TRUMPF group optimizes supplier management with solution of Heiler Software AG

Stuttgart, 28. April 2003 – For the further development of their electronic procurement application the TRUMPF group in Ditzingen has decided on the application of the electronic catalog solution of Heiler Software AG. Aim is the further optimization of the supplier management. Heiler operates the catalog as an external service supplier, and at the same time the company provides the necessary content services for the maintenance of the supplier catalogs.

The TRUMPF group is one of the globally leading companies in the sector production engineering, and it stands for innovative and high-quality products. One important basic condition for the achievement of their quality goals forms the cooperation with suppliers. In particular this applies to the procurement of strategic MRO goods (Maintenance, Repair, and Operations). In their conditions for the cooperation with suppliers TRUMPF thus explicitly mentions the provision of electronic catalogs as an important requirement. With the introduction of a catalog solution on the basis of the Premium Business Catalog (PBC), and the appendant content services of Heiler Software AG,TRUMPF now starts the next stage of its electronic procurement application. Internally TRUMPF works with SAP Enterprise Buyer Professional; for the middle of may 2003 there is scheduled an upgrade to version 3.5.

This upgrade was the impetus to question the old procurement platform, and to look for alternatives. TRUMPF decided on Heiler Software AG.

"By the catalog solution of Heiler Software AG the central purchase is released by complex, recurring routine jobs, and it can concentrate on the negotiation of strategic frame contracts", says Michael D’Alessandro, responsible for e-procurement at TRUMPF in Ditzingen. "Of the solution on the basis of the Heiler products we expect a further decrease of the process costs, the reduction of the order processing times, and an improved process transparency."

The operation of the solution with the Premium Business Catalog (PBC) as the core lies in the hands of Heiler Software AG, who, as the application service provider, also provides the appendant services in their Premium Content Manager (PCM). This essentially contributes to the considerable reduction of the administration effort at the procuring companies, which results from the integration of electronic supplier catalogs in e-procurement solutions.

The short-term return on investment (ROI) for the TRUMPF group is forecasted by Heiler Software AG due to the additional application of their Premium Supplier Exchange (PSX). "Electronic procurement generates an optimum benefit, if the time won in the processes is not lost by complex adjustments of the catalog data", explains Rolf Heiler, CEO of Heiler Software AG in Stuttgart. "PSX facilitates a further optimization at the information exchange between supplier and procuring companies, because both of them are now integrated completely with the solution. With the strongly automated process we can work at optimal costs as an external service provider."

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