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My Weird Prompts · August 23 · 26 min

How a Stop Sign Gets Bought: B2B Procurement Decoded

Ever wonder why an industrial catalogue has SKUs and photos but no prices? This episode uses a single stop sign — the state of Connecticut needs 5,000 of them — to unpack the entire B2B and B2G procurement lifecycle. From the MUTCD spec and ASTM D4956 retroreflective sheeting to pre-bid conferences, Invitations for Bid, and the consultative role suppliers play in shaping the spec, we trace how a highly standardized product moves through a wildly variable purchasing process. Along the way, we explain why Grainger can't print prices, how volume and identity determine cost, and why the lowest bidder isn't always the winner. Episode #201164 — open it directly at myweirdprompts.com/201164

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Ever wonder why an industrial catalogue has SKUs and photos but no prices? This episode uses a single stop sign — the state of Connecticut needs 5,000 of them — to unpack the entire B2B and B2G procurement lifecycle. From the MUTCD spec and ASTM D4956 retroreflective sheeting to pre-bid conferences, Invitations for Bid, and the consultative role suppliers play in shaping the spec, we trace how a highly standardized product moves through a wildly variable purchasing process. Along the way, we explain why Grainger can't print prices, how volume and identity determine cost, and why the lowest bidder isn't always the winner.

Episode #201164 — open it directly at myweirdprompts.com/201164

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