On September 18, 2019, SoftconCIS held its fourth User Day at Carl Zeiss AG in Oberkochen. The theme of the event was “Key figures in transition from pure controlling to a management tool for strategic purchasing.”
After briefly welcoming the participants, Lothar Färber, Vice President Procurement, presented the purchasing department at Carl Zeiss AG. This department is managed from Oberkochen. Purchasing controlling with WebCIS 4.0 forms the basis for networking to create a global purchasing system across more than 25 locations with over 280 users in both purchasing and controlling.
Olaf Feil, Senior Manager Procurement, provided a detailed overview of the tasks involved in purchasing control, from basic tasks to measures management, parts list controlling, and purchasing planning, through to supplier performance management as part of supplier management. Transparency and sustainability of processes are ensured at all times through group-wide cockpits and favorites at the touch of a button.
Werner Güntner, Managing Director of SoftconCIS GmbH, presented the support that WebCIS 4.0 already provides and will continue to expand. This ranges from interactive driver trees for a quick overview (including spend, savings, processes, and contracts) to push links with potential searches and suggested actions, to supplier evaluation including risk management. In the future, supplier evaluation based on hard and soft facts will be fully integrated into WebCIS 4.0. Questionnaires for assessing supplier performance and risk will highlight areas of risk and suggest options for action.
The day concluded with a presentation by Markus Bergmann from Horváth & Partners on “What really matters to the CFO – requirements for modern purchasing control.” He presented the results of a recent purchasing study. According to the study, 50% of CFOs are dissatisfied with the status quo of purchasing reporting. This includes, among other things, the information content on savings achieved. For CFOs, both P&L-effective and non-P&L-effective savings are among the key requirements for purchasing reporting. Ninety-three percent of CFOs see digitalization as a key lever for increasing process efficiency. The greatest potential for digitalization is expected to be found primarily in operational purchasing processes and purchasing controlling.
In addition to traditional financial indicators, CFOs increasingly consider non-financial KPIs to be crucial for adequately assessing the value contribution of purchasing. A monthly or quarterly reporting cycle for purchasing reporting is considered optimal among CFOs.
The User Day took place at the Zeiss Forum, which houses the Zeiss Museum of Optics. There, participants gained exciting insights into more than 170 years of innovation in the world of optics. A guided tour presented interesting, informative, and unexpected facts about the development history of product and technology areas that are important to ZEISS.
About User Day WebCIS 4.0: SoftconCIS organizes User Day events at regular intervals. These usually take place at customer sites and serve as a forum for customers to exchange experiences and discuss current topics. Best practice solutions for WebCIS 4.0 applications are also presented. The next User Day is planned for early 2020.
