SCM@baustoffe Optimizes Supply Chains in the Construction Materials Industry

The service providers for optimizing the value chain in the construction materials industry and trade, Abels & Kemmner and hpossner consulting, have joined forces to form the SCM@baustoffe task force to support leading construction material manufacturers and dealers in optimizing their supply chains.

(Herzogenrath/Berlin) The focus areas of the newly established task force lie in advising companies on the digitalization of the physical flow of goods as well as in automating the management decisions that trigger this flow of goods. At critical points, the team will also rely on artificial intelligence to make processes faster and better, and in some cases, even possible for the first time.

“Supply bottlenecks and lack of delivery reliability have been at the top of the list of causes for significant sales and revenue losses in the construction materials industry in recent years. In a seasonal market environment, it has not yet been possible to achieve the delivery performance of other industries despite unchanged overcapacities in production,” summarizes Hans-Peter Oßner from hpossner consulting the problem to be solved.

“Lack of transparency along the supply chains obscures the view of inefficiencies and thus the potential for significant increases in the economic success of companies. This applies across the entire supply chain from suppliers to manufacturers and trade to the construction site,” explains Professor Dr. Götz-Andreas Kemmner from Abels & Kemmner one of the main causes of the weak supply chain performance in the industry.

Optimization of the Continuous Planning Chain

The consultants see central fields of action in the establishment and optimization of a continuous planning chain – from sales forecasting to disposition – as well as in the optimization of all data and parameters necessary for the planning and disposition of items – which is also referred to as disposition parameter optimization. Both topics form the foundation of automated management decisions and thus both better and more efficient supply chain processes.

The consulting results become concrete and tangible through the use of simulations and artificial intelligence, which quantify the economic benefits of digitalization in the construction materials industry and make them tangible. For example, this results in:

• Significantly improved forecasts and delivery capabilities,
• Reliable calculation of safety stocks, especially for sporadic needs and seasonal demand based on distribution-free methods, and
• Development of decision-making mechanisms that trigger needs in a timely manner, even before customers have placed orders.

Increase in Delivery Readiness

The goal of the SCM@baustoffe task force is to enable the entire logical and logistical supply chain of the construction materials industry to deliver more precisely – regardless of how much, what, when, and where it is needed. Customers benefit from lower logistics costs, reduced inventory levels, and higher delivery readiness and reliability with measurable revenue growth. With the applied methods, delivery readiness levels of 95 to 98% can also be achieved in the construction materials industry.

The consulting team from hpossner consulting and Abels & Kemmner brings over 30 years of management expertise in the construction materials industry as well as 25 years of experience in supply chain optimization and has practical knowledge from over 250 national and international projects. The SCM@baustoffe task force of the two companies is led by supply chain management experts Dr. Bernd Reineke and Professor Dr. Götz-Andreas Kemmner, as well as Hans-Peter Oßner, who has held senior positions at Sievert AG and CEMEX Deutschland AG during his career and is a recognized expert as a management consultant in the construction materials industry.

Photo: © Abels & Kemmner