Author: Kloepfel
Martina Merz will be the new executive The final replacement at the head of Thyssenkrupp is finally here. Martina Merz, who was previously Chairman of the Group’s Supervisory Board, takes over the management now. But not for long. After the one-year leadership by the previous head Guido Kerkhoff, Merz will occupy the position beginning on Tuesday, for maximum one year. In addition, the Supervisory Board was able to reach an agreement with Kerkhoff on an “amicable dissolution of his Executive Board mandate”, Thyssenkrupp reported. Savings measures due to declining market value Beside steel, Thyssenkrupp also manufactures submarines and elevators. Due…
Investors are worried Tesla proudly announced its new delivery record. Despite the buying boom, market expectations have not been met. A total of 97,000 cars were sold to customers in the third quarter. Although the company has a record value, the shares of the American company fell by seven percent on Thursday. This gives enough reason for shareholders to be concerned. Shortly before, CEO Elon Musk said: “We have a chance to reach our first quarter with 100,000 deliveries. Experts also analyzed a better result as what is presented. Contrary to Musk’s confidence, sales increased by only two percent. A…
HWWI raw material price index falls in October HWWI total index fell by 1.8 % (US dollar basis) Crude oil price fell by 3.6% Index for groceries & luxury goods increased by 3.8 % (Hamburg, 8 November 2019) In October, the HWWI raw material price index fell by an average of 1.8 % (-2.2 % in euros) compared with the previous month and stood at 108.4 points (108.8 points in euros). The decline in the HWWI raw material price index is attributable to the decline in crude oil and industrial raw material prices. The short-term price increases recorded on the…
Ralf Teckentrup promotes the investment opportunity Condor is looking for a new investor so that the flight provider can become more independent from the parent company. Ralf Teckentrup is surprisingly positive and expects quick results. With this project in mind, Condor’s CEO aims to retain the airline as we know it. Condor’s top management says that the company’s insolvency makes no sense. “I see no reason why this profitable airline should not fly on. Condor will emerge stronger from the crisis,” Teckentrup comments. Condor supported by cooperation partners In September, the parent company Thomas Cook filed for insolvency, which caused…
Sourcing, sourcing, sourcing. Hardly any other word has had such an impact on purchasing in recent years as this one. While sourcing itself is just another word for procurement, the different sourcing strategies offer versatile procurement channels and methods. But which strategy is best suited for your company? Global Sourcing, Modular Sourcing or Forward Sourcing? In our guide we summarize the most important strategies and help you making the right choice for your purchasing. Single Sourcing – close cooperation, high risk In single sourcing, also known as single source procurement, Purchasing procures a material type from only one vendor. If…
Volkswagen boss Diess skeptical Although Audi received considerable criticism from VW boss Herbert Diess, the company is not being held back in the development of a hydrogen drive. This was confirmed by a company spokeswoman. Critics said that hydrogen would be needed, that is produced from neutral CO2. That is currently virtually impossible. The Audi spokeswoman underlines that an e-car with a hydrogen fuel cell will only play a more important role as an energy supplier in the medium and long term if the development of a suitable infrastructure is secured and some other technological challenges have been met. In…
HWWI raw material price index up in September HWWI total index rose by 4.2 % (US dollar basis) Upcoming heating period increases natural gas prices Index for food and stimulants almost unchanged (Hamburg, 4 October 2019) In September, the HWWI commodity price index rose by an average of 4.2 % (in euros: +5.3 %) compared with the previous month and stood at 110.3 points (in euros: 111.2 points). In particular, the index for energy raw materials rose by +4.8 % (in euros: +5.9 %) due to rising crude oil and natural gas prices. On the other hand, the indices for…
Negotiation countdown 2019: You are looking for a financial advantage in the end of 2019? You want to begin 2020 with a head start over your competitors? Our quick and easy methods will provide you with great savings and a strong finish of the year. Seize your opportunity now: Demands and commodity prices are falling, and it is your turn to capitalize on expiring contracts with renegotiations. Find out how our strongest methods, supplier conventions, direct negotiations and supplier sourcing, can grant you access to a million euros in savings. Supplier conventions: A million euros in a day As one…
How to outsource Trouble Shooting in Purchasing Depending on the size of the company, buyers are sometimes disturbed hundreds of times a year in their daily business by the procurement of rare requirements. Tasks that are significantly more value-adding for the company are left behind. Find out in this article how Kloepfel Services reacted to this and how medium-sized companies benefit from our solutions. The area of special procurement not only annoys purchasing, but also costs too much money. Particularly in the indirect area, the process and personnel costs for the procurement of rarely needed products or services are often…
Is the reality as bad as the image? Poland used to be one of the poorest countries in Europe and still has this reputation today. The fact is, however, that even in economic crises economic growth has been recorded. This is mainly due to the fact that Poland’s public debt is very low, while the banking sector is also very well regulated. This offers advantages for German buyers. Find out exactly what these advantages are in our Procurement Market Check for Poland. Krótkie fakty – short facts Poland is not only Germany’s largest trading partner in Eastern Europe, imports from…
Order numbers continue to plummet Things could be better for mechanical engineering at the moment. The industry association VDMA has now announced that the number of orders for the seventh month in a row is already below the previous year’s level. The current level is causing unrest. German industry continues to be on a downward trend. Many sectors are struggling with a declining number of orders. The number of orders in the manufacturing sector was around 2.7 percent lower than in the previous year and even 5.6 percent lower than in the previous calendar month. Mechanical engineering plays a particularly…
Automobile manufacturers take drastic measures Many have already suspected it, but now it has become reality. The automotive industry is struggling with ever-decreasing demand and now the employees of the car manufacturers are also affected. One example is the Brandl Maschinenbau GmbH. The employees there will now also have to suffer as the plant in Pfeffenhausen, Lower Bavaria, is to be closed by the end of 2020. As a result, 120 employees will lose their jobs. The managing director comments this official act as a “dramatic break in the automotive supplier industry”. Brandl restructuring boss Axel Dransfeld explains this with…
IPhone 11 more successful than its forerunner model Currently, China cannot shine with the best economy. Although the USA and China are still in a trade conflict, they have caused the sales figures for Apple’s new iPhone 11 to skyrocket. The latest results from the Alibaba platform Tmall show that on the very first day, pre-orders were more than 300 times higher than for the iPhone XR last year. The e-commerce company JD.com already had a turnover of 14.1 million dollars after the first few minutes. This is 480% more than with the previous model. CNBC reported, citing the sellers,…
First tests are carried out in the port of Göteborg The autonomous electric vehicle bears the name “Vera”. It was developed by Volvo Trucks and proves once again that Sweden is leading the autonomous driving market. “Autonomous transports with low noise levels and free of exhaust emissions will play an important role in the future of logistics, which will benefit both the economy and society,” explains Mikael Karlsson, vice president of autonomous solutions at Volvo Trucks. One thing that hits you immediately is the missing driver’s cab of the heavy-duty train. The reason for this is that the saddle machine…
Study shows experiences with AI The development of technologies continues to progress. However, many companies are still sceptical about artificial intelligence. But many of the advantages of artificial intelligence are often unknown or not fully exploited. A study by IDC now shows which experiences companies have already had with artificial intelligence. The number of artificial intelligences used in Germany is constantly increasing. 40% of the companies have already used an AI, 88% want to do so in the next few months. AI should be used especially in IT (34%), as well as in sales and marketing (31%) and also optimize…
Why purchasing needs to interfere It is generally not appreciated that buyers interfere in the procurement of services. But the purchasing department can help the corresponding departments from marketing to production to IT to get more services for the same budget. The secret lies – as so often – in the processes and benchmarks. The procurement of service providers in the five-digit range in particular holds enormous potential. The department in turn can get more for the same budget. Savings of between 10 and 40 percent and more are possible, especially for services that can hardly be standardized, such as…
In our consulting projects, we are repeatedly asked by our customers what experience we have with reverse auctions and for which product groups we recommend using such a purchasing instrument. Basically, reverse auctions have gained popularity worldwide in recent years, especially in the course of increasing digitalization in purchasing. In order to make a recommendation for or against reverse auctions, we would first like to explain what a reverse auction is, where the main advantages and disadvantages lie and what we consider to be the critical success factors. Definition reverse auction Reverse auction literally means the opposite of a traditional…
L’Osteria will use digital processes from tendering to supplier management together with Sourcify.net in the future. Tailor-made solutions offer reliable contract management and comprehensive evaluations at a glance. The L’Osteria franchise chain is now optimizing its strategic purchasing with Sourcify.net. L’Osteria, the award-winning brand gastronomy, is known not only for its delicious giant pizzas but also for its wide range of Italian dishes and Mediterranean flair. The company manages the purchasing for around 120 restaurants in Germany and other European countries. Sourcify.net offers its customers from the hotel, catering and care industries a digital purchasing solution. The Business Intelligence Tool…