HORSCH Maschinen GmbH, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery, relies on a software solution from specialist SoftconCIS for its purchasing control: WebCIS is a browser-based purchasing control system and the central control tool for strategic purchasing. The solution identifies material cost drivers and maverick buying, highlights potential savings and bottlenecks or surpluses in the use of framework agreements, and brings transparency to the data. “The most important thing for us was the ability to quickly analyze the current situation – for example, price changes, the current status of payment terms, and an overview of savings,” explains Dr. Johann Neidl, Head of Procurement & Supplier Management at HORSCH. After benchmarking various manufacturers, SoftconCIS emerged as the clear winner thanks to its well-designed functionalities. “SoftconCIS was recommended to us by many parties, which is why we had the system demonstrated to us in a ‘3-day test’. And the solution convinced us right away,” says Neidl. After deciding on WebCIS, the solution was quickly implemented; it feeds on data from the SAP system.
At the touch of a button, WebCIS provides a complete overview of the purchasing situation. This allows direct action options and alternatives to be derived and dormant potential to be identified. HORSCH has also expanded the solution with various additional modules from SoftconCIS. The “Total Spend Analysis” module provides the purchasing department with the necessary information about the impact of payment terms, the implementation of agreed payment terms, and an overview of purchasing activities outside of purchasing, known as maverick buying. With the “Purchasing Analysis” module, HORSCH can benchmark suppliers, prepare negotiations, identify cost drivers, review the use of framework agreements, and measure and improve cost developments.
The purchasing controlling system from SoftconCIS offers more than 250 ready-made analyses and key figures in its portal, which can be individually modified within seconds. “Even though we don’t manage exclusively based on key figures, they are still of central importance,” explains Neidl. For procurement at HORSCH, KPIs such as savings, average purchasing volume per order item, delivery reliability, and the ratio of manual orders to automatic orders are important. “The standard dashboard toolkit is already very good and includes all the most important analyses. “The ability to customize, adapt, and add to the tool is particularly noteworthy. Company-specific dashboards can be created with little effort,“ explains Neidl, summarizing: ”SoftconCIS is a suitable tool for our medium-sized company to quickly access the necessary data, evaluate the current situation, and take the necessary steps in a targeted manner
About HORSCH
The family-owned company HORSCH (www.horsch.com) was founded in 1984 and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery. Headquartered in Schwandorf, Bavaria, the company has additional branches in Germany and at international locations. HORSCH is a leading manufacturer of soil preparation, sowing, and crop protection equipment. It employs 1,100 people worldwide and achieved a turnover of 235 million euros in the 2014 fiscal year. HORSCH has its roots in agriculture, not mechanical engineering. Since the company was founded, intelligent solutions for arable farming have been at the heart of its development. The slogan “Passion for agriculture” is not just an empty phrase. It perfectly describes the actions of every single employee. As one of the few agricultural machinery manufacturers, the Horsch family maintains close contact with farmers worldwide and runs its own farms, including Agrovation, which covers over 3,000 hectares in Knezmost, east of Prague in the Czech Republic.
