MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION P RO JEC T PA R T NERS
MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION Written by: Catherine Sturman Produced by: Richard Durrant
Purchasing and Supply Chain Vice President Cyrille Naux and his team discuss how the company’s growth and move from a regional to a global company have led to the transformation of Chassis Brakes International’s procurement and supply chain services
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ith the projected level of car sales increasing year on year, the automotive industry has become an increasingly competitive sphere, with companies seeking to attract buyers after worldclass designs, builds and services. Since its establishment in 2012, Chassis Brakes International has been working to transform its procurement and supply chain services to become the best in the business, with the aim to expand operations globally. Manufacturing all forms of car braking systems with an international focus, Chassis Brakes International works in partnership with a large number of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in AsiaPacific, the Americas, India and Europe. “There is no OEM on the globe which we are not working with,”
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explains Cyrille Naux, Purchasing and Supply Chain Vice President. “We are everywhere where customers need us.” The company’s growth has enabled the establishment of manufacturing facilities in India, China, Thailand, Europe, America and Mexico, with engineering services which have adopted a global presence to cater to service demands. With a global focus, Naux’s responsibilities incorporate the company’s buying, purchasing, procurement and supply chain operations. With three major roles within procurement and purchasing, Naux has appointed three directors: one for direct sourcing, one for indirect sourcing and one for procurement and digital activities. These individuals work with global category managers who coordinate
CYRILLE NAUX Purchasing and Supply Chain Vice President
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and develop a global strategy, as well “The backbone of the strategy has as make key decisions surrounding been a review of the systems across the company’s global sourcing. all of our plants,” he comments. “That “Each global category manager includes sales and operations planning, has a global category buyer located master production schedules, in the regions where we are,” explains execution and control and how we Naux. “For example, a global category implement those to manager will have a global standards casting buyer across all of our sites located in the in order to ensure Americas, in consistency across Asia-Pacific, in the entire supply chain. NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES AT CHASSIS BRAKES India and in Europe, I have personally spent INTERNATIONAL and he will be driving at least a week at each all the decisions, of our 13 plants with one set up a strategy and team member to evaluate then they will organise current status and define a sourcing strategy and the action plan to close the various sourcing decisions.” gap with our best-in-class model previously defined. This Organisation transformation is ongoing and Since the beginning of 2016, the we can already see it benefitting company has spent considerable the business every single day.” time and effort implementing a new global supply chain strategy Integration made up of 28 separate initiatives, With an annual spend of £500mn according to Chassis Brakes in direct purchasing and £100mn in International’s Global Supply Chain indirect purchasing, Chassis Brakes Director, Wilfried Hermine. International’s global operations
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have increased in volume yearon-year. To provide consistency in service, the company upholds positive relationships with suppliers, ensuring it remains aware of any changes within its procurement and supply chain operations. Naux explains that the company invites its main suppliers to the Frankfurt Motor Show every two years, where it displays new products and shares the company strategy, enabling it to show suppliers how it can continue to create value. “We integrate them from the beginning,” he says. VIDEO: The Chassis Brakes International corporate video
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“We have been very clear in saying that Chassis Brakes International will double its turnover and consequently we will also double the spend and its purchasing volumes.” Going forward the company is looking to reduce the number of suppliers it maintains, but those who remain will have a far greater volume of business than they have had previously. By creating an open, direct stance surrounding company strategy, suppliers gain direct access to top management to discuss the strategy the company wishes to implement. Optimisation While the Chassis Brakes International’s brand name has only been around for a few years, the history of the company goes back to the 1930s, existing under different banners until 2012 when its activities were sold to KPS Capital Partners, LP. While that history has afforded the company formidable experience and expertise in the purchasing space, it also left a legacy of fragmentation, with a number of strategies
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“There is no OEM on the globe which we are not working with. We are everywhere where customers need us” CYRILLE NAUX Purchasing and Supply Chain Vice President
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implemented and then moth-balled as the business changed hands. “It left us with a fragmented supplier base worldwide,” says Erwan Quemener, Director of Global Sourcing, “and no real rationalisation of the supplier base. So we decided to rationalise this. The number of suppliers managed by my buyers was not sensible, and was actually risky for the business. It is not typically your big supplies that you work with on a weekly or even daily basis that cause the problems, but rather those smaller companies that you don’t work closely with that can affect the whole supply chain in cases where they cannot meet your demands. So, in a bid to mitigate risk and implement operational excellence, we decided that our focus would be our main suppliers, thus removing the tier C suppliers.” Chassis Brakes International parted ways with some 200 vendors - while that may seem hugely significant, the companies that were shed represented just 5% of the Group’s total spend, leaving the company’s small supply chain team to work
closely alongside the 15% of its suppliers that represent 80% of its spend. The plan is to employ a provider to deal with the myriad of manufacturers that make up the 5% of spend that had previously been so time consuming. “We are beginning that process this year, and it will save our buyers a lot of time and money,” says Quemener. Digital transformation Aligned with the company’s growth and expansion, Romain Laclaverie, Global Purchasing Digital Director, has been restructuring Chassis Brakes International’s procurement tools and services for the last two years. He is behind the set-up and the implementation of the company’s digital purchasing organisation and procurement centres. Responsible for master data, he explains: “Our people are really dedicated in managing transactional activities, cleaning up and making sure that all data are good and can be analysed by buyers to ensure informed decisions. You cannot
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make good decisions on a sourcing issue if data are not correctly managed.” This has therefore enabled the company to price accurately and maintain quality service. The company’s partnerships with major software companies such as SAP and IVALUA have enabled it to leverage the latest innovative solutions in terms of data management control and interactions with suppliers. This mind-set allowed the group to master its supplier database by connecting themselves directly to the Supplier Relationship Management tool to exchange essential data, content, legal documentation and spend analysis. “We are also doing contract management and working with the suppliers on this, thanks to the tool,” adds Laclaverie. In addition to this, Laclaverie is also behind the implementation of supplier scorecards. This tool, supported by BI solution QlikSense, imports information coming from various supports and sources to calculate a composite rating informing on supplier’s spend performance,
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quality management, supply chain and financial positions. Laclaverie explains: “Once we have compiled for one supplier all key performance information available into one tool, including last assessments, we are then able to make a rational decision about its future.” Positive employee mindset Naux stresses that moving from a regional organisation, to one which is global has been no easy feat. The company has encountered a number of challenges, as Naux explains the main challenges surrounding change management and how employees understand how they can become more involved: “We spend a lot of time with people, understanding how far they are from target processes and the need to adjust current requirements with a global mindset.” However, he adds confidently that, today, employees have a good understanding on how to remain connected, which is achieved through a number of workshops and trainings, with continuous improvement at the
Chassis Brakes International employees have a good understanding on how to remain connected, which is achieved through a number of workshops and trainings, with continuous improvement at the forefront of all company operations w w w. c h a s s i s b r a k e s . c o m
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“Within our company, agility and organisational excellence are really central to what we are doing everyday� CYRILLE NAUX Purchasing and Supply Chain Vice President
Chassis Brakes International has been serving the automotive sector since the 1930s through different brand names
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forefront of all company operations. Becoming a global organisation has no doubt been a rapid process for Chassis Brakes International, which Naux believes is the result of employee engagement, enabling the company to move towards key targets. “Within our company, agility and organisational excellence are really central to what we are doing everyday,” he says. Although the company’s global expansion and digital transformation are key, it puts the individual in the middle of all the key decisions. “We are a big company so need to adopt streamlined processes to ensure efficiency, which makes us faster with regards to customer requirements and an easy-to-workwith company. People like working with our Group due to this mindset.”
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Chassis Brakes International 5656 AG Eindhoven The Netherlands www.chassisbrakes.com