The 'golden' age of purchasing, in which it was relatively easy to achieve annual cost reductions of between one and three percent, has come to an end. The major reasons for this are the consolidation in many supplier markets, rising energy costs, and growing resource consumption in many emerging markets such as China. To support companies that need to master the challenges in purchasing and achieve significant value propositions, the authors have developed the "Purchasing Chessboard [trademark]". "The Purchasing Chessboard[trademark]" provides a suitable purchasing strategy for every constellation of buying power and selling power.