C O M P A N Y O V E R V I E W Project Partners
Achieving Global Success With Supply Chain Process Written by: Abigail Phillips Produced by: Richard Durrant
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HENKEL
How Henkel manages its supply chain for ultimate business outcomes
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enkel is a global company that works with some of the world’s leading brands and technologies in three core business areas: Laundry and Home Care, Beauty Care and Adhesive Technologies. With more than 140 years of expertise under its belt Henkel is well on its way to achieving its vision to become the world leader in brand management and technology solutions. Today the company holds dominant market positions both in the consumer and industrial sector and is well known for brands such as Persil, Schwarzkopf and Loctite to name just a few. Henkel’s vision is to become a global player in each of its brands and technologies. The Dax-30 company is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany and is proud of its almost 50,000 employees from more than 120 nations worldwide. Henkel has as strong presence in emerging markets. Putting quality first Since day one, the company has put a great deal of emphasis on quality, and this has truly driven and underpinned its success to date. “We strive for the very best in everything that we do,” said Johann Seif, International Planning and Logistics. “This applies not only to the products and technologies that we develop for our customers but also to our internal processes.” The goal to take leading positions in a highly competitive environment is shared by everyone at Henkel, irrespective of the business unit,
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Henkel is the firm behind famous brands such as Persil
function or country in which they work. In order to achieve the company’s ambitious plans it has focused on four strategic priorities: “We will outperform our competition as a globalised company with simplified operations and a highly inspired team.” As a global player, Henkel has put a lot of time into building a strong foundation for future growth and development. “The basis for our strategy was a detailed analysis of major long-term market trends. We identified three megatrends which will affect our different businesses over the next years: consolidation, emerging markets and speed. “Consolidation in our supplier, manufacturer and customer base as well as in our
50,000
Number of staff employed by Henkel
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Complete solutions from the automation experts Siemens supports Henkel’s sustainability strategy: “Do more with fewer resources”
As a globally operating supplier of energyefficient, automated complete solutions for in-house logistics in industrial companies, we offer expert consulting for installation of new systems as well as for modernization of and upgrades to existing warehouses. We supply everything from a single source, and all based on our automation standards. Henkel in Düsseldorf, Germany, relied on Siemens to provide the equipment for its channel warehouse. This new distribution center will play a crucial role in connecting production
directly to the warehouse (wall to wall), thereby shortening transport routes, reducing environmental pollution, and making retail supply more efficient. For example, the automated stock removal – supported by coordinated IT processes and automated stacker cranes – will result in approximately 1.5 million fewer forklift movements annually. As a result, Henkel will see a 20 percent reduction in its ton-kilometer figures.
siemens.com/industrylogistics
SUPPLIER PROFILE
SIEMENS
Siemens AG (Berlin and Munich) is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 165 years. The company is active in more than 200 countries, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. In the logistics area Siemens is a one-stop supplier for customized automated material handling solutions. Siemens has a longstanding experience in the fields of planning and realisation of new facilities and the extension and modernization of existing installations. From the handling of incoming goods through production and warehousing to picking and material issue – as your automation specialist the Siemens logistics solutions team develops a solution that is ideally tailored to your particular requirements and that will enhance the flexibility and efficiency of your processes and optimize the implementation time and costs for your organization. The range of custom service, from individual service over emergency service to a full service 24x7x365 completes our comprehensive portfolio. Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com/industrylogistics
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competitive environment will continue. Size will become a critical success factor in the future. Consequently, we need to grow our businesses. We expect the shift of growth from mature to emerging markets to continue. As a result, we need to expand our already strong footprint in these markets over the coming years. “We anticipate highly dynamic market evolution, and faster decision-making by suppliers, customers and competitors. In addition, further digitalisation will lead to changes in our market environment. We therefore need to continue simplifying our processes and increasing our operational excellence,” explained Seif. Supply chain management How does a company with such a broad clientele remain relevant and achieve ambitious business development aims? “In order to grow, we have to remain mobile as a business,” said Seif. “A huge part of our ongoing strategy is to analyse what to grow in terms of facilities and expertise, and a large part of our strategy in this area is focused on taking our services to the customer. This is a constant work in progress, but being agile in key to our success. We have a flexible network and despite our size we need to be mobile so we can react to industry changes. At the company we believe that country borders shouldn’t hold us back, and aim to deliver a relevant and consistent service to all our customers, no matter where they are located.”
Henkel has outlined three megatrends going forward
Self believes in a borderless supply chain strategy
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HENKEL
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HENKEL
S U P P LY C H A I N
With global and regional distribution centres inventory and planning is critical to business development. “We need to focus on demand,” said Seif. “However, we also need to be clever about how we run our supply chain operations, for example economies of scale, efficiency and agile processes and systems need to be well thought out and delivered.” In order to create a more robust supply chain, Henkel has optimised its warehouse operations by using automation not only on the warehouse floor but also from an administrative point of view. It has also simplified workflows and tools and centralised its IT services allowing for greater visibility, less down time and thus greater efficiency. “We have invested in the supply chain technology to give us complete visibility. We
“How we run our supply chain operations, for example economies of scale, efficiency and agile processes and systems need to be well thought out and delivered” – Johann Seif, International Planning & Logistics
Henkel’s main office w w w. h e n k e l . c o . u k
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HENKEL
Automation increasingly plays a part in Henkel processes
look into what we should stock and what we should not to ensure we don’t have too many slow moving products. We believe it’s possible to forecast demand and react to that as much as possible,” he said. Relying on a team of experts All the technology in the world doesn’t make up for a poor team, so the company has spent a lot of time and effort recruiting a world-leading workforce. “We focus on internal promotions, training and personal development to ensure our people are the best in their field,” said Seif. “Our ultimate objective is to want to grow from both a product and customer perspective and this would be impossible without people. We back this up where we can with data analysis and technology,” he said.
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Dedicated to sustainability Henkel’s commitment to leadership in sustainability is deeply embedded in its corporate values. Maintaining a balance between economic success, protection of the environment, and social responsibility has been fundamental to the company’s corporate culture for decades. This approach applies to every business unit and function, and our almost 50,000 employees all over the world have firmly embraced the principles of sustainable development in their daily work and think and act accordingly. “To maintain this lead in the future, we have developed a long-term sustainability strategy and set a straightforward yet ambitious goal for the year 2030: By this year, all Henkel products and processes should be three times as efficient as they are today,” said Seif. “This aim addresses one of the central challenges we will face in the future: decoupling growth from resource consumption. Instead, we want to create more value for our customers and consumers, for the communities we operate in, and for our company, while reducing our environmental footprint at the same time. Achieving more with less: this is the idea at the heart of our sustainability strategy which guides all of our business processes and activities.” With robust processes, world leading clients, and a focus on sustainability, Henkel is set to deliver its ambitious targets and retain its global reputation for many more years to come.
Company Information INDUSTRY
Supply Chain HEADQUARTERS
Dusseldorf, Germany FOUNDED
1876 EMPLOYEES
50,000 REVENUE
£16.428 billion (2014) PRODUCTS/ SERVICES
Brand Managemen, Technological Solutions
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HENKEL Address: Henkelstraße 67, Düsseldorf, Germany - 40589 0049 211 7970 / 0049 211 798 4008 www.henkel.de