Author: Kloepfel
Savings, transparency, improved freight cost management Correct billing of freight costs is a challenge for many companies. Often, the invoiced freight rates deviate from the actual agreements by up to 5 percent. In addition, complex tariff structures and numerous ancillary charges make manual checking difficult. But there is a solution: fully automated freight invoice verification. The Kloepfel Group offers its customers fully automated invoice verification using “best-in-class software” and the expertise of its logistics experts. By using this innovative method, incorrect invoices are detected, employees are relieved of tedious and time-consuming tasks, and a transparent database for freight service purchasing…
The Federal Ministry of Finance presented the Growth Opportunities Act for 2024 on June 17, 2023. If the new bill is actually realized, the maximum subsidy amount will be raised from €1 million to a full €3 million (tax-free) per year. Furthermore, it will be possible to also deduct acquisition costs within the scope of an R&D project. Previously, only personnel costs were taken into account. It is highly likely that the funding potential of the research allowance will almost double for all companies from 2024. Since the topic is very media-savvy, it is advisable to act quickly here and…
HWWI commodity price index falls in June Sub-index for energy commodities declines by 4.0 % (US dollar basis) Sub-index for industrial raw materials falls by 0.9 Sub-index for food, beverages and tobacco down 0.9 (Hamburg, July 12, 2023) In June, the downward trend in the HWWI commodity price index since the beginning of the year continued (-3.4%). The index was thus 44% lower than in June 2022. All three sub-indices (energy commodities, industrial commodities, food and beverages) were down. As in the previous month, the subindex for energy raw materials declined most significantly, falling by 4.0%. As in previous months,…
Senior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Junior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com
Same level as before the Corona pandemic has been reached again Supply chain software platform E2open recently released its Ocean Shipping Index (OSI) for the second quarter of 2023. According to E2open, global ocean transit times have improved by 14 days compared to the same quarter last year. Currently, geopolitical tensions, strikes as well as supply chain disruptions still exist. Nevertheless, sea freight transit times have returned to pre-pandemic levels. Pawan Joshi, executive vice president, products and strategy at E2open, explains that amid existing supply chain difficulties, companies can reap benefits from the resulting events. According to Joshi, more capacity…
Strongest year-on-year decline since 2009 According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), import prices in June 2023 decreased by 11.4 percent compared with June 2022. This was the strongest year-on-year price decline since September 2009, it said, with import prices down 1.6 percent from the previous month of May. The decisive factor for the decrease in import prices is owed to the base effect caused by the high prices after the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Energy prices become more favorable Energy prices are a major contributor to the decline in the overall index, according to the Federal Statistical Office.…
Investments amounting to 2 billion euros thyssenkrupp Steel announced it has received funding of approximately two billion euros from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection for its decarbonization project “tkH2Steel”. In addition, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia is participating in the overall funding and providing up to 700 million euros. With the financial support, the company is now in a position to launch its decarbonization project, he said. The funding is focused in particular on innovative plant technology and the early abandonment of the use of natural gas. This should lead to rapid CO2 savings. According to…
Capacity on time – ramp up and down purchasing at any time Increase purchasing capacity at short notice Due to crises and market conditions, the need for purchasing staff fluctuates for many companies. Skills shortages and geopolitical risks for supply chains or the Supply Chain Act sometimes require more and sometimes less work force in purchasing. Providers like Kloepfel Services help you to flexibly ramp up and down your purchasing capacity as needed from one day to the next. Employees with many years of international experience in operational and strategic purchasing, German and English speaking and very good user knowledge…
Short-term support also for medium-sized companies The need for competent and effective purchasing management is essential for companies, especially for medium-sized businesses. In many cases, however, there is a temporary need for experienced managers, whether due to staff shortages or special projects. This is where interim purchasing managers come into play. As interim managers, they provide short-term support and assume responsibility for the purchasing area. This article takes a closer look at the benefits and characteristics of these specialized professionals and explains their valuable contribution to companies of various sizes. For this purpose, Ludovic Montécot, Senior Manager at the Kloepfel…
GFE Solutions: Recruit high-caliber interim engineers! What problems or challenges does GFE Solutions solve for its customers? GFE Solutions offers its customers in the DACH region, for example from the mechanical engineering, automotive and steel processing industries, top-class engineering services on a wide range of topics. We support our customers as needed by providing additional engineering personnel for seasonal peak periods as well as for one-off industrial projects. Our services include the design of their products, strength calculations, and PLC programming for equipment controls and CNC programming for their own CNC manufacturing machines. Engineers work both remotely (offsite) and on-site…
Customer interview with Stefan Blessing, Managing Partner How long did it take you to find the right interim manager? It went very quickly. After about two weeks, the interim manager from Kloepfel Consulting, Ludovic Montécot, started working for us. In which position was Mr. Montécot assigned to you? We have appointed him as interim procurement manager. What tasks did he have with you? Among other things, Mr. Montécot was responsible as main commodity group manager for the scheduling of our largest commodity groups wood, aluminum and steel. This involved a lot of operational tasks, such as triggering orders in the…
Interview: Interim Purchasing & Disposition Manager at Grundig Business Systems. Interview with Barbara Kuriczak, Managing Director Grundig Business Systems, and Daniel Frieg, Authorized Signatory Grundig Business Systems. How did you hear about interim management from Kloepfel Consulting? Through a shareholder. Approximately how long did it take to find the interim manager? It was very quick, within fourteen days. For which position was the interim manager assigned to you? Torsten Althaus from Kloepfel Consulting was our interim purchasing and scheduling manager for almost half a year. He was deployed on site at our company. Mr. Althaus managed the purchasing and scheduling…
Author: Stefan Meyer, Senior Consultant at Kloepfel Consulting Innovative thinking for sustainable mobility Technological progress and digital transformation offer companies many effective tools to optimize their fleet management – and do something good for the environment at the same time. In this article, we look at optimizing the cost of your vehicle fleet over its entire lifecycle. Under the term Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), we include, for example, the costs of purchasing or leasing, operating costs, maintenance costs, repairs, fuel costs, insurance and potential depreciation. This holistic view enables companies to assess the long-term financial impact of their vehicle…
More flexibility in the financial support of research and development (R&D) through subsidies has been demanded by many companies for years in order to increase the attractiveness of Germany as a location for research and innovation. In response, the research allowance was introduced on January 1, 2020. Its purpose is to relieve companies of the burden of financing R&D projects and thus to provide targeted incentives for more investment in R&D. The research allowance is intended to be used to finance R&D projects. The funding is generally open to all topics and sectors and supports projects along the entire development…
Overview of the follow-up reports Today we look back together on this year’s summer parties of our company. The locations in Düsseldorf and Austria each spent the hotly anticipated summer party on the water. Kloepfel sails across the water On June 16, the colleagues from Düsseldorf met on the deck of the ship RheinPoesie starting at 1 pm. There they were greeted with Aperol and champagne and shortly thereafter the trip started already at 2 p.m. heading south. A DJ, a saxophonist and a percussionist accompanied the Kloepfel team throughout the day and ensured a good atmosphere. At 6 p.m.…
HWWI Commodity Price Index decreases in May Index for Energy Raw Materials declines by 12,4% (US Dollar basis) Index for Industrial Raw Materials declines by 4,2% Index for Food and Beverages declines by 3,6% (Hamburg, June 14, 2023) In May, the downward trend of the HWWI Commodity Price Indexfrom the first quarter of 2023, except for April (+2.9%), continued (-10.9%). The index wasthus 41% lower in May than in the same month a year earlier. All three individual indices(energy raw materials, industrial raw materials, food and beverages) declined in May. TheIndex for Energy Raw Materials fell most sharply, by 12.4%.…
Senior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Junior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com
Strongest decrease since 2009 According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), import prices decreased by 9.1 percent in May 2023 compared with May 2022. This was the sharpest year-on-year price decline since September 2009, with import prices down 1.4 percent on the previous month of April. Significantly lower energy prices Energy prices are a major contributor to the decline in the overall index, according to the Federal Statistical Office. Prices of energy imports decreased by 37.6 percent in May 2023 compared to May 2022. Compared with April 2023, prices fell by 6.4 percent. Natural gas had the largest impact, decreasing…