Author: Kloepfel
Companies complain about supply bottlenecks A survey by the Ifo Institute shows that material shortages have intensified. In May, 77.2 percent of the surveyed companies complained about supply bottlenecks as well as other problems in obtaining preliminary products and raw materials. The month before, the figure was 75.0 percent. “Supply chains are under constant stress,” commented Klaus Wohlrabe, head of Ifo’s surveys. The standstill at Chinese ports has worsened the situation for many companies, he said. Almost all key industries burdened At 91.5 percent, mechanical engineering is the most heavily burdened. This is followed by the electrical industry. The proportion…
Brexit special evaluation As reported by the German Association of Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (BME) on May 11, a special Brexit evaluation by the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) as part of the Chamber of Industry and Commerce survey “Going International 2022” shows that German-British trade is weakening. Around 1,500 German companies with business activities in the UK were surveyed for the poll in early February. The survey reveals that more than two-thirds of the companies surveyed complain about customs bureaucracy. In addition, more than half of the companies complain about logistics problems caused by…
“Passing on price increases to customers” Currently, companies are running out of costs. In view of commodity price inflation and the energy price shock, there is an urgent need for action on the sales side to defend margins and survive the coming years with increased inflation unscathed. To do this, the trends for the cost drivers need to be assessed once a quarter with a time horizon of six to twelve months. The problem is often that medium-sized companies lack the time in purchasing and the transparency in the procurement markets to do this. Similarly, cross-functional processes and methodical approaches…
Strains on the supply chains of German companies First the Corona pandemic and then the war in Ukraine. The economy is not coming to rest. The war in Ukraine is burdening economic processes in a variety of ways. General uncertainty and tense supply chains are currently dominating everyday business life. Both crude oil and natural gas as well as various other raw materials are affected. The metals sector is particularly worthy of mention here. In addition, there are currently repeated difficulties with supplier parts. The turbulence is also particularly evident in the logistics sector. German foreign trade with Russia and…
Employee interview with Tobias Möller As an employee of the Kloepfel Group, you can always learn something new even after 4 years of working together. Tobias Möller, consultant at Kloepfel Consulting GmbH, talks about his 4-year experience at the company. You can also find out how he became part of Kloepfel Consulting and what he has been able to take away for himself so far. How was your application process? All in all, extremely pleasant. At the time, I was actively contacted by Kloepfel’s HR via XING and I appreciated the exciting and professional contact, so a first telephone call…
HWWI commodity price index falls slightly in April HWWI overall index down 12% (US dollar basis)Crude oil prices decreased by 5.7%Natural gas prices fell by 22.9% (Hamburg, May 12, 2022) The HWWI commodity price index fell by an average of 12% in April compared with the previous month. Of the three sub-indices reflected in the overall index (index for energy commodities, index for industrial commodities and index for food and beverages), the index for energy commodities fell the most in April (-13.6%) the index for industrial commodities only slightly (-3.9%), while food and beverages even saw a further slight increase…
Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Junior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com
Opening of a new solar park Solar power specialist Enerparc AG and Volkswagen Sachsen are opening a new solar park in Mosel, near the Zwickau vehicle plant. According to a press release, Volkswagen Sachsen, Volkswagen Kraftwerk and Enerparc AG signed a long-term power supply contract. According to the company, this states that Volkswagen will be supplied with green electricity to the plant in Zwickau over the next 20 years. Enerparc’s trading subsidiary Sunnic Lighthose GmbH is responsible for delivering the electricity in accordance with the contract, it said. Zwickau is the first factory to receive solar power Around 11,600 modules…
Business expectations deteriorate significantly Material bottlenecks have again increased significantly in the construction sector. Surveys by the Ifo Institute show that expectations in the construction sector have fallen sharply. In April, 54.2 percent of companies in the building construction sector were affected by supply bottlenecks. In the previous month, only 37.2 percent reported this. In April, 46.2 percent of companies in the civil engineering sector were affected by supply bottlenecks. This compares with 31.5 percent in March. Ifo researcher Felix Leiss says that these are highs since the beginning of the time series in 1991. At the same time, business…
Possible threat to smallholders and medium-sized palm oil companies Indonesia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil. Due to shortages and rising prices within the country, the Southeast Asian country has imposed an export ban. On Friday evening, President Joko Widodo announced that the export ban will take effect on April 28, 2022. Cooking oil must become more affordable According to the president, the decision will be re-evaluated provided that the market stabilizes and cooking oil becomes available again for affordable prices. The reason for the high price of cooking oil is the shortage of stocks in Indonesia. The…
Challenges continue to rise due to increasingly strained supply chains At present, the economy in general is being severely impacted by supply bottlenecks and rising prices. As in previous months, the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) reported higher wholesale prices on March 14. Specifically, wholesale selling prices in February 2022 were 16.6 percent higher than in February 2021. Metals Various metals have become significantly more expensive and scarcer due to the current uncertain situation. These are generally urgently needed for further value-added processes. For example, aluminum, which is frequently used in aircraft construction, the automotive as well as packaging industries, among…
Disrupted supply chains: Medium-sized companies Risk analysisOptimize inventory managementMake raw material costs transparentFind alternative sources of supply With this press release, the purchasing and logistics consultancy Kloepfel Consulting provides German companies with tips on what to do about the currently prevailing supply bottlenecks and lunar prices due to globally disrupted supply chains. 1. Risk analysis The key issues for your own company should be quickly identified and reprioritized with a risk analysis. The risk analysis should be conducted by commodity group, supplier and country to derive structured actions to address the risk. The war in Ukraine and the impact of…
Purchasers want more recognition Position of purchasing only very good in every fourth companyRecognition of purchasing depends on industry and company sizeRaise the profile of purchasing opposite marketing and sales The Corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine have brought the topics of supply chains and security of supply increasingly into the focus of companies and the public. Now, Kloepfel Consulting, a management consultancy specializing in purchasing and logistics, wanted to find out how recognized purchasing currently is in companies. For this purpose, the purchasing consultancy randomly surveyed 113 specialists and managers across all industries from February to mid-March 2022.…
The “Best Consultants” award recognizes the best management consultancies in Germany every year. Kloepfel Consulting has now been awarded the recognized industry seal for the seventh time in a row. Every year, the business magazine brand eins and the statistics portal Statista announce the winners of the “Best Consultants” award. Evaluations by consultants and customers form the basis for deciding which companies receive the award. Thus, the first part of the survey is a colleague recommendation and the second part is a client assessment. More than 2,300 partners and employees of management consultancies responded for a representative assessment. Furthermore, more…
HWWI commodity price index rises sharply in March HWWI overall index increased by 32 % (US dollar basis)Crude oil prices increased by 18.6 %Natural gas prices increased by 60.1 % (Hamburg, April 5, 2022) The HWWI commodity price index increased by an average of 32% in March compared to the previous month. The Russian invasion of Ukraine led to price increases in almost all commodity segments. All three sub-indices represented in the index, the energy commodities index, the industrial commodities index and the food and beverages index, recorded sharp price increases in March compared with the previous month. These huge…
Senior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com
Kiel Trade Indicator March 2022 According to the latest data update of the Kiel Trade Indicator from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), the war in Ukraine has negatively impacted the trade figures of almost all economies and put a significant strain on global trade as a whole. According to the Kiel Trade Indicator for March, global trade is expected to decline by 2.8 percent compared to the previous month. “Real dislocations caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the West’s sanctions, as well as high uncertainty among companies with ties to Russia, are noticeably setting back March…
Fewer new passenger car registrations The German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) has announced that a total of 241,330 new passenger cars were registered in Germany in March. This represents a 17 percent decrease in new registrations compared to the same month last year. It is reported that 626,000 new vehicles were recorded after the first quarter of this year, which is five percent less than the same quarter last year. Compared to 2019, new car registrations in the first quarter of 2022 are down 29 percent. The lack of input products continues to weigh on production. Domestic new…