Author: Kloepfel
New AI-supported assistant to increase productivity Microsoft and Siemens are deepening their existing partnership. Microsoft reported on this last Thursday. The two companies are now presenting a jointly developed, AI-supported assistant. This assistant is called Siemens Industrial Copilot. It is designed to improve collaboration between man and machine in production. The integration between the Siemens Teamcenter software for Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) and Microsoft Teams will also further pave the way to the industrial metaverse, Microsoft promises in its press release. This will also simplify cross-functional, virtual collaboration between development engineers, customer service staff and other teams. Man and machine…
Increased EU trade contributes significantly to the increase The Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel) published the values of the “Kiel Trade Indicator” on November 7. This analyzes the trade of 75 countries worldwide and forecasts increases or decreases in trade with the help of real-time ship movement data. According to the Kiel Institute, global trade increased by 2% in October 2023 compared to September 2023, with EU trade in particular contributing to this increase. Vincent Stamer, Head of the Kiel Trade Indicator, states: “The figures for global trade are stronger than they have been for a long…
October Edition: Kloepfel Magazine Dear Readers, We are heading purposefully towards the end of the year and in many companies planning for the coming year has already begun. This October issue of our newsletter provides you with a wealth of information to support and inspire you as you optimize in the areas of purchasing, logistics and human resources. While in the first article we look at the challenges and opportunities of cost planning for 2024, in the second article we take you to Düsseldorf-Lierenfeld, where the new logistics hub of Kloepfel 4PL Solutions is waiting for medium-sized companies and startups.…
Cost optimization through efficient processes and digitization Planning for the coming year is on the horizon. The challenges remain considerable. The risk of high costs persists. Therefore, you should already plan your costs holistically for 2024. In this context, it is crucial to pay attention to costs instead of prices. Costs can be influenced and controlled more directly and easily within the company than prices for purchased parts. Prices are set before parts are procured, based on specifications, requirements and drawings. In contrast, costs in the company arise from internal processes and procedures that have a certain momentum and may…
More and more customers of the Kloepfel Group, which specializes in supply chains, are relying on skilled workers from Eastern Europe due to the shortage of specialists in the areas of production, construction, sales, accounting and purchasing. With them, company processes can be relocated temporarily or long-term to Eastern European countries. In this press release, we explain examples and let customers have their say. Flexibility in purchasing With Kloepfel Services, companies can flexibly ramp up and down their purchasing, sales and accounting capacities with Eastern European experts as needed from one day to the next. The specialists have many years…
Rapid placement of strategic buyers Find out in the recommendation letter of STIEBEL ELTRON GmbH & Co. KG how Kloepfel Consulting successfully recruited specialists in strategic purchasing for the company. Kloepfel Consulting was chosen for the project implementation due to its expertise in recruiting purchasing managers. After only two weeks, the first candidates were introduced by profile. STIEBEL ELTRON develops and produces intelligent and green heating technology solutions with around 5,500 employees – whether for hot water, heating, ventilation or cooling. Are you looking for highly motivated specialists and managers for purchasing, supply chain management and logistics? Then contact us:…
Customer interview with managing director Oliver Ahrens In our interview, Oliver Ahrens, Managing Director of TonerPartner GmbH, provides insights into a successful consulting project with Kloepfel Consulting. Among other things, Ahrens emphasizes the good cooperation with Kloepfel’s consultants and points out the use of digital possibilities in logistics. The conclusion of the project is extremely positive, as the savings have exceeded expectations and structures have been simplified. Did you conduct a potential analysis with Kloepfel in advance? No, at TonerPartner we did not conduct a potential analysis with Kloepfel. However, Kloepfel consultants talked to our CFO and looked at freight…
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
Expansion of the Airbus A321F freighter route network in the north Lufthansa Cargo is strengthening its presence in the Nordic region by expanding the Airbus A321F freighter’s route network to Helsinki and Copenhagen. Lufthansa Cargo freighters will reportedly fly from Frankfurt to Copenhagen via Helsinki from September 27, 2023. This will create direct connections from Frankfurt to more than 300 global destinations and add additional flights to existing connections. Expansion of route networks Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland are of great importance for international freight traffic due to their location between Europe and North America. Exports are mainly technology…
Decrease of 12.6 percent In August 2023, producer prices of industrial products recorded the largest year-on-year decline since records began in 1949, falling by 12.6 percent. As reported by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), this decline was largely due to a base effect resulting from the high price level in the previous year. In August 2023, however, producer prices increased by 0.3 percent compared with July 2023. According to Destatis, the main reasons for the year-on-year decline in producer prices were falling prices in the energy sector and for intermediate goods. Energy prices fall Destatis further reports that the cost…
Strongest price decline since 1986 According to the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), import prices decreased by 16.4 percent in August 2023 compared with August 2022. This was the sharpest year-on-year price decline since November 1986, it said, while compared with the previous month of July, import prices rose by 0.4 percent for the first time since September 2022. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the decisive factor for the decrease in import prices is the base effect, owed to the high prices in the previous year after the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Energy prices become more favorable Energy prices…
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…