Interview with Nikolas Diedrich, CFO of Dermatologikum Hamburg
At Dermatologikum Hamburg, more than 40 specialists ensure that people feel comfortable in their skin. Whether through classical, operative and aesthetic dermatology, vascular surgery or dermatological laboratory diagnostics. Together with the experts from Kloepfel Consulting, the private clinic has recently optimized its purchasing. This required a sure instinct in dealing with suppliers and surgical precision in data analysis, as Nikolas Diedrich, CFO of Dermatologikum, explains in our interview.
Mr. Diedrich, what was the reason for optimizing your purchasing department? What were the goals?
We are now a clinic with 200 employees and discovered that our purchasing department was still set up as if it was a ten-man company. Purchasing was not centralized and each department simply ordered what it needed. That is why, a year before we contacted Kloepfel, we started to centralize purchasing and make data transparent. We were downright frightened by the large number of suppliers and knew that there was a need for optimization – especially in the renegotiations to bring prices up to the usual market level. Kloepfel was supposed to help us in the necessary discussions with the suppliers as well as in bundling orders and thus reducing procurement channel costs. Our purchasing department alone would not have been able to cope with this.
Which topics were in progress? Which services and tools of Kloepfel were used?
Apart from rents, everything was checked for optimization – from ordering swabs to cleaning services. Wherever structural renegotiations were possible, this was also tackled. The Kloepfel methods ranged from direct negotiation to tendering.
How convincing was the result of the project?
Very satisfying, we would not have been able to achieve this ourselves. We do not only measure success by the savings achieved – we also see added value such as the transparency gained.
What were the biggest challenges of the project?
Some of our supplier relationships had grown over the years, which leads to special circumstances – you have common stories. To be sensitive to these relationships, to approach each supplier individually and with appropriate sensitivity and appreciation is a special art, which Kloepfel consultants master amazingly well. The suppliers were not only judged by their prices. Quality, reliability and further added value played a major role. A further challenge was certainly the fact that many people in our company have contact with different suppliers, which results in a correspondingly large number of accesses to us. Kloepfel succeeded remarkably well in maintaining an overview and, above all, communicative sovereignty without letting the reins out of his hands.
How sustainable is the success of the project? Has the position of purchasing improved? Have the purchasing services become more transparent?
Since the project has just been completed, we cannot yet say much about sustainability – but we are confident that the changes are sustainable. The transparency we have gained can already be seen. Kloepfel has helped our employees to understand purchasing differently: It is more than just procurement and has strategic elements.
At the beginning of consulting projects it is often feared that the organization will be burdened with additional work. How was that with this project?
There was an additional burden. After all, our employees were learning and some data had to be prepared for the consulting process. But all that was manageable and the daily business continued to function without any problems.
How did you manage to attract the employees for the project?
Our employees already knew that our purchasing department was not quite optimal yet. The project now showed new facets of purchasing. For this reason, the interest in purchasing increased. Our employees were able to learn a lot – that was one of the most important arguments for them to go along with the project. They were able to expand their tools of the trade and take away some of the high Kloepfel methodological competence.
In consulting projects, the human component plays a decisive role in addition to the technical component. How did you experience the cooperation with the consultants of Kloepfel Consulting?
It went very well indeed! One of the consultants was with us almost all the time and did an exorbitant job – especially the communication with the suppliers went well and sensitively.
The suppliers not only had to get used to new faces at the negotiating table, but also to changed requirements. What were their reactions?
They were as varied as our suppliers. Some were enthusiastic about the new transparency, saw our shopping basket and were able to say directly: “Look, you can actually order this from us too! They saw the negotiations as an opportunity and used it accordingly. Other suppliers were rather evasive and wanted exceptions. The art was to keep them in the process anyway. As a result, a few changes were necessary.
What is the longer-term vision for your purchasing department? What role does digitalization play in this?
We now have four locations and our medium-term goal is to handle their procurement centrally. This can only be achieved by means of an appropriate software solution. We also expect to link purchasing with consumption in the future to place orders as automatically as possible according to demand and at the right time.
The project period was partly in the middle of the Corona crisis. What effects did this have on the process?
For us, this only meant that some of the work was done from the home – Kloepfel was very flexible and well prepared for this. The project could be continued without delay and without restrictions, there was nothing to complain about.
What is the conclusion of the project?
Overall, we were very satisfied, Kloepfel got in perfectly at the time when we had prepared our data and structures transparently and from there we took our purchasing optimization to the top. I do not think it could have gone any better and we would recommend Kloepfel at any time.
Mr. Diedrich, thank you for the interview!
Interview-Partner
Kloepfel Consulting GmbH
Gerrit M. Schneider
Press officer
T: +49 211 / 882 594 17
Mail: gm.schneider@kloepfel-group.com