Digitizing the Supply Chain and Procurement

What does IT strategy involve?

The extent in which your business processes correspond to your IT systems is fundamental to how efficient and effective they will be. A successful IT strategy requires that your future corporate strategy is covered as closely as possible by your IT systems, to which end we accompany you through the following stages:

1. IT maturity analysis: Assess the use of IT support within supply chain and procurement

2. IT vision: Develop a sustainable foundation for your IT strategy on which your future IT system landscape can be based

3. IT roadmap: Draw up a binding framework within which IT projects will be implemented, including start and end dates, execution times, dependencies, scopes, and priorities

What are the benefits of allowing us to develop your IT strategy? 

• An external, independent evaluation of your IT landscape using benchmarking and best practices
   
• We act as an interface between your departments and IT and extrapolate the requirements you need in order to save time and unnecessary outlay
   
• Based on the ascertained degree of maturity, we work with you to derive activities which we then evaluate using different criteria (such as costs, benefits, complexity), then transfer them to an IT roadmap tailored to your needs
   
• This roadmap shows you how to adapt your IT landscape in SCM and procurement more efficiently and effectively to your business requirements

What is HÖVELER HOLZMANN’s approach?

1st step: Perform an IT maturity analysis

We analyze your current IT landscape in SCM and procurement based on interviews, workshops, and existing system and process descriptions.

Three dimensions are especially important in this first phase:

• Achieve transparency about system functions by comparing actual business processes with their systemic requirements
   
• Identify interface problems or even system breaks
   
• Implement change management and develop user expertise by analyzing the knowledge level of end users and developing best practices

Based on these findings, we ascertain your level of IT maturity using our scoring model. We take a best-in-class approach, which provides a benchmark for comparisons with similar businesses.

2nd step: Develop IT vision

Building on our maturity analysis, we identify adjustments that need to be made to your existing IT system landscape. We then develop a target sustainable IT system landscape tailored to you and produce recommendations on how to achieve it.

3rd step: Derive IT roadmap

In the final step, we derive key fields of action for digitizing the supply chain and procurement. These are translated into an IT roadmap, which meaningfully structures the things your business requires of its IT.

What do process design and IT requirements involve?

Within process design, the focus is on developing and designing implementable solutions to establish more efficient processes. We take all of your circumstances and requirements into account to define an ideal target process for your company. When we design the ideal target process, we draw on our cross-industry expertise in supply chain management and procurement and utilize best practices that we’ve gathered in many years of project experience. We then transfer your process requirements into a specification book in order to lay the foundation for successful implementation after finalizing the target process. Using that as a basis, we then perform comprehensive market screening followed by a tendering process to select the supplier that suits you best.

What are the benefits of our process design and subsequent market screening with supplier selection?

Since we analyze the situation in three dimensions (processes, organization and system), we achieve complete transparency about the situation you start from. Because we have so many years of experience in process management, you benefit from our internal and external benchmarks, which show you where the greatest potential for optimization lies. This is how we define the best practice tailored to you.

Appropriate change management plays a key role from the outset, especially in IT projects. We take a pragmatic approach and we work closely and operatively with your different departments, which allows us to lay down the basis for successful change management even at the concept stage.

There are three aspects by which you will benefit especially from our support during market screening and subsequent supplier selection:

• We know the trends in supply chain and procurement and we know which requirements a tool has to fulfill so that it goes on giving you added value, long term 
   
• Our studies of the market in tools for supply chain and procurement give us a constantly up-to-date overview of potential suppliers, and we can select the relevant ones for you before the tendering process begins
   
• Because we’ve been through so many tendering processes before, we have far-reaching expertise and experience in drawing up tender documents (specification book etc.) and in the final selection of the right supplier

What is HÖVELER HOLZMANN’s approach?

1st step: Process design

In the first stage, we use interviews, workshops, data analysis, and existing process descriptions to analyze the current status of your process. This gives us a complete picture of the current situation in your business and allows us to identify initial areas for improvement.

Using the findings from this process analysis, we develop a proposed best practice for a potential target process. We then validate and finalize this together with you in a series of cross-functional workshops. The target process we develop is then translated into the appropriate format (such as RACI), so that we can draw up a process tailored to you.

2nd step: Produce a specification book

This target process we then use to derive requirements for your system landscape. These requirements are discussed in a series of interviews with IT in order to ascertain whether existing systems can be adapted, or whether a new one needs to be put in place. If a new system is needed, then the target process we’ve drawn up is translated into a specification book and validated.

3rd step: Market screening

Thorough market screening is performed on the basis of the specification book. We ensure that we only include suppliers (including system suppliers) that are capable of handling the entire target process.

4th step: Tendering process and selection of supplier

In the course of a structured tendering process, we resolve suppliers’ queries and obtain offers. We then design an evaluation model to enable objective comparison, and approve it with you. Then we look at the offers we’ve received and evaluated with you to produce a shortlist of suppliers, whom we invite to presentations and negotiations. We conduct these negotiations and advise you on the final choice.

What does the implementation involve?

Software implementation involves training all of the end users, rolling out the chosen software, and using it in daily business. Our business and IT expertise allows us to position ourselves as a link between businesses and software partners, which enables us to ensure that all of your process requirements are met.

What are the benefits of allowing us to assist you in implementing the software?

• We continuously compare what you need from the software with what is actually being done
   
• Since we have so many years of experience in supply chain and procurement, we know the critical process stages and can ensure that the software is quickly introduced in compliance with your requirements, and that costs are kept in check
   
• We employ a proven change management approach to ensure that all of the end users are familiar with the software before it goes live, so that the software is of maximum benefit

What is HÖVELER HOLZMANN’s approach to implementation?

1st step: Master data management

In master data management, we can assist you with ascertaining your degree of maturity, checking your master data, and data governance. When we collect the master data, we begin by assessing its quality, then we conduct a quantitative analysis of prioritized master data. In the subsequent master data assessment, quality requirements are coordinated and defined. The data governance process and organization ensures future data quality.

2nd step: Process and project governance

As the link between you and your implementation partner, we work with you to define framework parameters (timetable, stakeholders, and so on) for the forthcoming project, and we manage the software supplier. We also perform risk assessments (such as FMEA) and define a model which ensures that all of your requirements are met, and we assist you in developing the user stories needed for the target process.

3rd step: Change management

We remain closely at your side during the transformation process as the software is being introduced, so that change happens smoothly in your company. We function as a top management enabler, conducting change sessions with your core team using play techniques and design thinking, and we assist you in the training that you need.

What does advanced analytics involve?

Advanced analytics is about creating transparency throughstructured data preparation. To do this we draw on three basic areas of expertise:

• Data strategy: We work with you to design a target data map and activities aimed at achieving state-of-the-art data structures (e.g. data lake)
   
• Data analytics: We analyze your data to achieve full transparency in your current cost structures and drivers, and we identify improvements that can be made
   
• Data tool factory: On the basis of your requirements, we implement our own tried-and-tested tool solutions, or we help you to design and implement your own

What are the benefits of advanced analytics?

• Understand the past: We achieve transparency, break down costs and cost drivers, and automate the evaluation of key figures
   
• Improve the present: We identify and evaluate potential cost improvements, reduce costs, implement savings relevant to your profit and loss, and streamline supply chain processes
   

• Predict the future: We create opportunities for the early identification of risks along the supply chain, for analyzing and evaluating potential developments, and for establishing a warning system based on external and internal indicators

What is HÖVELER HOLZMANN’s approach?

1st step: Define data strategy

We begin by evaluating the maturity of your current data structures, systems, and tools. Based on your particular requirements, we work with you to define the way you want your data structure to be, so that we can identify the gap between the situation as it now stands and where you want it to be. We then structure work packages in the form of an action plan aimed at achieving the target.

2nd step: Establish data analytics

The next step is to achieve the transparency you need in your cost structures and to identify cost drivers, so that we can reveal and evaluate potential cost savings along your supply chain. We also create opportunities to simulate optimization activities.

3rd step: Implement data tool factory

In the data tool factory, we work with you to develop lasting data structures and tools. We then design and program data tool prototypes accordingly. We then work with you to fine-tune the tool before assisting you in rolling it out.