Triple the work volume with the same team and better quality
Autumn 2011: The Head of Global Procurement at Putzmeister begins to thoroughly examine and optimize the procurement processes once again. The goal, as simply formulated as it is ambitious, is to digitize everything that is possible. According to Putzmeister, the complete digitalization of operational procurement processes should lead to a high level of transparency and significant process automation. This should radically reduce those procurement tasks and activities that do not directly contribute to value creation.
One platform for everything.
Right from the start of the project, the SRM team was certain of one thing: all of this had to run via a central SRM communication platform that could be smoothly integrated into the company's ERP environment. At the same time, the team also prepares the optimization of logistics. New processes such as Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI), revised delivery schedule processing, integration of the shipping companies involved and barcodes for precise delivery control must be part of the overall solution.
High security, small warehouse.
VMI and scheduling agreement processing in particular are usually strategically important for our customers. Scheduling agreement processing runs optimally when the fixed and legally binding ordering of goods can be controlled in such a way that it takes place at the latest possible time. The same applies to VMI, which is designed to ensure that our customers have reliable access to special materials well in advance while reducing stock levels - a lesson that many companies learned in the global economic crisis years from 2008 onwards, when large stock levels caused equally large economic problems.
clevercure wins the race.
After Putzmeister scrutinized various reference projects from the Linz-based SRM software specialist curecomp, the decision in favour of clevercure was made in March 2011. The clevercure software has been running extremely successfully for years in many companies to the complete satisfaction of the users - be it the suppliers or the employees of the companies themselves. This is because clevercure extends their ERP systems with many functionalities without generating superfluous data (entries) or even touching the ERP system sovereignty.
Stay in a familiar environment.
clevercure should integrate the company's suppliers 100% into the ERP - in this case SAP - while the internal departments continue to work with SAP. Nobody should have to leave the familiar ERP world; at the same time, the system should now offer more information than ever before - and relieve employees so that only the procurement processes reported as "exceptions" by clevercure require human attention and activity. This saves an enormous amount of time and speeds things up at the same time. Almost five years after the start of the project, the project manager takes stock.
Where do you stand today following the revision of your SRM?
We are further ahead than we could have imagined when we implemented clevercure in 2011. Today, we have connected most of our suppliers around the world and established clevercure as the communication standard between them and us.
What have you benefited from in particular?
We have achieved enormous time savings in the operational management of supplier processes. In 2011, my team was still responsible for one entire plant. Today, it manages three plants without us having to expand. And with all of this, we have also improved quality. Significantly improved! Whereas in the past we often had problems meeting delivery deadlines, we now know very early on whether delivery dates have been confirmed. The solution monitors this. In the event of a problem, we now know weeks in advance that we have to find alternatives. 80 percent of procurement is automated via clevercure in the background - and my highly specialized team only has to get involved where its expertise is really needed.
Was it difficult to bring the suppliers along on this journey?
Our suppliers also really appreciate the fact that they now receive much better and earlier information about the overall process. Of course, not everyone was initially enthusiastic about the new communication channels. But with a really reasonable amount of training, we quickly achieved a high level of acceptance.
What do you recommend to companies that are considering restructuring their supplier relationships?
A clear guideline. Both sides need to benefit from the new processes. In some cases, they also need to be very insistent. In our case, intensive support for suppliers during the rollout was an important success factor. In terms of software, I can only recommend standard software from an experienced SRM partner. One of the things that convinced us about curecomp was the fixed price for implementation and operation. The investments are clear and calculable for everyone. The worldwide availability was also a point. The fact that our partner does not have to provide ongoing consulting services, but only the implementation of new modules leads to a new order, also gave us the necessary budget security.
What's next for you
Now that almost 80 percent of the entire procurement volume is handled by SRM, we are implementing a new process for tendering new materials based on the cleversource module. This not only standardizes the tendering process worldwide, but also makes it completely transparent.
