The client company is a manufacturer of exterior products for cars and vans. At the time of the mandate, it had around 1,800 employees and a turnover of around EUR 240 million. The company, which has two plants in Germany and two abroad (Eastern Europe, Mexico), is the market leader in its sector and is owned by a private equity company. The interim manager took on the role of Commodity Manager at short notice. The predecessor had already left the company. There was no handover period.
Cost-cutting projects had not made any progress for years
The supplier's products were under considerable cost pressure. Cost-cutting projects with suppliers had not made any progress for years. Despite this, the company kept starting new projects. The production volume includes small to large series with a wide range of variants. The purchasing spectrum is correspondingly large. It includes mechanical parts and assemblies, stamped and laser parts, complex plastic parts, cast aluminum parts, welded assemblies, motors, actuators and electrical and electronic components. The work of the interim manager was correspondingly detailed.
Key performance indicators for suppliers - complaint rate reduced
After assessing the status, the interim manager coordinated with the suppliers and defined project steps. He reviewed the framework agreements and eliminated deficiencies step by step. He combined decentralized purchasing volumes from the plants with corresponding volumes and renegotiated them. The interim manager also introduced key performance indicators for suppliers and regularly took part in supplier audits. As a result, the complaint rate was sustainably reduced. In addition, new suppliers are now systematically selected, tested and developed in terms of quality.
Improvements in production lead to considerable savings
Based on his technical background, the interim manager was also able to contribute to improvements in production. For example, he discovered some deficits during the inventory of injection molding tools. In collaboration with the development department, he was able to ensure that an item was no longer made from steel but from plastic. This alone reduced costs by EUR 230,000/year.
Costs reduced by a total of EUR 900,000 within 6 months
In other sub-projects, the interim manager intensified supplier management and supply chain management. Suppliers are now actively involved in the new and further development of products. The interim manager also implemented internal and external value analysis projects. The value analysis method was rarely used before.
The interim manager was able to reduce costs by a total of EUR 900,000 within 6 months. He was also able to successfully complete cost-cutting projects that had been running for several years.
