Author: Kloepfel
HWWI commodity price index continues to fall HWWI overall index falls by 13.1% (US dollar basis) Natural gas price falls by 27.6% Crude oil price rises slightly by 2% (Hamburg, November 11, 2022) In October, the HWWI commodity price index fell by a totalof 13.1% compared to September. All three sub-indices (food and beverages, industrial rawmaterials and energy raw materials) declined. The index for energy raw materialsdecreased most significantly. The other two indices fell only slightly: the industrial rawmaterials index by 2.6% and the food and beverages index by 2.3%. Index for energy raw materials: Price decline for gas and…
Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Junior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com
Agreement with suppliers from the USA and China The BMW Group announces it has reached agreements with companies in the USA and China to supply CO2-reduced steel. According to Joachim Post, BMW AG board member responsible for purchasing and supplier network, steel is one of the main drivers of CO2 emissions in BMW’s supply chain. For this reason, he said, the company has decided to reshape its steel portfolio so that more than a third of the global production network will be supplied with CO2-reduced steel from 2026. “In this way, we are reducing the carbon footprint of our supply…
IMK presents study and recommends increasing the resilience of supply chains In the period from the beginning of 2021 to mid-2022, German industry was unable to produce goods worth around 64 billion euros due to a lack of intermediate products. This is reported by the Macroeconomic Policy Institute (IMK) of the Hans Böckler Foundation based on a study it conducted. As the IMK explains, in their study the economists compare the actual gross value added as recorded by the Federal Statistical Office with an estimated counterfactual scenario without bottlenecks in intermediate products. The researchers currently come to the following conclusion:…
Increased stockholding Companies in German industry have stepped up their stockholding since 2020 in response to global supply bottlenecks. This is shown by a survey conducted by the Ifo Institute. 68 percent of companies have increased their inventories. 65 percent have expanded their supplier network and 54 percent have increased the monitoring of their supply chains. “Supply chains have become more complex and thus more prone to disruption. Small breaks can often cause a loss of production,” explains Lisandra Flach, head of the Ifo Center for International Economics. SMEs in particular are increasing inventory levels As the survey results show,…
At the beginning of 2023, the new Due Diligence Act, better known as the Supply Chain Act, will come into force and many German companies underestimate the challenges it poses. This is shown, for example, by a survey cited by the WELT. Only 7 percent of the companies surveyed assume an increased or high risk in their supply chain in view of the new law. By contrast, the legal experts at Graf von Westphalen (GvW), the law firm that conducted the survey, believe the figure should be 46 percent. The danger of such a misjudgment is that companies do not…
Competent solution approaches in technical purchasing Technical sourcing 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…
Individual. Fast. Sustainable. Shipping goods is expensive and often the invoiced freight is incorrect and higher than agreed. Invoiced freight rates differ by up to 5% from what was agreed to. A complex tariff structure and countless ancillary charges make a fully manual check very time-consuming. A fully automated invoice verification provides a remedy. With ‘best-in-class’ software and the expertise of our logistics experts, we uncover incorrect invoices, free your staff from tedious and time-consuming tasks, and create a transparent database for freight service purchasing. 2-fold leverage of savings Creation of 100% transparency Benefit from expert knowledge and best-in-class software…
How can gas shortages and extremely high energy prices be dealt with? Gas and electricity are currently causing major problems for many companies. In the worst case, the situation is already threatening the existence of some companies. Therefore, the consultants at Kloepfel Consulting are keeping a very close eye on what’s happening. At the same time, thanks to many years of experience, they develop measures for dealing with complex challenges. Thus, if necessary, Kloepfel Group can name alternatives, put together a package of measures and offer real help. Current situation, general conditions The current crisis clearly shows the special importance…
The management consultancy Kloepfel Consulting, which is specialized in supply chains, randomly surveyed 108 German managers of medium-sized companies across all industries about their biggest concerns. The anonymous online survey took place from 03.08.2022 to 14.09.2022. Ranking of the biggest concerns of German managers 71% are very worried about bottlenecks or outages in the gas and electricity supply. Likewise, 71% are very worried about rising costs (e.g., materials, warehousing, personnel, logistics). Disrupted supply chains are a major headache for 57%. Geopolitical risks cause great anxiety for every second respondent. A lack of skilled workers is a major problem for 43%…
Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com Junior Procurement Consultant (f/m/d) www.kloepfel-karriere.com
HWWI Commodity Price Index Declines in September HHWWI overall index falls by 3.9 % (US dollar basis)Price index for natural gas falls by 3.6Price index for industrial raw materials declines by 5.9 (Hamburg, October 10, 2022) Compared with the previous month, the HWWI commodity price index fell by a total of 3.9% in September. Except for the sub-index for food, beverages and tobacco (+0.3%), all segments of the overall index fell. The sharpest decline was in industrial raw materials (-5.9%). However, energy commodities also fell by 4%. “The situation on the commodity markets continues to be largely determined by the…
Adapting to supply chain disruptions Since the Corona crisis, the majority of German companies have taken certain measures to adapt to supply chains. This is shown by a survey conducted by the Ifo Institute in which 4,000 companies participated in July 2022. In industry, 87 percent of the companies surveyed changed their procurement strategies as a result of supply chain disruptions. In wholesale, 76 percent did so, and in retail, 63 percent of companies did so. “In an earlier survey conducted in May 2021, even less than half of the companies said they wanted to adjust their procurement strategy,” Ifo…
Electrification and decarbonization of the transport network Over the next five years, Amazon plans to invest more than one billion euros in the additional electrification and decarbonization of its own European transport network. In this way, the company says it wants to ensure more sustainable delivery to its customers. More than 400 million euros are to flow to Germany. In addition, the investment will serve to further develop innovations across the entire traffic and transport sector, as well as to expand the charging infrastructure. As a result of the new investment, thousands more electric vehicles will be added to the…
New high for Germany In September 2022, the inflation rate in Germany rose to +10.0 percent. The month before, it was still +7.9 percent. As Dr. Georg Thiel, President of the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), explains, the ten percent inflation rate is a new high for Germany. In particular, he said, the substantial price increases for energy products were responsible for the high inflation. “But we are also increasingly observing price increases for many other goods, especially food. In addition, the expiry of the 9-euro ticket and fuel rebate have exacerbated the upward price trend in September 2022,” Thiel added.…
How the Kloepfel Group’s customers are preparing for gas shortages The companies are thinking intensively about the energy supply (gas, electricity, heat) in their own factory and some of them have set up a task force. In addition to the supply, the companies are struggling with the dramatic price development, which is currently coming to a head. The issue often comes up on the agenda as part of risk management. 10 measures taken by companies to counter gas shortages Convert secondary fuel plant from gas to oil.Procure additional emergency generators.Oil or diesel for existing and new emergency generators are purchased…
„World´s Best Management Consulting Firms 2022“ The American business magazine Forbes has presented its listing of the “World’s Best Management Consulting Firms” for the first time this year. Kloepfel Group is very pleased to be part of this exclusive group of the world’s best consultants. The list was created in partnership with the statistics portal Statista. Statista combined the results of its top lists for the USA, Germany, France, Great Britain, Switzerland and Japan. The study is based on numerous recommendations from consultants and clients of consulting firms. Only 230 consulting firms were able to convince these critical experts and…
Supply bottlenecks closed via international supplier networks Working with Kloepfel Consulting to leverage alternative sources to manufacturers. Autor: Shapur Kaikhosrowi, Manager The pandemic poses major challenges for many companies. At the beginning, many of our clients did not know how severe the impact of the Corona pandemic will be on business activities. This manifested itself in material shortages caused, for example, by logistics chains that no longer functioned and one-way container shipments. During 2020, many companies adapted to the framework conditions. Topics such as security of supply, supplier and risk management, but also production capacities were high on the agenda.…