Volatile raw material prices, disrupted supply chains, and rising margin pressure are putting procurement departments under strain. In this environment, strategic price negotiations become the key to reducing costs while developing supplier relationships on an equal footing.

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In the webinar, Daniel Borbelj (Head of Procurement at RELINE) and Kristina Ulrich (Head of Customer Development at Tacto) show how RELINE achieves measurable results with data-driven negotiation processes – and why digital tools like Tacto play a decisive role.

The Starting Point: High Effort, Little Structure

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Before Tacto, price negotiations at RELINE were characterized by manual Excel analyses, inconsistent data availability, and high resource commitment.

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The biggest challenges included:

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• Time-consuming, non-standardized preparation for monthly price talks

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• No index linkage and a lack of cost transparency

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• No comparability of historical price developments

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• Limited data availability for fact-based argumentation

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The Solution: Negotiating Digitally – Efficient, Objective, Successful

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With Tacto, RELINE restructured the entire negotiation process – from preparation to follow-up:

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• A solid data foundation
  Tacto automatically aggregates all relevant data – purchasing volumes, delivery performance, price trends – and cuts preparation time to under one hour.

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• Cost models & index logic
  Material and energy costs can be linked to price indices to detect deviations between market and quoted prices. This creates an objective basis for price talks and enables RELINE to challenge implausible demands with facts.

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• Transparent negotiation management
  Clear KPIs and negotiation strategies – such as the BATNA approach or game-theory models – strike the balance between cost reduction and partnership-based collaboration.

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• Centralized follow-up
  Meeting outcomes, price escalation clauses, and follow-up actions are documented directly in the system – for lasting knowledge retention and continuous optimization.

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"I have only ever known the world of procurement with Tacto – and honestly, I can hardly imagine it without." – Daniel Borbelj, Head of Procurement at RELINE

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Outlook: How AI Is Fundamentally Changing Price Negotiations

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The next step? Negotiations with AI agents. In the webinar, Daniel and Kristina discuss how price talks evolve with intelligent assistants such as Tacto Intelligence:

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• Automated argumentation support
  Suggestions for counterarguments, objections, and price structures
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• Anomaly detection
  AI identifies unusual price patterns and flags where action is needed
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• Reverse auctions & negotiation programs
  More competition and transparency for standard items
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• Out-of-the-box approaches
  Strategic projects instead of isolated one-off negotiations

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AI assists. Humans decide. Tacto provides the data foundation.

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Conclusion: Price Negotiations as a Strategic Lever in Procurement

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RELINE shows how the mid-market achieves real competitive advantages with digital solutions. Strategic price negotiations are not a buzzword but a clear success factor – when they are based on data, structure, and technology.

In the webinar, Daniel Borbelj from RELINE and Kristina Ulrich from Tacto show how RELINE professionalized its negotiation process through data-driven preparation, index-based cost models, and structured follow-up – realizing significant savings as a result. Rounded out with an outlook on AI-native negotiations with Tacto Intelligence, the webinar offers concrete insights into how mid-market procurement teams make their negotiations future-proof and measurably successful.