Strategic Sourcing vs. Managed Procurement: How We Source and Deliver Lithium Cells at Scale

For battery manufacturers, sourcing lithium-ion cells is rarely just about finding a supplier and negotiating a price.

The real challenge is managing everything that comes after, and everything that needs to happen before the cells reach the customer's production line.

The right cell needs to be sourced from the right manufacturer. Quality needs to be controlled at origin. Commercial terms need to work for the customer. Dangerous-goods requirements need to be handled correctly. Export documentation, international freight, customs and final delivery all need to come together.

This is where we support customers through two complementary models:

Strategic Sourcing: Where we identify and source the right cells and suppliers based on the customer's requirements.

Managed Procurement Services: Where we work with the customer's existing suppliers and manage the procurement and supply-chain execution from Asia.

In both cases, our objective is the same: make international cell procurement more reliable, controlled and easier for the customer.

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Manufacturer Relationships

Sourcing and procurement execution both depend on the depth of supplier relationships behind them. We work directly with tier 1 cell manufacturers including Gotion, CALB, BAK, CATL, Lishen, Molicel, Samsung, Panasonic, TenPower, Highstar and Toshiba, across cylindrical, prismatic and pouch formats and across LFP, NMC and other li-ion chemistries.

These relationships are what make both service models work in practice: strategic sourcing draws on this supplier base to match a customer's technical and commercial requirements to the right manufacturer, and managed procurement uses the same origin-side relationships and processes to support suppliers the customer already works with even outside this list.

Volume Delivered

Over the last two years, we have delivered approximately 30 MWh of lithium-ion cells across multiple projects, spanning cylindrical and prismatic LFP formats and volumes in the hundreds of thousands of cells per project.

But volume is only one part of the story. The more important question is:

What does it take to reliably procure and deliver hundreds of thousands of lithium cells across borders?

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Strategic Sourcing: Finding the Right Source

When a customer knows what cell they need but doesn't have the right source, we can support the sourcing process.

This can involve identifying suitable manufacturers and suppliers based on requirements such as:

• Cell chemistry and format
• Voltage and capacity
• Electrical and physical specifications
• Manufacturer requirements
• Quality and documentation requirements
• Quantity and delivery schedule
• Commercial requirements
• Destination-market considerations

The objective isn't simply to find the lowest-cost supplier. It is to identify a source that can meet the customer's technical, quality, commercial and supply requirements.

Where required, we can also support supplier evaluation, sample coordination, documentation and pre-shipment quality processes.

Managed Procurement

Strategic sourcing isn't always necessary. Many battery companies already have relationships with cell manufacturers in China or elsewhere.

In those cases, we don't need to replace the supplier. We can work with the customer's existing suppliers as their Asia-based supply-chain partner.

This can include managing:

• Purchase-order coordination
• Supplier communication
• Production and delivery follow-up
• Commercial coordination
• Quality coordination
• Inspection at origin
• Export documentation
• Dangerous-goods requirements
• International freight
• Customs coordination
• Final delivery

This model allows customers to retain their existing supplier relationships while using our local presence and supply-chain capabilities to manage execution closer to the source.

You bring the supplier. We manage the supply chain.

Quality Control Starts at Origin

For lithium cells, quality control should not begin when the shipment arrives at the customer's warehouse. It starts at the manufacturer.

Depending on the customer's requirements, we can coordinate supplier documentation, production and batch information, pre-shipment checks and third-party inspection or testing.

Where Grade A cells are required, the appropriate specifications, quality requirements and verification processes can be established with the supplier and inspection partners before shipment.

The objective is to give the customer greater visibility and control over what is being shipped before it leaves the country of origin.

Sourcing Cells Through Lexa

Both of these models run through Lexa, our agentic procurement orchestration platform. Instead of routing a sourcing requirement through email threads and spreadsheets, customers can submit cell specifications: chemistry, form factor, capacity, quality and delivery requirements, directly on Lexa, and get matched against our existing manufacturer relationships and supplier base. Every supplier on Lexa carries a trust score built on delivery performance, quality history and compliance record, so customers aren't sourcing blind. The platform gives visibility into the process; Procurabl's team behind it handles supplier onboarding, quality coordination, DG compliance and execution end to end. It's the fastest way to go from "we need this cell" to a qualified, moving order, the same work described in this article, run through a system instead of ad hoc.

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Lithium Cells Require More Than Ordinary Logistics

Lithium cells are classified as dangerous goods for transportation under applicable regulations. That means international procurement also requires careful coordination of packaging, documentation, classification and handling.

Our role is to coordinate these requirements with suppliers, inspection agencies and logistics partners so that the shipment can move through the supply chain appropriately.

The process doesn't end when the cells leave the factory. It continues through:

Origin → DG preparation → Export → International freight → Customs → Final delivery

Managing these handoffs is an important part of making cell procurement reliable.

Commercial Execution and Working Capital

Large-volume cell procurement can also create significant commercial and working-capital requirements.

When customers are purchasing hundreds of thousands of cells, the transaction isn't simply about the unit price. Payment terms, credit requirements, production schedules and shipment timing can all have an impact on the customer's working capital and production planning.

Depending on the transaction, we can support customers with commercial coordination and credit arrangements alongside the physical procurement process.

This allows procurement to be managed as an end-to-end commercial and supply-chain activity rather than as a simple purchase order.

One Partner Across the Supply Chain

Our role can therefore begin at different points depending on what the customer needs.

Need a source?

We can identify and develop potential suppliers through strategic sourcing.

Already have a supplier?

We can work with that supplier through our managed procurement services.

Need the entire process managed?

We can combine sourcing and procurement with origin quality coordination, commercial execution, DG handling, international logistics and final delivery.

This flexibility is particularly valuable for companies that want to access Asian supply chains without having to build and manage the entire local procurement infrastructure themselves.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between strategic sourcing and managed procurement? Strategic sourcing is used when a customer needs us to identify and qualify a new cell supplier. Managed procurement is used when a customer already has a supplier and wants us to run the execution, purchase orders, quality, DG compliance, logistics and delivery, from Asia.

Do we have to switch suppliers to work with you? No. Under managed procurement, we work with your existing supplier relationships. You keep the supplier; we manage the supply chain around them.

Which cell manufacturers do you work with? Procurabl has direct relationships with tier 1 manufacturers including Gotion, CALB, BAK, Lishen, Molicel, Samsung, Panasonic, TenPower, Highstar and Toshiba, across LFP, NMC and other li-ion chemistries in cylindrical, prismatic and pouch formats.

How do you handle quality control? Quality coordination starts at the manufacturer, not on arrival. Depending on requirements, this can include supplier documentation, batch information, pre-shipment checks and third-party inspection, with Grade A specifications verified before the shipment leaves origin.

Are lithium cells harder to ship than other components? Yes. Cells are classified as dangerous goods, which means packaging, documentation and classification requirements have to be handled correctly at every step — from origin through export, freight, customs and final delivery.

What volumes do you typically handle? Our projects have run into the hundreds of thousands of cells each. Over the last two years we've delivered approximately 30 MWh of lithium-ion cells across these engagements.

Can you support commercial terms and working capital, not just logistics? Depending on the transaction, yes — we can support commercial coordination and credit arrangements alongside the physical procurement, so the engagement is managed as an end-to-end activity rather than a single purchase order.

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Where to Start

If you already know your source and just need execution handled, that's a managed procurement conversation. If you don't have a source yet, or your current one no longer fits your technical, quality or commercial requirements, that's a strategic sourcing conversation.

Either way, the entry point is the same: tell us what you're trying to procure, and we'll tell you which model fits, or whether you need both.