3.20 Category Management is a strategic approach to procurement whereby organisations group together related products they buy into market 'segments' to generate efficiencies. It is used widely in the private sector and government. In 2020, the Department's chief commercial officer proposed applying it across the Department with start-up funding of £51 million. According to the Department, an earlier attempt to introduce category management into the Department in 2004 yielded significant benefits but failed because the processes needed were not embedded by the time start-up funding was withdrawn. A challenge this time will be purchasing in categories that cut across the Commands (which now hold the budgets), for example where each Command holds part of the budget for that category. If the initiative is successful, the Department estimates risk-adjusted efficiencies of £628 million over the next 10 years.