Studies by respected research institutes show that up to 70% of an industrial company’s short-term costs are related to procurement. Procurement has always been central to successful value addition, and industrial managers always keep a close eye on it. Particularly in the context of international business, procurement is a key element in competitiveness, not to mention the fact that it is procurement that makes access to markets possible where value has to be added locally.

For us, procurement exists in a holistic context, ranging from company strategy down to purchasing goods for the company’s daily needs. For a long time now procurement has been more than just purchasing: the keywords today – and even more so tomorrow – include sourcing, supplier development and Supplier Relationship Management.

Procurement must be considered right from the moment an order is placed, and is more than ever an integral element in projects, production, and facility management. When further developing and optimising processes, tools and structures, we see procurement as making an essential contribution to the long-term, sustainable success of a company. Alongside the ‘classic’ procurement themes, in the procurement structures of the future we can recognise a need for Key Supplier Management in the same vein as Key Account Management in current sales structures.