Author: Kloepfel
As part of a representative survey conducted by the independent business magazine brand eins and Statista, the Kloepfel Group has once again received the “Best Consultants” award this year. The management consultancy, which is specializes in supply chains and procurement and is part of the EPSA Group, has now been awarded this recognized industry seal of approval for the eighth time in a row. For the award, consultants and clients are surveyed in detail. Consulting companies are not eligible to apply for this award. More than 1,900 management consultants and over 1,500 executives from consulting clients took part in the…
Competent solution approaches in technical purchasing Technical procurement increases real benchmarking and competition with alternative suppliers, but also the (further) development of strategic partners. A guarantee for success is the technical understanding of your components and the comparison to the manufacturing capabilities of the target supplier. Thanks to several hundred customer projects, a database of qualified suppliers is available. Kloepfel Consulting has been accompanying customer projects from different industries in the sourcing process for more than 15 years. Due to the transparent, stringent and systematic approach, you as a customer always have an overview of the project status, from obtaining…
Matchmaker between parts and manufacturing processes What role do manufacturing costs play in technical sourcing? For us, technical sourcing is not about sourcing technical products and driving down prices. Rather, it is about reducing costs by finding the supplier that specializes in producing the product based on its manufacturing structure (e.g., the right manufacturing methods and machinery). Suppliers that do not specialize in the desired technical product (e.g., electronic components, custom drawing parts, castings, gears, plastic parts, pneumatics, and others) are usually much more expensive. Nevertheless, they try to produce the product requested by the technical buyer or procurement engineer…
Guest article by A.B.S. “In purchasing lies the profit” is an old merchant’s adage that still holds true today. Negotiations are usually won by those who pursue a clear strategy and objective – this has not changed in the new year, despite the mood of crisis. In fact, no other commercial factor has as great an influence on the profit of a trading company as the conditions of goods procurement. Against this background, one of the first and most important tasks of every retailer is to optimize its purchasing prices and negotiate clever strategies so that lucrative large orders remain…
How can companies defend against cyber-attacks? Protect against cyber attacks Measures in case of emergency The danger of cyber-attacks on medium-sized companies and thus also on purchasing is high. According to a study by the German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI), around 60% of all German companies were targets of cyber-attacks in 2020. According to the global Allianz Risk Barometer 2023, risk managers in companies are most afraid of IT system disruptions and business interruptions. The survey polled 2,712 risk management experts in 94 countries. Among them were CEOs, risk managers and insurance experts. Many companies have made supply…
Customer Interview: How Meyra got the research grant with EPSA Interview with Andreas Nahrwold, Head of Development for manual wheelchairs and Alexander Bergen, Head of Development for power wheelchairs at Meyra. What topics were funded under the research grant? It was about technologies that significantly simplify the handling and control of (electric) wheelchairs for the user. Which departments at Meyra were involved in the application process? In addition to the research and development department, the finance department and the managing director were involved. EPSA then identified the eligible projects using the technical information provided by the research and development department.…
Understanding the Politicization of China’s Economy Is the politicization of China’s economy a threat to SMEs? In my opinion, the politicization of the economy, data protection laws, and so on, are being overhyped by the West. Yet these are all just instruments of the Chinese government. In other words, the economic policy, the legal system and all these issues, are tools that are all subordinated to the big goal. And the big goal is that China wants to get back to where it was for thousands of years – to the top of the world. What do Chinese citizens think…
China is aiming to be the world leader: What is their secret to success What do German-speaking companies need to know about Chinese economic policy and entrepreneurs? In my opinion, a large part of China’s success, or the Chinese success gene, is that it is a “both/and” culture. This is not always understood by the West, but it is important for politics and business to understand this in order to work constructively with China and Chinese companies. Unlike China, we in the West have an either/or or black and white culture. This means that the Chinese government as well as…
HWWI Commodity Price Index again fell by double digits in February Index for energy commodities declines by 12.3 % (US dollar basis) Index for food, beverages and tobacco up 2.5 Index for industrial raw materials falls by 0.3 (Hamburg, March 3, 2023) The HWWI commodity price index again fell by double digits in February. It slipped by 10.2%, having already fallen by 19.7% in January, and was thus 20.7% lower than in February 2022. As in January, falling prices for energy commodities were the main reason for the drop in the overall index. The index for energy raw materials fell…
Senior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Junior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com
Investment to secure forecast copper demand Stellantis recently announced an investment in a copper mine project in Argentina. According to its press release, the automotive group intends to secure at least part of its future copper requirements in this way. To this end, Stellantis is acquiring a 14.2 percent stake in McEwen Copper, a subsidiary of the Canadian mining company McEwen Mining. The group owns the Los Azules mine project in Argentina and the Elder Creek mine project in Nevada (USA). In its press release, Stellantis mentions an investment sum of 155 million dollars. With this investment, the automotive group…
Price expectations decline Noticeably fewer companies are planning to raise prices in the next three months. This is shown by the latest survey conducted by the Ifo Institute. For the economy overall, Ifo price expectations fell to 29.1 points in February. In January, they were still at 35.2 points. “Companies have already passed on a large part of the increased costs to their customers, and at the same time demand is weakening in almost all sectors of the economy,” reports Timo Wollmershäuser, Ifo’s head of economic activity. Thus, according to Wollmershäuser, inflationary pressure should ease in the coming months. Price…
Reduction of CO2 emissions in the supply chain From 2024, the BMW Group will purchase so-called CO2-reduced aluminum from Rio Tinto in Canada. A memorandum of understanding was signed for this purpose, as the automaker reported last Tuesday. Process saves around 70 percent of C02 emissions According to BMW, the process used, which bears the name Elysis, saves around 70 percent of CO2 emissions compared to conventional aluminum production. Elysis revolutionizes the smelting process required for production, the company emphasizes. By using carbon-free anodes, the process eliminates all process-related CO2 emissions, it adds. It could be successfully tested at industrial…
Interview with Prof. Dr. Karl Pilny Why medium-sized companies should not turn their backs on China and Asia altogether Many companies are looking at China with concern. The Corona pandemic showed how fragile the supply chains are. In addition, there are other dependencies, for example in raw materials. Do you also see opportunities? The economic dovetailing between Germany and China has grown enormously in recent years. Well over a third of DAX companies make more than thirty percent of their global sales and/or profits in China. This shows their dependencies on China. The good news is that German companies were…
Interview with Prof. Dr. Karl Pilny RCEP free trade agreement: great opportunities for SMEs Southeast Asia is also a great opportunity for another reason, as we have had an important free trade zone here with 15 countries since 2022 in the form of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RCEP). What advice would you like to give companies in this regard? Under RCEP, up to ninety, ninety-five percent of tariffs and import duties are to be eliminated in most industries. Or certificates of origin, or Letters of Origin are also easier to manage within RCEP. RECP is therefore a potentially…
Interview: Interim Purchasing & Disposition Manager at Grundig Business Systems. Interview with Barbara Kuriczak, Managing Director Grundig Business Systems, and Daniel Frieg, Authorized Signatory Grundig Business Systems. How did you hear about interim management from Kloepfel Consulting? Through a shareholder. Approximately how long did it take to find the interim manager? It was very quick, within fourteen days. For which position was the interim manager assigned to you? Torsten Althaus from Kloepfel Consulting was our interim purchasing and scheduling manager for almost half a year. He was deployed on site at our company. Mr. Althaus managed the purchasing and scheduling…
At Kloepfel, interim purchasing managers bring broad experience, supplier contacts and expertise from various industries. This enables them to quickly identify problems and develop solutions. In doing so, the interim is more than just bridging a vacancy. Rather, as a temporary colleague and coach, he helps companies optimize processes, structures and costs, for example. To be successful, the client’s management, purchasing and HR should be involved in the decision and selection of the interim manager. Read in this article what opportunities the use of an interim manager offers and what challenges he has to face. Opportunities of using interim managers:…
Interim forwarding agents on call The shortage of skilled workers is also putting a strain on the logistics sector. The situation can quickly become even more acute in companies. At any time, an employee in the scheduling department may be absent due to illness or for other reasons. Then the need is great if a replacement is not found quickly. The need for a quick solution A quick solution is necessary in such a situation. Important work must not be left undone. If individual shipments are not organized, for example, entire supply chains can quickly break down. Solution from Kloepfel…