Comprehensive experience,
hands-on mentality and portfolio in procurement

Identification of strategic material fields and savings through pooling

This is a core process of strategic procurement. First step is baselining of the the current situation.

2nd tier pooling

Pooling to generate cost savings

Which material fields are of strategic importance to the success of the enterprise? Next step is to further develop a comprehensive strategy for these main material fields and the related supplier strategy. This subject has an important link to innovation management. The supply market is a major source for innovations. A close collaboration with strategic suppliers ensure early access to innovations.

Pooling to generate cost savings

Last but not least the material field strategy is the basis to generate cost savings through pooling of material and services. This can be done inside the company or with 3rd parties. 2nd tier management can be also part of the pooling strategy.

2nd tier pooling as part of the Resilience strategy

2nd tier pooling can be applied on different material fields (e.g. indirect material, Logistics, plastic resin, steel). It can be physical pooling of material or just agreements with suppliers, which are accessible for suppliers or business partners. It helps to ensure the availability of services and material as well as generating cost savings.
I have been gathering extensive experience.

Make or Buy opportunities

You are searching for suppliers in the Americas or Asia? I can support you on that.

No data – no actions:

Data transparency is the key factor for success. This consists of full transparency on the annual spend, forecasted volumes as well as on suppliers. There is no successful tender without a reliable demand data base. Worst case is that tenders are only perceived as “test the water” by supplier.
It consists of determining the status quo and identification of opportunities to improve the data transparency. I will support you on a deep dive into the data and how to set up data transparency.

Robustness of supply chain

What does Resilience stands for? There are different understandings of this term in place but not a commonly used definition.
It is about the the ability of a supply chain to handle and resist disruptions and quickly respond and recover operational capabilities from disruptions.

Identify and manage risks

Identification of potential supply risk and supply regions. Which material and services are crucial for the success of the enterprise. Definition of measures to manage the risk and support of implementation.

Sustainability in procurement

ESG and Sustainability are a wide and important field in procurement. It starts with the code of conduct, supplier qualification and covers measures to save enviroment as well.
It is getting more and more a prerequisite for many businesses. As an example for governmental business, please refer to the attached link Procurement Opportunities (ungm.org)
Improvement of the footprint is getting a key success factor. In order to determine the current status, it is all starting with a proper baseline:

CO 2 footprint baselining

Which are the material groups with major importance for sustainability? Major aspects are the  Carbon Footprint and usage of secondary material (e.g. Plastics, Metals). It is not an easy action to determine the Carbon Footprint of an enterprise, however there are methodologies to measure it. It means for procurement to get the Carbon Footprint by material groups and focus on the biggest ones. Baselining is followed by projects to improve and measure the progress.
Reduction of Green House Gas (GHG) is a quite common topic, however concrete and measureable actions are often in an initial state. The subject requires management attention to reach the reduction targets.

Tendering vs. Bargaining

Tendering is much more than bargaining

Often people outside procurment guess tendering equals bargaining.
However, tendering is consisting of the entire process, starting with requirements management, alignment with internal stakeholders, determination of the buying power, identification of potential sources, qualification of new suppliers, definition of strategic supplier goals and finally negotiation of prices. Bargaining is of course one way of the final negotiation. But there are much more ways to negotiate. Often bargaining is not the most appropiate way to get the best terms and conditions.

Extensive experience in tendering, even in difficult environment.

I got extensive experience in tendering and negotiations and I am happy to support you on this subject. How to tackle monopolists or act in difficult situations is an essential part of my portfolio.

Cost Benchmarking

It is important to assess the cost position of the major material groups as this has a big impact on the overall profitability. Of course requirements have to be comparable to ensure a “like as like” position.
Continious benchmarking is the right activity to gain transparency on the own cost position and identify improvement potential. This can be by applying available market data or 1:1 benchmarking with other companies. I`ve been applying both activities multiple times and can drive this process for you.
Each benchmarking was paying off. There is always something to be improved.

Innovation areas in procurement

Innovations and digitilization are key to procurement processes. Processes in the supply chain are complex and manpower intensive. Digitilization and innovation are automating the processes, generating transparency and allowing the procurement staff to focus on the main tasks:

Autonomous sourcing bots

Smaller demand (B and C demand) is often not covered by procurement staff as this would be to cost intensive. This is an ideal field for a sourcing bot. Example: Sourcing bot in Seafreight. This was implemented in my area of responsibility already more than 5 years ago. (Ocean Freight Sourcing Bot Demo – Keelvar)

Digital ratecards

How to distribute price lists across the company? This is mainly in indirect material still often Excel based. Implementation of prices is depending that the Excel ratecards reach out to the responsible person and that the person is applying the ratecard. There are solutions available, such as digital ratecards, which are stored in the cloud and can be accessed at any time, regardless if it is an automated upload or prices are manually requested.
Success Story: Digital Rate Card Siemens (siemens-digital-logistics.com)
This generates cost productivity and address saving potentials.  This is a subject for discussion with your  procurement staff. I gathered significant experience with these digital processes, guided the implemention in the years 2018-2020 and would be happy to apply it in a joint project.

Joint procurement

The traditional way to bundle volume is to get all demand of the own company on the table. This is a good way to generate savings and get a better access to the supply market. Another way is to join forces with other companies. True commodity material, such as parts of indirect material or raw material are good candidates for such pooling initiative. I have been driving such initiatives in different material fields with an outcome of 10-20% savings.

Generating cost synergies on mergers and acquisitions

In case of merger and acquisition the achievement of cost synergies is always one of the top priorities. Procurement and explicitly indirect material is an area to achieve quick and early cost reductions. I`ve been driving such projects multiple times with smaller and larger acquisitions ranging from 7 to 8 digit procurement spend in a very successful manner.
I can offer you my experience to drive such projects.
Procurements Role in Mergers and Acquisitions (purchasingpractice.com)