The DaimlerChrysler Procurement Truck Group (PTG) earlier received this year's Successful Practice in Purchasing award from the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology (IPT). The award is given by the institute in recognition of the German automaker's impressive achievements in procurement. The institute presents the said award to companies for their successful strategies, tools and processes in purchasing annually.
The award was presented to Daimler's PTG unit. The said unit is responsible for the purchasing activities of all of the company's seven truck and bus brands. The awards ceremony was held in March at the "Consortial Benchmarking in Procurement" conference in Leverkusen.
The jury was composed of representatives from Bayer HealthCare AG, the Benteler Automobiltechnik GmbH, Carl Zeiss Industrielle Messtechnik GmbH, the Grohe AG, Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG, Saurer GmbH & Co. KG, Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, and the Windmoller & Holscher KG. It has based the verdict on the results of an eight-month assessment of successful procurement processes by IPT. In January, during a tour of the Worth plant, the largest truck assembly facility around the globe, the jury members were able to gain first-hand impression of DaimlerChrysler's commercial vehicle procurement activities and Mercedes-Benz truck manufacturing processes.
"The key element of our award entry was the new PTG Lead Buying concept, which enables us to make our procurement activities more efficient by, for example, pooling commodities with significant synergy potential," said Stefan E. Buchner, the head of Procurement Truck Group & Buses. The PTG Lead Buying concept states that an employee must coordinate and improve global cooperation between all buyers of the commodities he or she is responsible for, regardless of whether these buyers are located in Portland, Tokyo or Brazil.
This system does not only enable the unit to negotiate superior procurement volumes but also allows it to draw upon an ideal number of global suppliers. Lead Buying calculatingly concentrates on selected groups of parts offering global optimization possibilities. Jointly, these groups account for about half of the annual PTG procurement volume. "The advantages of this global approach are obvious," said Buchner. "The expanded perspective of the procurement situation it creates opens up new negotiation possibilities which eventually result in savings worldwide."
"Our worldwide systems for comparing price-to-performance give us greater transparency and provide us with a global database that helps us to optimize our purchasing decisions," added Buchner. These factors have resulted in considerable savings since the inception of Lead Buying in January 2006.
Accordingly, the areas of responsibility have become clearer. In addition, interfaces like those with the development department have become smoother. Moreover, this makes it possible to jointly define and implement strategies. Another factor that overwhelmed the jury was the systematic evaluation and regular monitoring of supplier performance and Group-wide supplier strategies as defined in the supplier plans. The system could be likened to the efficient evaluation made to the supplier.
"The award once again confirms that our globally positioned procurement organization has created the basis for a successful future," said Buchner at the ceremony. "It provides our suppliers with unique prospects, for example, when cooperating in future-oriented projects for new products. The new Lead Buying concept acts as the foundation for a collaboration that benefits both DaimlerChrysler and its suppliers."
