Author: Kloepfel
Automotive supplier with solutions to optimize logistics ZF Friedrichshafen AG considers itself well prepared for the future. The automotive supplier makes this clear in a current press release entitled “ZF in the fast lane for intelligent, clean and safe commercial vehicle technology.” The company is well aware of the major tasks facing the commercial vehicle industry. Three of them are especially emphasized by ZF: Reducing CO2 emissions, increasing safety, and digital networking of fleets. For example, the company points out that in the EU, manufacturers must reduce the CO2 fleet emissions of new commercial vehicles by 15 percent by 2025.…
Focus on cloud services The traditional American IT group IBM recently announced that it will split up. The company intends to concentrate on cloud computing. At the same time, the business unit for IT services will be spun off into a new company. This also will be listed on the stock exchange. The spin-off should be completed by the end of 2021. IBM sees a growing market for the cloud segment. Arvind Krishna, IBM Chief Executive Officer, speaks of a $1 trillion market opportunity for hybrid cloud applications. A hybrid cloud is a combination of public and private clouds. Krishna…
HWWI commodity price index continues to rise in August HWWI commodity price index increases by 7.0 % (US dollar base) Crude oil prices rise by 3.4 % Strong increase in prices for industrial raw materials by 10.1 % (Hamburg, September 15, 2020) Prices for the most important internationally traded raw materials in the energy, industrial raw materials and food and beverages sectors increased further in August. Prices for industrial metals rose particularly sharply, reflecting the rapid recovery of Chinese industry. Theindex for industrial raw materials in August 2020 was 16 % higher than in August of the previous year. Despite…
Together with Kloepfel Consulting, Seidensticker was able to significantly reduce indirect costs, so that the achieved project result will make a sustainable contribution to the company. At the beginning of the project, the Kloepfel consultants were confronted with a complex actual situation caused by a multitude of different procurement topics and responsibilities within Seidensticker. Nevertheless, a transparent basis was quickly created, which was essential for the start of a topic optimization as well as the development of initial savings potentials. “Thanks to your professional project structure, effective time management and targeted processing of defined topic blocks, you have succeeded in…
Marcus Schilling talks about Kloepfel Consulting’s supplier cooperations Once again our motto is “We do not talk. We just do it!”. In our interview Marcus Schilling, Senior Partner of Kloepfel Consulting GmbH, talks about the advantages of partner suppliers of Kloepfel. These include, for example, suppliers for IT, mechanical engineering and trade. Currently, further partner suppliers who have convinced in practice are being included in the system. The partners get tested several times a year and can therefore be recommended with a clear conscience. 1. Mr. Schilling, how many supplier profiles are currently in the Kloepfel Consulting system? So far…
Kloepfel Corporate Finance exclusively advises the shareholders of the MULTIMON Group on the sale of significant shares to Deutsche Beteiligungs AG (DBAG) Kloepfel Corporate Finance GmbH acted as exclusive M&A advisor to the shareholders of MULTIMON Group on the sale of significant shares to listed DBAG. The closing is expected for the end of Q3. DBAG has acquired one of Europe’s leading providers of automatic fire extinguishing systems. Within the scope of the investment, a succession solution in a medium-sized family business with re-investment of the management is made possible. With DBAG’s investment in MULTIMON, the management sees an opportunity…
14% cost reduction with Kloepfel For many SMEs, the corona crisis is a matter of survival. It is therefore astonishing that one of the biggest savings miracles remains largely ignored. After all, it is no secret: The freight contracts of many companies are above the market price. Purchasers and managing directors often do not know what a treasure trove of returns they have. Statistical project evaluations by Kloepfel Consulting prove it: On average, customers benefit from 14.4% freight cost reduction through tenders and direct negotiations. The Kloepfel-typical expertise, effective logistics tools, knowledge of methods and hands-on mentality make it possible.…
Interview with Peter Smit and Martijn Heijmans As many successful negotiations as possible in a short time – a Supplier Convention makes it possible. The concept: All suppliers of a customer are invited to a convention to jointly optimize costs. If everyone pulls together in the individual meetings, the business relationship is strengthened and win-win situations arise. Kloepfel Benelux has proven that this also works digitally in a project with Thetford Ltd. We talked to Peter Smit (Kloepfel Benelux) and Martijn Heijmans (Procurement Services). 1. Basically explained: What is a Supplier Convention? The aim of a Supplier Convention is to…
Support during the Corona pandemic In Poland, insolvency proceedings were simplified a few weeks ago due to the corona pandemic. At the beginning of June, the lower chamber of parliament, the Sejm, passed a law to facilitate insolvency proceedings for companies during the Covid 19 pandemic. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the Polish parliament has already passed three legislative packages to mitigate the consequences of the crisis. These so-called anti-crisis shields focus mainly on the areas of labour, tax and commercial law. So now another shield has been added for insolvency law. Simplified restructuring procedure A major feature of…
BME survey: Too many companies are not preparing themselves As already known, global supply chains have been severely affected by the corona pandemic. Results of the recent BME Logistics Survey 2020 “Risk Management in Supply Chains” showed that out of five companies, four have supply problems. The reason for this poor rate is a lack of preparation for a pandemic situation. Not even 30 percent of all companies have planned a pandemic as an independent risk scenario. Of these, only one in four companies has worked out solutions for their own supply chains. Now the question remains whether the pandemic…
100 percent recyclability and reusability planned Nestlé aims to increase the use of recyclable or reusable packaging to 100% by 2025. To achieve this, the food company is stepping up its global commitment, as was announced in a company release. As an example, Nestlé mentions that the company has invested 30 million US dollars in the Closed Loop Leadership Fund in the United States. This is a private equity fund. It invests in companies to build circular supply chains. New projects include a refillable pet food system in Chile and a recyclable paper packaging for Maggi bouillon cubes in France.…
€1 billion per year to be saved The automotive supplier Continental must take cost-cutting measures because of the Corona crisis. The company has been struggling with bad news for a few years now. First it was announced that nine plants in the drive division would be closed and that the coolant plant in Oppenweiler would not be able to survive for long. Now the pandemic is forcing Continental to make even more drastic cost reductions. Previously, group president Elmar Degenhart spoke only of approximate figures such as “several hundred million euros” that must be saved. Continental recently announced that parts…
HWWI commodity price index continues to rise in July HWWI commodity price index increases by 5.8 % (US dollar base) Crude oil prices rise by 6.1 % Slight increase of 1.4 % in prices for food and beverages (Hamburg, August 14, 2020) Prices on the international commodity markets, which collapsed sharply in spring due to the corona pandemic, continued to recover in July. All sub-indices of the HWWI commodity price index rose on average compared with the previous month. However, the previous year’s figures are still far from being reached, which can be explained in particular by the sharp drop…
Interview with Robert Regge Business flights are currently in short supply – with catastrophic consequences for many companies: If mechanics cannot reach their machines in India, the result can be up to five-figure losses per day. Even personal business transactions in the Far East are impossible without a flight. Now Kloepfel Consulting offers its customers a mediation service for exclusive flights. Kloepfel manager Robert Regge explains in an interview how Kloepfel clears the airway. Many companies currently face the problem that their employees cannot book flights to their destination. Why? Flight operations have been shut down anyway due to Corona,…
Kloepfel is on the road to international success – and since 2019 also represented with a location in the Netherlands. From here, Kloepfel Benelux successfully advises European customers – also beyond the Benelux countries, as a project with the UK customer Thetford shows. Like every country, the Netherlands brings its own peculiarities with it. A conversation with Peter Smit and Martijn Heijmans about long-standing customer relationships, short distances and why it is better to ride a tandem. 1. Kloepfel Benelux is a joint venture of the German Kloepfel Consulting and the Dutch Procurement Services. How does the cooperation work? Peter…
A corona outbreak in a company not only affects the health of the employees but can also threaten the existence of the entire company. Through serious losses, exploding costs, the damage caused to the company’s reputation – and in the worst case, plant closures. Kloepfel HRS helps you with the right protection and hygiene measures and confirms these with certifications, explains doctor and infection protection expert Nadine Balzer. Ms Balzer, the media are currently reporting on companies that must close sites due to corona infections among their employees. What are these companies doing wrong? As a rule, it is usually…
Study of the BMÖ The Federal Association of Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics in Austria (BMÖ) announces: “Agility pays off”. This is the result of its study “Agility in purchasing 2020 – prerequisite for innovation?”. The study determined the understanding and characteristics of methods as well as drivers and blockades regarding agility. To this end, purchasing managers and experts from Europe, the USA and South America were interviewed. Of these, 34 percent work in the metal, mechanical engineering and automotive industries. Increasing efficiency, profitability and resilience The BMÖ describes agility as follows: “Agility is the ability of an organization to…
Better overview of one of VW’s most complex locations To keep a better overview of its stocks and make them ready to transport more quickly, Audi is now using a drone system developed in-house. Vehicles ready for dispatch are found more quickly and passed on for transport. The drone flies autonomously over the vehicle shipping area in Neckarslum. Meanwhile, GPS and RFID technology are used to identify and store all positions of the vehicles flown over. This is intended to support Audi’s employees in completing the shipping of the cars. Audi describes the site in Neckarslum as one of the…