CLAAS wins BME Innovation Award 2007

Association of Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (BME) Award

The BME Innovation Award is regarded as the most prestigious national purchasing and logistics management award. This year CLAAS was presented with the award for its successful implementation of the value sourcing concept. Thomas Klatt, CLAAS, Executive Vice-President of Controlling, and Josip T. Tomasevic, Head of Corporate Purchasing, received the award at the 42nd BME Symposium in Berlin. The value sourcing concept was initiated after the takeover of the French tractor manufacturer Renault Agriculture in 2003.

“Vertical integration will decline in future with globalisation of the supply base, thus increasing the importance of managing the entire value chain”, said Thomas Klatt. “Purchasing will be even more heavily involved than at present in the entire value chain.”

The greatest challenge lay in harmonising two different business cultures. Synergies would have to be developed and competencies would have to be pooled. This was being implemented by proFIT, a group-wide, cross-functional organisation made up of representatives from purchasing, research and development, quality and production.

CLAAS has devised a strategy based on five principles: systematic supplier management, standardisation of processes, optimisation of the value chain, supplier integration and setting up a method of selecting regions with the most favourable overall cost of purchasing.

“In future, the purchasing department will not only fulfil the role of a skilled negotiator but will also have to be exceptionally good at networking, both with suppliers and within the company“, Thomas Klatt explains. “Early recognition of trends both within and outside of the company and fast adaptation of strategies will be more important in future than saving a few euros.“

Josip T. Tomasevic complements: „The fast implementation of the concept could be realised because of the exemplary group-wide and cross-functional team work. Thereby the focus lays on the further development of the technological leadership of CLAAS and on the increase of customer satisfaction.”

This will be achieved by long-term partnerships with suppliers. These partnerships will be based on setting up the entire purchasing structure around the central values of the family enterprise CLAAS –reliability and sustainability.

Thomas Klatt, CLAAS Executive Vice-President of Controlling, and Josip T. Tomasevic, Head of Corporate Purchasing, received the BME Innovation Award 2007 from Dr. Holger Hildebrandt (left), Managing Director of the BME, and Dr. Jürgen Marquard (right), Chairman of the Board, BME.

Representatives of the CLAAS proFIT organisation and the BME share the pleasure of receiving this distinguished award with Thomas Klatt and Josip T. Tomasevic.