Bosch received the Association Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics (BME) Innovation Award for the realignment of its indirect purchasing.
Bosch’s operating unit is responsible for purchasing all services, capital goods, and materials that are not used directly in products.
As part of a concept implemented globally, Bosch managed to set indirect purchasing up for future success, according to the jury’s statement.
Since 2011, the company has standardized numerous procurement processes and intensified the centralization of material requirements.
“Our evolution into an agile purchasing organization, with a global orientation based on different material categories, is an important factor in our business success,” says Jörg Mimmel, executive VP of the corporate sector for purchasing and logistics.
He is also responsible for indirect purchasing.
“Thanks to a much higher degree of automation in our order processes, we are able to act with greater speed and efficiency.”
“We have improved our budgetary efficiency – in other words, the budget we use relative to the savings we made–by more than 30%.”
Through the reorganization, Bosch has managed to structure its global material category and supplier strategy in such a way that it has doubled its centralization rate.
Order and procurement processes have been pooled, standardized, and accelerated.
“We have increased our catalog ratio, which reflects the proportion of standardized orders, from less than 20% to almost 50%,” SAYS Mimmel.
Bosch has centralized 230 purchasing departments worldwide and will be managing 1,100 associates in indirect purchasing centrally.
“In the long term, a global matrix organization with regional purchasing units and central management of material categories will ensure an optimal supply system for our Bosch locations worldwide.”
