Franke's Procurement Transformation with Mithra AI

Turning Spend Data into Strategic Advantage: Franke’s Transformation with Mithra

“We went from fragmented visibility and misclassified spend to a robust, AI-assisted taxonomy and classification in just weeks.”

— Angela Rametsi, Chief Procurement Officer, Franke Management, Switzerland

Franke, a Switzerland-based industrial powerhouse, faced a fundamental problem: poor visibility into its spend data. Despite having an internal tool, the procurement team was stuck with unreliable material classifications and minimal insight into how to identify value or negotiate effectively.

“We had a tool internally that did not allow us to drive value, or even give us visibility.” recalls Angela Rametsi, Franke’s Chief Procurement Officer . “We had a material group called ‘Material Others’ which included multiple categories. Our buyers couldn’t make sense of it, and therefore couldn’t identify negotiation opportunities or formulate category strategies.”

What followed was a complete transformation of Franke's spend classification and procurement strategy, powered by Mithra’s AI-first platform.

Impact Highlights:

• AI-assisted reclassification of all spend with high accuracy
• From zero to validated procurement taxonomy in ~3 weeks
• Reduced internal workload while boosting accuracy and governance
• Positioned for future-proof classification with continuous taxonomy maintenance

Use Case 1: Turning messy spend data into actionable intelligence

When Franke set out to clean up their spend data, the procurement team attempted to define a taxonomy manually. But without automated intelligence, this approach was error-prone and painfully slow.

By combining Mithra’s cognitive intelligence with the domain expertise of Franke’s internal team, the two created a powerful collaboration loop: Mithra rapidly suggested classifications and improvements, while Franke validated these based on internal context. This drastically accelerated what would’ve been a months-long project.

“It took about a maximum of three weeks to finalize a baseline taxonomy, clean the data sets, and get the classification played back to us.” Angela explained. “Without Mithra, we would have been much slower.”

Use Case 2: Enabling governance, agility, and scale

“With Mithra, we can bring new products or acquisitions into our taxonomy without losing data integrity.”
— Angela Rametsi

Franke’s product lines evolve frequently, requiring continuous updates to their procurement taxonomy. 

Mithra helps maintain data quality and category integrity over time:

• New product introductions: As new items or categories come online, Mithra’s AI ensures each gets properly classified.
• Mergers & acquisitions: When Franke potentially integrates another company’s procurement data, Mithra’s platform can rapidly reconcile two different taxonomies and surface any discrepancies.

Use Case 3: Uncovering pricing insights and negotiation power

Beyond taxonomy, Mithra delivered unexpected strategic advantages. By analyzing product-level spend across multiple suppliers and locations, Franke gained visibility into pricing variation.

“If for the same material we are currently buying from five suppliers, we’re able to see the average price, the highest price, and the lowest price,” Angela shared. “That’s fantastic insight. It points our buyers in the right direction for negotiation.”

This kind of intelligence—embedded directly into Franke’s procurement workflows—equips their team to pursue more aggressive savings strategies based on data, not just intuition.

A partner in speed, flexibility, and innovation

Angela described the engagement with Mithra as “super easy” and “solution-oriented.” The team at Mithra, she noted, was uniquely responsive and open to adapting based on Franke’s needs and feedback:

“Frequently, I would suggest adjustments or new ideas, and by our next meeting, Mithra's team would have already implemented them effectively. Their ability to quickly understand our needs, respond promptly, and deliver tailored solutions has been incredibly valuable.”

Final Word

Mithra helped Franke turn one of procurement’s biggest challenges—unstructured and inaccurate spend data—into a strategic asset. From the speed of implementation to ongoing adaptability, the impact continues to grow.

By partnering with Mithra, Franke continues to push the boundaries of what’s possible in procurement, proving that with the right AI and a collaborative mindset, even the most entrenched data challenges can be transformed into a competitive advantage.

Ready to Transform Your Procurement Data?

If you’re looking to gain deeper visibility, improve category management, and unleash AI-powered insights in your procurement, contact us to learn more about Mithra’s solutions.