Department strategy and supplier management

Keep costs under control

Experience shows that spending on production materials, merchandise, payments in kind, services and investments make up two thirds of a company’s overall costs.

The challenge of purchasing is fulfilling the following tasks in tandem:

  • Serve international customers and heterogeneous distribution channels with inexpensive, flexible logistics
  • Use service providers flexibly for a comprehensive service package (from investment in new distribution centres through to takeover of seasonally changing co-packing activities)
  • Integrate divisions responsible for purchasing and procurement in all selection processes early on
  • Continually optimise suppliers
  • Guarantee uniform and efficient processes for purchasing and procurement at all sites
  • Fulfil all legal and customs requirements
  • Observe all compliance requirements (two-man rule)

Metroplan - Approach and methodology

We support our customers in the overall optimisation of purchasing and procurement, or with regard to individual elements. The following three-stage comprehensive optimisation procedure has been proven to work:

Purchasing audit and analysis phase

  • Purchasing audit using approx. 100 company-specific questions in the field of purchasing and procurement at the production sites
  • Access to ERP master and transaction data using (SAP-certified) interfaces to derive purchase volumes for the product group structure etc.
  • Analysis using professional software (inter alia network analysis/design, purchasing control)
  • Analysis of optimisation options within the existing contract structure with logistics service providers (including pallet management)

Optimisation and implementation

  • Transfer of best practice approaches from other companies and fields
  • Potential workshops per commodity group to identify concrete optimisation methods
  • Optimise the purchase of logistics services in a long-term supply chain strategy (with regard to warehouse location, transport costs, storage costs, purchase of value-added services)
  • Identify methods for optimisation in IT systems (SRM, Spend Cube or SAP functionalities such as vendor evaluation system etc.)
  • Implementation of pilot projects to show the feasibility in the short-term
  • Adjust the structural and operational organisation in purchasing and logistics

Reporting and roll-out

  • Implementation of supportive tools (in ERP/SAP system, but also with standard MS Office programs)
  • Implementation of a reporting system with monthly reports (including management summary) which clearly show changes relating to target achievement
  • Takeover of ongoing analysis as a managed shared service for Metroplan customers (e.g. for purchasing control, selection of carriers)

Customer benefits

  • Compare the purchasing strategy with the supply chain strategy
  • Identification of potential for variabilisation and reduction of storage, transport and value-added service costs
  • Improvement of purchasing conditions in direct purchase (production and packaging materials), indirect purchase (transport, warehouse services and merchandise) and investments (central warehouses, storage and materials-handling technology, IT systems, etc.)
  • Align the purchasing organisation and purchasing/procurement processes with future requirements
  • Reliable integration of purchasing with regard to the requirements of logistics, scheduling, maintenance, etc.
  • Coordinated specifications and IT systems contribute to the more efficient design of procurement and purchasing

Your contact person

Dr. Thomas Mielke

Managing Director Metroplan Process Management GmbH
send an email
+49 40 20 000 750
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