
- Suppliers gained a reliable, technology-driven partner with clear rules, transparent procedures, and convenient tools for collaboration
- Production facilities were freed from procurement chaos. Requests are processed automatically, deliveries are jointly planned, and disruption risks are minimized
- Leadership gained full transparency where all procurement is visible in real time, and decisions are made based on data
- Trade Hub, as an independent entity, is steadily becoming self-sustaining, establishing a new model for procurement outsourcing in the market
“The future of our company’s procurement is no longer built on the dogma of ‘buy cheaper.’ It is built on a system of shared cost and risk management with our suppliers.”
— Max Leontiev, CEO, Trade Hub
