Product group strategy cables

Goal: Cost reduction of the cable product group by 15%

Project

Duration: 03/2008 bis 07/2008
Role in the project: Project Manager

Operational area, geographical:

  • Austria
  • Global

Company

Type: Mechanical / plant engineering
Turnover: 700 Mio. EUR
Number of employees: 4,200

Description

At the beginning of the project the product group cables consisted of

  • > 250 material numbers
  • 37 Suppliers
  • Purchasing volume EUR 2.5 million

Measures

  • Buy-in of the development / logistics and production departments at the 3 main locations in Austria + plant in the Czech Republic
  • Definition of the team members of the different departments / plants
  • Project plan preparation and adherence
  • Subdivision of cables into main groups and reduction of species diversity through standardisation
  • Preparation of the specifications for the suppliers
  • Solicitation and comparison of offers on a main group basis
  • Technical and commercial comparison of the offers
  • Application test in production
  • Supplier negotiation of the 5 best offers
  • Negotiation of framework contracts with the 3 best suppliers in each case
  • Reverse auction with the 4 best bidders in each case
  • Contract signing
  • Presentation of the results to the management
  • Conversion (run-in phase/run-out phase)
  • Accompaniment of the supplier introduction in the 4 plants

Team

  • 1 Subproject manager technology
  • 4 Development engineers at 3 locations
  • 4 Logistics employees at 4 locations
  • 1 Strategic buyer

Reporting

  • Weekly team meeting: comparison of target and actual status
  • Monthly reporting Head of department
  • Presentation of the results to the management

Interfaces

  • Purchasing
  • Technology (development)
  • Disposition
  • Stock
  • Manufacturing / Production
  • Accounting & Controlling
  • Suppliers

Success

We were able to reduce the material costs of the material group by 28%, reduce the suppliers to a total of 4 (from 37 before) and standardize the articles to about 160 (before 250). With the success, my standing in the company was given, which also simplified the implementation of my next projects.

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