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Case Study

Optimization of purchasing at listed automotive supplier in Germany

Optimization of the strategic and operational orientation of purchasing

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Company Details

  • AG based in Baden (Germany)
  • 8 production sites worldwide
  • 3,000 employees, turnover EUR 500 million
  • Products include seat constructions, safety technology, chassis parts, cross members
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Situation and Challenge

  • Purchasing worldwide approx. 35 employees, 270 million EUR purchasing volume
  • Focus on raw material steel & aluminium, purchased parts, surfaces
  • The head of purchasing had been clear since 10/2020, but the search for a successor started very late
  • Completely unpredictable: consequences of the Ukraine war and energy crisis
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Objective and Task

  • Stabilization of the situation in purchasing
  • Start – Building a Lead Buyer Organization
  • Ensuring “back-to-back” synchronization between customer and supplier contracts
  • Ensuring a high contribution of procurement to ESG issues
  • Structure of reporting and KPI dashboard
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Measures and Procedures

  • Creation of a lead buyer profile
  • Selection of lead buyers in the worldwide organization, training, coaching, regular reviews
  • 2 Lead Buyer Workshops
  • ESG: Development of an action plan for procurement: Identification of key suppliers for CO2 emissions
  • Development of new supplier questionnaires on ESG and Supply Chain Law
  • 1. Steps towards “green steel”
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Results and Achievements

  • Situation (purchasing staff) stable: risk due to capacity bottlenecks
  • Lead buyer organization started with 6 raw materials
  • Degree of synchronization steel worldwide at 95% (back-to-back)
  • Success in education and training
  • Success: no supply bottlenecks, price negotiations: damage limited

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