Sharpening the project scope to addressable spend for production materials

Identification of pain points in the previous process through cross-functional workshops (incl. Purchasing, Sales, Business Units, Controlling), expert interviews, and own observations:

• Inconsistent & unclear procedures regarding coordination formats, process steps, templates, etc.

• Unclear responsibilities and lack of ownership

• Frequent short-notice decision pressure due to delayed case handover from Purchasing

• Partly disproportionately high effort for comparatively low value contributions

• Often non-transparent justifications for supplier price increases, resulting in a poor basis for assessment

• Lack of clarity regarding the approach to cost pass-through to customers

• Uncoordinated procedures per region and unclear interfaces for cross-regional price increases

• Inconsistent and often problematic payment terms

Derivation, prioritization, and introduction of meaningful process improvements:

• Simplification & standardization of coordination formats, process steps, templates, etc.

• Granting of a clear mandate for decision-making

• Central coordination and case prioritization

• Management by exception based on clear purchasing-internal approval thresholds

• Requiring data-based evidence from suppliers and plausibility checks of price increases through Cost Engineering

• Transparent cut-off dates for consideration in annual customer negotiations

• Definition of interfaces for cross-regional price increases

• Recommendation regarding one-time payments vs. unit price increases

Process rollout incl. documentation and training sessions

Introduction of a monthly management reporting incl. analyses by commodity, region, and business unit

Interim central coordination of the process