Through the GIB Dispo-Cockpit, Baier and Schneider has now optimized inventories and purchase order quantities, while also seeing a reduction of operational processing times of up to 67%. In addition, greater supply chain transparency means that individual areas can be controlled centrally, thus ensuring an optimum strategic direction for the company group as a whole.
Baier and Schneider, based in Germany, is a manufacturer of paper products, which distributes items such as calendars, copybooks, and craft supplies, all under its trademark “Brunnen”. Alongside the main plant featuring state-of-the-art production facilities, Germany is also home to the company’s logistics center, supplying products to business partners around the globe.
With one foot in traditional paper converting and the other in the globalized high-tech world, Baier and Schneider has successfully managed to strike a balance between tradition and technical innovation, establishing itself as one of the market leaders among suppliers of paper products and office supplies.
Transparent overview of the supply chain
Baier and Schneider distributes the items from its product range to business partners in over 40 countries from one logistics center. Highly functional technologies are crucial to ensuring an efficient flow of processes.
“As the standard SAP system alone had long since ceased to fulfill our requirements of an increasingly centralized supply chain for our company group, we looked around for a new solution,” reports Peter Nickel, Head of IT and Organization at Baier and Schneider. The provider noticed GIB after a market analysis of software suppliers on the topic of supply chain optimization was conducted within the company. The GIB Dispo-Cockpit represents the centerpiece of the IT company.
“We searched for the most suitable supplier according to the best-of-breed approach and GIB came out on top in three of the four areas,” recalls Mehmet Kozan, Supply Chain Manager at Baier and Schneider.
The target requirements were: Improved production planning, transparent overview of the supply chain status, inventory optimization, MRP master data optimization, system-supported S&D planning, integrated reporting on the supply chain, ergonomic handling, and good reputation and project expertise of the provider.
Roll-out and handling
The end of 2016 saw the implementation of the GIB Dispo-Cockpit modules for controlling (Dispo-Cockpit Controlling) and operations, with the planning module (Planning) introduced in 2017; Baier and Schneider is currently implementing the forecast module.
The solution was first implemented in the main plant and was then rolled out in a secondary plant. The modules for controlling and operations went live about three months after the initial project start. The company managed to go live with the planning module after only one and a half days. In total, 40 to 50 users work with the Dispo-Cockpit modules.
Employee feedback on the modules has been positive overall. The highlight in the operations module, the tool used by MRP controllers in their daily business, is the “death zone” of purchasing, reports Kozan. This is a special display variant, which shows the procurement elements highlighted in color in relation to the replenishment lead time (RLT). Open procurement elements within the RLT are in this “death zone”. This view allows MRP controllers to keep track of procurement before the RLT.
“Even though GIB consultants gave us some in-house training and train-the-trainer sessions were held by key users, operation in the standard SAP environment didn’t require a great deal of getting used to,” explains Kozan. “Dealing with the number of buttons in the modules was at times a little tricky to begin with.”
Benefits for productivity and utilization
The implementation of the Dispo-Cockpit modules has resulted in benefits impacting concrete performance indicators positively.
Kozan sums up: “In the short term, we see the success of the SAP add-on in reduced operational processing times, in the medium term, in increased productivity and utilization of key aggregates, and in the long term, in optimized inventories and greater delivery capability.”
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