News
Monday 03. May 2010
 |
| "Optimization of Purchasing and Production" |
| Many consultancies have specialized: Kerkhoff in purchasing; Prolean in production. Now, these two will go together. In a talk with Beschaffung aktuell, the two managing directors Gerd Kerkhoff and Bodo Wiegand explained this step. |
| Beschaffung aktuell: Mr. Kerkhoff, your company now acquired a substantial interest in Prolean Consulting GmbH which specializes in "production process consultancy". Why? Gerd Kerkhoff: In the past twelve months, companies had to bring their cost structure up to par. In doing so, they used – perfectly correctly – the leverage in purchasing to be able to generate short-term liquidity. But time and again, we received inquiries such as: Could you also optimize the processes after receipt of the good to be able to save money? And we also had to answer this question by saying "no". With our new partner Prolean on our side, we will be able, in the future, to completely optimize the value-added chain in the areas of purchasing, production and administration. Beschaffung aktuell: Dr. Wiegand, it has been said that Prolean engineers would help to manufacture more goods with an existing production park. That's nice. But don't most producing businesses rather have the opposite problem, i.e. to produce considerable fewer goods with an existing production park? Dr. Bodo Wiegand: The economic and financial crisis resulting in companies drastically reducing their workforce. We know companies where up to 30 percent of the personnel in administration or production have been dismissed. We have been asked: How can we generate the same production output as before with the now reduced number of employees? Of course, we'll help here as well. Basically, we have four areas in which we offer consultancy services. First, concerning savings in production and administration; second, concerning growth without investments; third, in creating transparency; and fourth, in the support we provide to satisfy the demands of our clients’ customers for more individuality and speed in product output. Beschaffung aktuell: Is production optimization also possible without losing all too many good people? Wiegand: The question will be what objectives the companies have. Let's take the following debate: In Germany, there are always complaints about the lack of skilled workers. A major strategy consultancy recently published a study again in which the lack of skilled workers is addressed as a major problem in the future. In my opinion, there is no lack of skilled workers in Germany; it's just that the productive capacity of the workforce is not properly released. We can help increase this productivity and thus eliminate the problem. Beschaffung aktuell: Has the producing trade any future in Germany at all, taking into account that we are rapidly heading towards a service economy? Wiegand: Your publishing company is located in Baden-Württemberg which is, in addition to Bavaria, the Federal state strongest in the area of medium-sized production operations. Do you seriously believe that these companies – partly global quality leaders –will disappear in the future? But you're right: The competitive intensity is increasing; otherwise, there would be no need to call us in. Beschaffung aktuell: Will the name of "Prolean" be kept? Kerkhoff: Bodo Wiegand and I are of the opinion that Kerkhoff Consulting and Prolean are both strong brands and should also keep their independence. Beschaffung aktuell: Mr. Kerkhoff, why don't you just integrate the 35 people of Prolean. After all, Kerkhoff is much larger with its 218 consultants. Kerkhoff: The acquisition of interest in Prolean was no hostile takeover but a marriage of two consultancies; and they don't substitute each other but much rather complement each other in substance. That's why such an alliance is sensible for both sides. But when it's set up only as a cooperation, there is usually less seriousness in collaboration than in case of interdependencies in terms of corporate law and thus financially as well. Wiegand: Our clients demand specialists – whether for purchasing or production. Prolean has different consultants than Kerkhoff Consulting. The majority of our people are engineers, originally trained in operative management functions in companies; and today, they are specialists for lean management and process optimization. Kerkhoff Consulting employs purchasing specialists who are predominantly business people and graduates in business economics. For Gerd Kerkhoff and myself, there is no reason to lump all these specialists together in the future. Beschaffung aktuell: You once wrote that the work by Kerkhoff Consulting would end with the incoming goods department. Is the purchasing department not also responsible for internal material flows? Kerkhoff: Purchasing should be involved in such material flow. It should have established interfaces with the production area, the development department, with inventory management and logistics. For years already, our consultants have implemented it in comprehensive organizational projects. In the end, however, we don't optimize the entire flow, but just always see it from the buyer's point of view. Our job is to purchase the goods and to optimally set up the purchasing department in the company. In the future, Prolean will be able to consider all of it from a more holistic aspect. Beschaffung aktuell: Do you see cultural differences between the purchasing and production experts? Wiegand: As explained before, there are certainly differences between purchasing and process experts – in their training, in their day-to-day business. However, Gerd Kerkhoff and I are very pleased – and I must specifically emphasize it at this point – that we are managing two companies whose standards of values and culture fit together perfectly. Kerkhoff and Prolean both stand for implementation, for high transparency and measurability, and for the sustained success of our projects. What's common for our people: They are much rather entrepreneurs and doers than consultants. And they can also party well together as our "marriage celebrations" have shown in Düsseldorf in March of this year. Beschaffung aktuell: You have insight into many companies: According to your experience, how are things going for strategic purchasing? Kerkhoff: For us, strategic purchasing means the observation of markets and the anticipation of what to do now with one's own purchasing department. From my point of view, this is still done much too rarely today. But it has to do with a natural evolution of purchasing managers. More than twenty years ago, long before I founded Kerkhoff Consulting, I started to renegotiate conditions for clients. Buyers were price cutters. In the past five years, especially the organizational and management functions have been added: Aside from the organization of purchasing departments, important interfaces have been created with the development department, for example. Now, purchasing managers are facing new challenges: How are the markets developing, what does it mean for their companies and how do they handle it? Beschaffung aktuell: And how has strategic purchasing been anchored in corporate management or in the management board, respectively? Kerkhoff: What I always say is: It used to be that those people were going into purchasing departments who didn't want to have a successful career or who wanted to end their career life. Today, that's entirely different: Companies have come to realize the important position of purchasing – in purely monetary terms, but also with regard to their security of supply in today's highly volatile markets. That's why there are ever more heads of purchasing who are found not only directly under, but even already within the corporate management or right on the executive board. In my opinion, this will even further increase in coming years. Purchasing will become just as important as sales, marketing or controlling. That's why really good young people are going into purchasing today already. Beschaffung aktuell: How do you see the future of purchasing? Kerkhoff: Especially during the economic and financial crisis, two things very clearly showed German board members and managing directors just how important purchasing is for their companies: On the one hand, as cost leverage for a fast release of liquidity. On the other hand, many companies became painfully aware what supplier losses mean for their own production: it's a disaster, production lines will stand still! That's why, in the future, companies will strive harder to establish secure supplies from the right markets at the right prices. It also means that purchasing managers will move up in the corporate hierarchy. Beschaffung aktuell: Why do you read Beschaffung aktuell? Kerkhoff: "Beschaffung Aktuell" is one of the most important trade journals for the topics of purchasing and procurement. Even if we don't always agree with your coverage: How would we get around it? Beschaffung aktuell: Mr. Kerkhoff, Mr. Wiegand, thank you for talking with us. |
