Title page: The Link to Optimize Purchases
Translated content:
These outsourcing relationships were nominated for the 2002 Editor's Choice Awards. www.outsourcing-journal.com Author Kathleen Goolsby, Senior Writer
Within the manufacturing industry, where companies must purchase a considerable amount of components and various goods and materials, operational costs can skyrocket in the procurement area. You can also increase the number of suppliers for those supplies.
MAN Roland, which manufactures a wide range of digital offset and Web newspaper presses, aimed to reduce the expenses of its purchasing department and also optimize its supply chain. Optimizing, according to Rudolf Kohlert, the company's purchasing director, meant reducing the number of suppliers from which it acquired materials. They achieved both objectives by outsourcing MAN's purchasing process Roland to Unitec.
Kohlert says Germany-based Unitec reduced the number of small suppliers (less than 50 euros annually) used by MAN Roland from 160 to just one — Unitec. The supplier's Web-enabled NetSourcing services coordinate MAN Roland orders for all suppliers on a single order form and have reduced invoices to just one per month — reducing the manufacturer's accounting and processing costs.
In addition to paperless purchasing, Unitec's eProcurement service includes order status tracking and options for express delivery. The website's database comprises more than 44,503 goods from 3,240 suppliers, with multilingual descriptions.
In addition to eProcurement services, Kohlert says MAN Roland selected Unitec as its outsourcing partner due to its expertise in C-part management concepts and efficiency. The company's Activity-Based Cost Analysis defined “C-parts” as those that represent five percent of total purchasing volume but have a high rate of purchase orders.
MAN Roland transitioned the job to Unitec over a period of two months, in phases across different purchasing departments and asset groups. MAN Roland's return on investment was more than reduced costs; Freed from administrative tasks, your purchasing staff was able to focus on more important activities.
