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Jan Broda, strategic buyer at Stromag GmbH, talks about the challenges and successes of digitization in the company's purchasing.
Stromag, a globally recognized market leader in the development and manufacture of innovative power transmission components, has set out to make its purchasing processes more efficient and transparent. The e-procurement solution from simple system made a decisive contribution to this. In an interview, Broda explains how digitization has not only simplified processes, but also relieved purchasing and optimized costs.

Procurement is at the center of many digitization initiatives — but how can a transformation be achieved that creates real added value? A look at Wemhöner SurfaceTechnologies GmbH & Co. KG shows how the consistent digitization of C-parts procurement not only speeds up processes, but also inspires employees and realizes potential savings. The company from Herford proves that anyone who thinks holistically about digitization can secure sustainable competitive advantages.

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Germany does not have the reputation of being at the forefront of digitization worldwide. This is also underlined by the European Commission's eGovernment Benchmark 2022, in which Germany finished 21st out of 35 places. It is often established medium-sized companies that have difficulties modernizing traditional business processes. Isabelle Coudert, who heads supply chain management at WILKA Schliesstechnik, demonstrates, however, that digitizing purchasing can serve as a first step.

“Thanks to the connection of our proven GARANT Tool24 dispensing machine to simple system, demand messages are now processed fully automatically until the goods are received. Thanks to the four-eye principle in combination with the release settings in simple system, we always maintain full control. More comfort is not possible. Both production and purchasing now have more time to take care of their essential tasks. ”

“The integration into our SAP ERP® took place in February 2017 and we were immediately impressed by the clear presentation of the procurement process in the simple system cockpit. Our approvers check individual processes there and then approve the orders. We save frequently used products in the favorites list and have them right at hand the next time you order. ”

“The introduction of simple system not only gives us, as buyers, more time for strategically important tasks. The high degree of automation has significantly reduced the process costs for C-parts management at DUDOCO: The savings here amount to around 70,000 EUR per year. ”

“We quickly gained a lot of positive experiences with the digitization of indirect procurement,” reports Mr. Gutekunst, Head of Purchasing at Memminger-Iro. “But the different purchasing systems still complicated the process. We were therefore looking for a central platform that could be used to process the purchase of C-parts and indirect procurement. ”

Hardly any company starts off on a greenfield basis. Standard eProcurement solutions cannot help with complex structures in business and purchasing. simple system creates procurement solutions tailored to the customer through individual customer service and advice.

Long-term strong buyer-supplier relationships are crucial in order to be well positioned in any economic situation. This is exactly where B2B platforms can strengthen digital procurement. However, simple system does not communicate with the direct relationships between buyer and supplier, but acts as a neutral medium for their transactions and relationships with each other.

“simple system impressed with simple approaches, which were tailored to our company. Our demands to optimize procurement processes while reducing process costs were met shortly after implementation. Purchasing is relieved by procuring C-items and has free resources available for the actual core business.”

“Due to the simple integration into the system landscape, the introduction of simple system was implemented very quickly at SIG. The extremely wide variety of vendors impresses our purchasing department and users alike. Even complex local service processes such as maintenance and painting work are standardized and handled efficiently.”

“We now use a simple system to buy not only the piece of paper, but also the pens, the chair, and everything else the employee needs. Including the grinding wheel, the cutter knife or the gloves in the workshop,” says Al-Sahwi.