When in January 2020 the new order platform Central Procurement Hub (CPH) was rolled out for KWS SAAT and KWS Lochow in Germany, KWS’ new procurement services faced a first reality test. The central procurement team, consisting of the Expert Hubs Procurement and the GTC Procurement, has grown from 5 to 45 colleagues since the end of 2018.

With the development of the team, our strategic procurement strategy, including the corresponding platforms and processes, was completely revised: Since early 2020, KWS now has its first worldwide procurement guideline (see infographic), complemented by the new ordering platform CPH. On this basis, the team now manages KWS’ global procurement activities.

And these activities are growing rapidly. While KWS spent around 300 million euros on external products and services in 2009, it was almost twice as much in 2019. With increasing value, the demand for transparency and coordinated procurement as well as the compliance requirements increased.

Millions saved in the first year

Purchases are now channeled uniformly via GLOBE Procurement. With success: The savings in the past twelve months alone have already been more than 4.5 million euros. To achieve this, the GTC team processes all orders for non-inventory-managed products centrally via CPH - from the first purchase request to possible complaint management. The three Expert Hubs Procurement (see “11 principles of procurement”) provide advice on strategic purchasing for KWS companies around the world, negotiate large-scale contracts and harmonize the global supplier system.

Ten countries are already using this full spectrum of procurement services. Including all German KWS companies, more than half of the world's employees already have access to the new Central Procurement Hub platform, which currently processes more than 75 purchase requests per day. In the first four months of 2020 alone, the value of orders processed via CPH was over 50 million euros.

Ordering in only six clicks

Understanding the new ordering platform takes a little time and customization, but the benefits are obvious. The system is tailored to the needs of medium-sized companies and enables a modern digital shopping experience through its connected catalogs such as Amazon Business or Mercateo. In the best case, orders only need six clicks.

But in such an early phase of the system introduction, colleagues naturally experience one or the other challenge. Maik Müller, Head of GTC Procurement and IT: “688 active users are already a good indicator of the platform's acceptance. But we also know that not everything is working properly. That is why we take feedback from our colleagues very seriously and work closely with SAP to solve problems.” At the same time, the procurement team is also learning. Monthly updates and new functions improve system stability and user friendliness.

Next destination: Eastern Europe

From summer on, the system will also be launched together with the ONEGLOBE transition Go-Lives in Eastern Europe. When the last transitions in Europe are completed there in early 2021, these colleagues will receive access to this new, now stable, procurement system. |