Reference Treibacher

Digital purchasing in the chemical industry

Although the procurement of raw materials is the responsibility of the business units at Treibacher Industrie AG, there is still plenty for the purchasing department to do. For example, driving forward the digitalization of procurement - because the company, which is over a hundred years old, is constantly working on digitalizing and increasing the efficiency of processes within the company! Alessandra Ruppitsch is responsible for the project in Central Purchasing.

Treibacher-400x200

Sector: Chemical-metallurgical industry

Web: treibacher.com

"The background to our structures is our broad product portfolio," explains Ruppitsch. The high-performance materials from Treibacher Industrie AG, a chemical and metallurgical company, can be found in numerous demanding applications, such as in the pharmaceutical industry, the aircraft and aerospace industry, the automotive industry, the electronics industry, the steel industry, the hard metal industry, biomedicine, water purification or in environmental catalysts. The likeable Carinthian also gives a specific example: "As a specialist in the glass industry, we offer materials for the production or coloring of glass, including UV protection." Special solutions are developed. "The associated material procurement processes are sensibly carried out by the product managers involved."

30 percent that packs a punch

Ruppitsch explains: "In Central Purchasing, we are responsible for the procurement of major investments and systems through to typical C-parts as well as auxiliary and consumable materials - and therefore 30 percent of the total donations, which leads to a correspondingly huge material base." The primary goal is therefore to further improve the efficiency of the material base and reduce the number of suppliers (where possible and sensible). This can be a challenge, especially in a company that has a large number of operations at the same location.

The challenge of supplier management

Studies put the average number of suppliers for companies, regardless of size, at 1,600, but in large corporations it can be almost 10,000 suppliers. Treibacher also has a large number of suppliers, making the procurement process correspondingly complex. The 2020 pandemic really kick-started digitalization, digital allocation of purchase requisitions was introduced and paperless procurement was implemented across the board. Ruppitsch explains: "Thanks to digitalization and the introduction of SAP S/4 HANA, Treibacher has created clarity and resources for strategic work." The new Head of Supply Chain Management, Peter Pretterhofer, entrusted Ruppitsch with the next digitization step: the introduction of eProcurement.

Perfect introduction

This project was also planned in detail at Treibacher: "We created video instructions for the various purchasing cases." DIG Guided Buying is the central entry point for users and links to the content. "We also use this single point of purchase to communicate with new suppliers or receive suggestions for improvement. Dialogue is important to us, because when colleagues realize that their opinion is valuable, they are also involved in this change process, which is of course very motivating!"

Ongoing expansion and further digitalization steps

Ruppitsch is also motivated by the planned rollout of the eProcurement system at the site of the company subsidiary Tribotecc. At the same time, she wants to rapidly expand the range of suppliers: "By the end of the year, ten more suppliers should be added - we will prioritize the bundling of suppliers depending on the synergy potential." Use for maintenance orders and projects will also be stepped up in future. Ruppitsch also sees digital document transfer and processing as an expansion stage: "Automated communication with our suppliers through to delivery bills, invoices and payment is an efficiency booster for us.