Author: Kloepfel
September issue Kloepfel Magazine Dear Readers, Liquidity is a top priority. To ensure this, working capital management (WCM) and procurement cost optimization (BKO), among other things, play a decisive role. In our September issue, we give you insights into how to effectively optimize your WCM and present an exciting case study on procurement cost optimization at “Wittenstein SE”. Efficient and cost-effective transportation solutions are also crucial in the globalized economy. Read how you can benefit from the current low sea and air freight rates. We would also like to introduce our saving tool “Kloepfel Reprice”. With this tool you can…
Kloepfel Group again on Forbes’ list of “World’s Best Management Consulting Firms” Dusseldorf, August 16th, 2023 – This year, the American business magazine Forbes has once again published its listing of the “World’s Best Management Consulting Firms”. The Kloepfel Group is very pleased to be part of this exclusive group of the world’s best consultants for the second time in a row. In 2023, 229 consulting firms from 15 countries made it to the Forbes “World’s Best Management Consulting Firms” list. Forbes developed the list in partnership with the statistics portal Statista. For this purpose, extensive online surveys were conducted…
Relocation near the Rhine The year 2023 is a year full of events for the purchasing consultancy Kloepfel Consulting, an EPSA Group company. We were again awarded Best Consultants and included in the Forbes list of “World’s Best Management Consulting Firms”. At the same time the management of Kloepfel Consulting GmbH was expanded by Thanh Duy Tran and Alexander Hornikel. Now another big event is coming up. We are pleased to announce that our company will move to a new office. This exciting change marks another milestone in our company history. As of September 1, 2023, you will find our…
In recent years, due to supply chain disruptions, many companies have increased their inventories to shore up their ability to deliver. With the economy turned around, priorities have fundamentally changed. In the face of significant declines in orders and sales, as well as expensive financing, the capital tied up in inventories is becoming more important. In addition to the targeted management of inventories, optimized payment terms for receivables and payables can significantly improve a company’s liquidity. In this article, we offer you a practical guide to optimizing working capital. Net working capital refers to the difference between current assets on…
Working capital management also includes the optimization of receivables management and payables, including supply chain financing. This involves short payment terms to customers and the longest possible payment terms to suppliers. How are supply chain activities financed? Supply chain financing refers to the use of financial tools and methods to increase the efficiency of capital flow along the supply chain. Modern tools offer companies in purchasing the opportunity to finance supplier invoices with flexible payment terms. However, careful consideration is required when implementing such tools to ensure that the interests of all parties in the supply chain are taken into…
On August 30, 2023, the German Cabinet approved the government draft for the “Act to Strengthen Growth Opportunities, Investment and Innovation as well as Tax Simplification and Tax Fairness” (in short: Growth Opportunities Act). It provides for tax relief of around seven billion euros per year from 2024 and a total of over 32 billion in the coming years. The government draft of the Growth Opportunities Act not only talks about tripling the research allowance (=max. 3 million euros in funding per fiscal year), but also about a 10 percent increase for SMEs. Another piece of good news is that…
Making the right use of opportunities for low freight rates In today’s globalized economy, efficient and cost-effective transportation solutions are critical for companies moving goods across international borders. Air and ocean freight are important modes of transport used to ship goods on a global scale. In this article, we take a look at current trends in air and ocean freight rates. It will be shown how companies can benefit from the current low freight rates with the help of the Kloepfel Group. It is worthwhile to become active now. Often, falling freight rates are passed on to customers only partially…
Interview partner: Michael Löser, Manager Global Purchasing, WITTENSTEIN SE Sven Siegl, Manager Global Purchasing – Indirect Material, WITTENSTEIN SE Source: WITTENSTEIN SE Before the Kloepfel project, did you carry out an analysis of the potential savings? Sven Siegl: Yes, and that was a very exciting topic. We were also convinced by the preliminary work and the team with its in-depth know-how. The presentation of the results of the potential analysis was equally convincing. Michael Löser: I felt the same way. Even during the potential analysis, it became clear how much we as a company, and especially our purchasing team, could…
Try for Free: Kloepfel Reprice Initial order for free as an introduction. Rapid generation of sustainable savings. Over 1,300 procurement and supply chain experts worldwide. Immediate negotiation of ongoing price increases from your suppliers through Kloepfel Reprice’s specialized professional resource. You can only win. The Problem Companies continually receive letters with price increases. Currently, many letters are reaching the purchasing departments with sometimes substantial demands for price increases. However, due to the limited resources in the purchasing departments, many of these letters cannot be responded to or negotiated. The Solution Defend Against Price Increases with Kloepfel Reprice With Kloepfel Reprice,…
HWWI Commodity Price Index rises in July – Sub-index for energy raw materials increases by 7.9% (US dollar basis). – Sub-index for industrial raw materials increases by 0.4%. – Sub-index for food and beverages falls by 0.2%. (Hamburg, August 14, 2023) The HWWI Commodity Price Index rebounded in July (+6.3%) after a declining trend had been observed since the beginning of the year. However, in July, the index remained significantly (-41.6%) below the value of July 2022.. The increase in the overall index was primarily driven by the sub-index for energy raw materials, which rose by 7.9%. The other two…
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Expansion of electric component manufacturing in Leipzig The BMW Group is continuing its investments in expanding electric component manufacturing in Leipzig to reinforce the site’s future orientation. According to BMW, a land lease agreement was signed with the city of Leipzig outside the factory premises in the Industrial Park Nord, the same area where the BMW plant is located. The area to be used by BMW in the future spans 12 hectares, with the initial construction covering eight hectares in the first phase. Completion is scheduled for mid-2024. The construction projects include the establishment of a logistics hall for high-voltage…
BRE2 will in the future dispatch up to 550,000 packages Amazon announces the opening of a new logistics center in Großenkneten, Germany. The warehouse, named BRE2, covers approximately 52,000 square meters and spans four levels. With a height of 24 meters, it offers space for around 16 million products. Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including more than 3,000 robots, the center will prepare up to 550,000 packages for shipping daily. Construction work began on February 5, 2021, and the facility is scheduled to start operations on August 28, 2023. New working conditions Amazon plans to create up to 1,000 jobs with…
Strategies in supply chain management for risk reduction According to a recent SCM study by McKinsey, automotive companies are increasingly adopting dual-sourcing and nearshoring in response to growing disruptions in their supply chains. In 2023, more companies plan to use end-to-end transparency platforms than in the previous year. These findings were published in the press. McKinsey conducted interviews with supply chain management executives in April and May of this year to assess companies’ responses and strategies to challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic or the Russia-Ukraine conflict. In total, approximately 100 managers from various industries and countries participated in the…
Düsseldorf, August 2023 – The German purchasing consultancy Kloepfel Consulting expands its management in the course of its dynamic growth. The innovation and growth dynamics shall be accelerated and optimal conditions shall be created for the French parent company “EPSA”. From August 2023, Alexander Hornikel, Senior Partner for more than ten years, and Thanh Duy Tran, founder and also former Senior Partner, will accompany the management of Kloepfel Consulting in Germany as Country Managers with power of attorney. Both bring their specific expertise to the table. Hornikel will take over responsibility for corporate strategy, sales and marketing as well as…
Be ready to deliver even in tense personnel situations Quickly and efficiently, interim forwarding agents can help manage a wide range of logistics tasks. Numerous companies are looking for additional employees on a temporary basis. Specifically, the companies need support in shipping and in the entire transport organization for various reasons. Particularly in emergency situations such as longer periods of illness, it must be easy to fill gaps in staffing levels. But it’s not just acute emergencies that demand new solutions, but also the trend toward modern, flexible working models. Interim forwarders can be used to fill in during parental…
Savings, transparency, improved freight cost management Correct billing of freight costs is a challenge for many companies. Often, the invoiced freight rates deviate from the actual agreements by up to 5 percent. In addition, complex tariff structures and numerous ancillary charges make manual checking difficult. But there is a solution: fully automated freight invoice verification. The Kloepfel Group offers its customers fully automated invoice verification using “best-in-class software” and the expertise of its logistics experts. By using this innovative method, incorrect invoices are detected, employees are relieved of tedious and time-consuming tasks, and a transparent database for freight service purchasing…
The Federal Ministry of Finance presented the Growth Opportunities Act for 2024 on June 17, 2023. If the new bill is actually realized, the maximum subsidy amount will be raised from €1 million to a full €3 million (tax-free) per year. Furthermore, it will be possible to also deduct acquisition costs within the scope of an R&D project. Previously, only personnel costs were taken into account. It is highly likely that the funding potential of the research allowance will almost double for all companies from 2024. Since the topic is very media-savvy, it is advisable to act quickly here and…