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Product group management:
In 2024, Regionetz expanded its modular purchasing management system ‘SC-Manager’ from Simmeth System, which has been established for many years, to include the ‘commodity group management’ module.
This means that, while supplier management tools such as the supplier portal work on an accounts payable basis, product group management assigns all information to the product groups, displays it in a central overview and supplements it with relevant key figures such as order volumes at product group level. You can immediately see which suppliers contribute to which group and with what volume.
Hardy Creutz, expert in methods and processes in purchasing at Regionetz: ‘It is now so easy to distinguish the essential from the non-essential in the product groups. You now have all the figures, data and facts about the product groups at a glance.
Strategic Purchasing also uses this transparency to derive strategic goals and risk assessments, which can be stored directly with the product group in the tool. Critical product groups, for example those with high order volumes and single sourcing, are immediately identified and measures are taken.
Digital signature and supplier portal:
Following the successful integration of the SC-Manager commodity group management module, Regionetz is currently taking the next step towards process simplification: the integrated digital signature. This enables Regionetz to transmit documents to suppliers for digital signature directly from the SC-Manager supplier file, which are then digitally signed by the recipient. The signed documents and signature logs are automatically stored in the supplier file and can be viewed immediately by the purchasing department. Of course, suppliers also have access via the SC-Manager supplier portal.
The supplier portal is used by Regionetz in particular for qualifying suppliers by means of self-assessment and for storing the necessary documents. A workflow wizard has recently been introduced to support suppliers by guiding users step by step through the required processes at the click of a mouse.
The ‘SC-Evaluator’ supplier evaluation module has been the foundation for strategic purchasing and supplier management at Regionetz for many years. In 2024 alone, 14 evaluations with over 3,000 completed questionnaires have already been carried out.
Why do you need these evaluations? Hardy Creutz explains: ‘This year, Regionetz has already carried out several certifications, such as IT security, ISO 9001 or TSM (technical security management), for which up-to-date, well-founded assessments of suppliers were an important prerequisite. For example, an ISMS audit for ISO 27001 was recently carried out, for which an up-to-date assessment of relevant suppliers is required.’ To do this, a survey is simply started at the click of a mouse and the relevant departments receive an online questionnaire.
External criteria such as the results of the Regionetz construction site evaluation can also be included as criteria in the scorecard.
The survey results are then transparently calculated into an evaluation score using a weighted scorecard and presented transparently in dashboards and reports.
‘The auditors have been enthusiastic for years, especially about the level of detail of the evaluation analyses,’ says Hardy Creutz.
Supplier development and action management:
Similarly, supplier evaluations form an important basis for the regular audits of suppliers. Here in particular, Regionetz relies on structured action management, in which tasks are assigned and distributed directly in the SC-Manager software depending on the evaluation results.
Key figures and reporting:
The SC-Manager app ‘KPI-Monitor’ is used at Regionetz to ensure process transparency. This visualises process-related KPIs such as open orders or ABC analyses of the procurement volume in KPI cockpits and dashboards, to which the relevant departments have access, controlled by authorisations. Here too, tasks are derived directly from the key figures, which in turn are managed directly in the tool.
Dashboards and cockpits not only display KPIs in relation to suppliers, but also from all desired perspectives, whether for supplier evaluations, product group overviews or detailed order analyses.
Maverick buying analysis:
Based on the order details, Simmeth has in turn developed another pragmatic tool that Regionetz likes to use: the Maverick Buying Analysis. ‘What used to take a lot of time and effort to determine using Excel sheets is now ready for us to analyse in 1-2 minutes,’ says Hardy Creutz.
Conclusion:
Regionetz is an example of exemplary digitalisation in the procurement of energy supply companies and shows how modern technologies can contribute to optimisation and transparency in procurement. Hardy Creutz has been a visionary for the smart use of digital technology in procurement for decades, without forgetting the practical relevance. He summarises: ‘Transparency, availability and traceability are important factors for us in procurement at Regionetz. And not just for Purchasing, but for all recipients such as suppliers, specialist departments and auditors, for example. At the same time, you can concentrate on the elements in purchasing that are important for the company. And this is guaranteed with the tools in SC-Manager and with Simmeth System and its pragmatic consultants.
