The year 2020 was turbulent and put us to the test with difficult situations. To still keep the chaos under control we give you our best advice into the new year 2021 with and present you at the end of the year our top 10 articles from 2020.
How Buyers ride the Corona Waves: Key Insights from Procurement
For most companies corona came out of nowhere and was an unprecedented shock. At first far away, it started in China, then suddenly appeared in Italy, and after that spread across Europe and the entire globe. Soon it became clear that there would be a potential impact on entire value chains, which have been built up over the last 25 years in the drive for globalization. How buyers coped with the new challenge, and which measures Kloepfel Consulting advised, tells us Dr. Stephan Hofstetter, Partner and Head of the Kloepfel Academy.
Reduce logistics costs
A cost driver has remained undiscovered in many logistics departments for years! This is because freight forwarders often calculate the actual toll costs incorrectly or repeatedly for customers. They justify this, among other things, with toll increases and the extension of the toll to the federal roads. Clients must be careful when doing so. We help you to find out why and how you should scrutinize toll tables from freight forwarders in order to reduce your logistics costs.
Supplier-Catalogue: Bundling requirements and profiting from negotiated conditions
Once again our motto is “We do not talk. We just do it!”. In our interview Marcus Schilling, Senior Partner of Kloepfel Consulting GmbH, talks about the advantages of partner suppliers of Kloepfel. These include, for example, suppliers for IT, mechanical engineering and trade. Currently, further partner suppliers who have convinced in practice are being included in the system. The partners get tested several times a year and can therefore be recommended with a clear conscience.
Fresh cell cure for the procurement network
Since Corona, global procurement development has been in fast motion – and it is worthwhile to continuously review purchasing relationships. A change of supplier can offer great opportunities for returns. In this article you will learn about the advantages of a change and the challenges that need to be considered.
Savings miracle freight cost optimisation
For many SMEs, the corona crisis is a matter of survival. It is therefore astonishing that one of the biggest savings miracles remains largely ignored. After all, it is no secret: The freight contracts of many companies are above the market price. Purchasers and managing directors often do not know what a treasure trove of returns they have.
More flexible with outsourcing
The crisis shock paralysed parts of the mechanical and plant engineering industry for a long time and turned the purchasing departments upside down. Important specialists landed on the sidings without replacement. In the meantime, the industry is looking for ways to boost purchasing again in terms of personnel – but what happens in the case of a second corona wave? Outsourcing providers such as Kloepfel Services help companies to restart flexibly and immunize them against upcoming crises.
Treasure maps for the purchasing jungle
Even today, purchasing in many medium-sized companies is not strategic enough, so that return on investment treasures are hidden. A proven approach to uncover these is to develop procurement strategies for relevant product groups and then implement them with concrete measures. A product group is characterized by the fact that the requirements can be procured from a portfolio of similarly oriented suppliers. The essence of this commodity group strategy should be presentable on a One Pager – a commodity group profile that serves as a treasure map. With around 20 to 30 WG profiles, medium-sized companies can clearly prepare their procurement and supplier portfolio and open up new strategic perspectives in the purchasing jungle.
Corona-Crisis: 8 tips for purchasing
Home office for all employees is already mandatory in most companies. But this makes internal and external communication with colleagues and suppliers more difficult. Especially in purchasing, negotiations and detailed agreements are part of the agenda. In order to keep on doing so, digital communication solutions such as Microsoft Teams are a good choice. The versatile functions allow the purchasing department to maintain standard processes.
How the purchasing department successfully survives the corona crisis
The Corona crisis was also a shock for many purchasing departments, revealing weaknesses without mercy. Such as overlong supply chains, virtuously interwoven across the globe. Or overly administrative procurement processes – with media breaks that are extremely hindering for work from home. Or single sourcing suppliers in Italian restricted zones. This revelation can now be seen as an opportunity to turn weaknesses in purchasing into strengths. But how? To this end, we look at five guides to rethinking the future of purchasing.
The 10 Mega-Trends in Purchasing 2020
Last year, the order intake of many companies collapsed, in some cases completely unexpected. As a result, production capacities were freed up on the supplier side and raw material prices fell. In many industries, the sellers’ market turned into a buyers’ market within a short period of time. Buyers will continue to have great potential in 2020 to optimize their procurement costs. Considering the more turbulent times as well as the opportunities offered by digitization, purchasing should basically see itself as a permanent innovation motor in order to be able to adapt to major changes faster than before.