We offer updates and assistance to support you in better assessing your company's exposure to economic risks from Covid-19 over the long term and in building up its resilience. We advise you on how to optimise your company processes, making you fit for future challenges. This means that effects of disruptions can be softened over the long term.

Efficient and effective value chains with our Value Chain Transformation solution

The spread of the coronavirus has shown how susceptible worldwide production is to disruption. Covid-19 doesn't just interfere with value chains in the short term; it could also make them more volatile in the medium term.

To protect themselves from breakdowns, global risks and disruptions, companies should structure their value chains more transparently and comprehensively optimise them.

This means that it is important to consistently digitalise and automate processes. The focus here is on the traditional value chain: procurement – production and logistics – sales.

How can lead times along the value chain be shortened? How can future procurement processes be digitalised on a platform basis? Value Chain Transformation, our integrated solution line, can answer these and more questions. It optimises the value chain with the following services:

• Creating transparency within the value chain
• Procurement optimisation including negotiation training
• Introducing digital procurement platforms
• Production process optimisation and inventory management optimisation
• Support with the development and implementation of solutions regarding customer experience, customer segmentation and customer relationship management including the development of measurement systems
• Digitalising customer interaction including setup of digital customer platforms
• Intelligent evaluation and linking of customer data to generate customer insights (i.a. to derive segments, personas and customer journey mapping as well as journey design)
• Strategic and process-related advice on Industry 4.0 and IoT projects along the value chain considering questions on future business models and automation

With Value Chain Transformation, we optimise product costs and external expenditure. We identify and minimise risks. We visualise customer expectations. 

This makes our customers – and their value chains – fit for any upcoming tasks.

The spread of the coronavirus is disrupting supply chains. We help you to identify and resolve bottlenecks. 

The spread of the Covid-19 lung disease is affecting companies worldwide and, in such an interconnected global economy, is impacting supply chains: primary products can't be delivered on time, suppliers have stopped due to personnel and other bottlenecks.

We support you in this extraordinary situation to reduce supply chain risks that have arisen due to the pandemic and which may continue to arise, to resolve gaps in supply and to develop alternative solutions.

Checklist: What you should clarify

• Suppliers: Can you locate your main suppliers? Do you have contingency planning to ensure the continuity of supply?
• Logistics: Do you know your supply channels? Have you spoken with your logistics providers to understand potential impacts and find out how they intend to mitigate them? What are your contingency plans in case routes are blocked?
• Contracts: Have you reviewed your contracts with key customers and suppliers to understand issues of liability in the event of supply bottlenecks? How will you react if suppliers cite clauses for force majeure?
• Inventory: Have you assessed your inventory coverage? Will you have to limit stock for specific customers if inventories turn out to be short? Are you able to track shipments in real time and thereby manage customer expectations?
• Customer retention and demand: What do you expect from your customers? How well do you know your customers? How likely are you to lose your customers to competition/alternatives? What will be the effect of a decline in consumer demand on your long-term growth plans?

Supply chain analysis and securing the supply chain

Our supplier risk management helps you to monitor supplier-specific KPIs and thereby track and assess potential effects on the end-to-end supply chain. You can identify alternative vendors and thereby avoid disruptions to supply.

A dynamic analysis of the current crisis situation at n-tier level along the whole supply chain will identify critical components in the chain. This will create the necessary transparency and help to derive recommendations and implement any potential alternative supply chains as the situation demands. New suppliers or alternative transport options will be optimally integrated. This will ensure the availability of materials and guarantee the continuation of operating business even as the corona crisis is ongoing.

A pre-prepared task force management approach will help you, e.g. in developing measures to prevent circumstances leading to insolvency and thus reduce risks of liability. A clear crisis communication structure will optimally integrate all relevant stakeholders and ensure contact to these stakeholders.

Data-driven inventory optimisation

To ensure business stability, stock management of spare parts – often a purely manual process – should be optimised. Today, stock management is often based on expert knowledge, and the complexity of modern production facilities is leading to an increase in the number of spare parts to be accounted for.

We offer you a data-driven analysis of historical spare parts requirements including the associated order and supply processes and the machinery stock. In this way, you can identify stock surplus and shortages and resolve any imbalances. Based on the analysis, we will develop an optimal stock position for you with a view to availability requirements. This reduces the amount of capital tied up.

An easy-to-use dashboard supports the professional user continually to optimally manage internal operations and make any necessary subsequent adjustments. In addition, drivers of part consumption can be identified and data-driven forecasts can be prepared concerning consumption rates and delivery times. This allows you to identify critical bottlenecks in spare parts stock in advance and address these proactively.