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ToolDeck

Monitoring & Intelligence

Supplier / Commodity Price Watch

Tracks the raw material and supplier prices that decide your margins.

Saves about ~1 hr per week

What it does

  • Crawls supplier pricing boards and commodity feeds
  • Tracks prices for the inputs you actually buy
  • Flags directional moves early
  • Delivers a weekly input-cost digest

How it works

  1. Supplier/commodity sources crawled
  2. Prices tracked per input
  3. Moves flagged against your thresholds
  4. Weekly digest delivered

What's included

  • Input mapping
  • Price tracking
  • Move flags + digest

Set it up yourself

Follow these 4 steps in order. You will need accounts for: OpenCrawl.

Step 1: List your inputs

  1. List the inputs that matter to your cost of goods (materials, freight lanes, energy).
  2. For each, identify the price source: a commodity index, supplier portal, or market feed.
  3. Add the source URLs/feeds to the crawl.
  4. Test the extraction of the current price.
  5. Store the mapping.

Watch out: Map each input to the index that actually prices it — a vague 'raw materials' feed won't tell you anything about the specific input you buy.

Step 2: Track and compute

  1. Store each week's price per input in a sheet (history).
  2. Compute week-over-week % change.
  3. Compute 4-week moving average.
  4. Test the math.
  5. Choose thresholds (e.g. ±5% flags a move).

Watch out: The 4-week average smooths noise — a single volatile week shouldn't trigger repricing decisions; a sustained move should.

Step 3: Flag the moves

  1. Flag where weekly change crosses your threshold.
  2. For inputs > 10% up on sustained trend, draft the cost note to your pricing/ops.
  3. Post flags to Slack/email.
  4. Test the flag logic with historical data.
  5. Review thresholds quarterly.

Watch out: The sustained-trend flag is the buying trigger — catching an input trend at 10% beats discovering it at cost-report time.

Step 4: Weekly digest

  1. Monday digest: each input's price, change, trend.
  2. Include the impact estimate on your cost of goods (if you track volume × price).
  3. Deliver to ops/finance channel.
  4. Review the digest in your margin check.
  5. Use it to schedule purchases during dips.

Watch out: The impact estimate (volume × delta) converts a price number into a margin number — that's what makes ops act.

Frequently asked questions

What does the Supplier / Commodity Price Watch automation do?

Tracks the raw material and supplier prices that decide your margins. Crawls supplier pricing boards and commodity feeds

How much time does Supplier / Commodity Price Watch save?

It is estimated to save ~1 hr per week. Actual savings depend on your volume.

Which tools does Supplier / Commodity Price Watch use?

It works with OpenCrawl.

What does Supplier / Commodity Price Watch include?

Input mapping, Price tracking, Move flags + digest.

Can I set up Supplier / Commodity Price Watch myself?

Yes. The do-it-yourself guide on this page walks through 4 steps, from getting access to testing the finished automation.