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EspanolFH Kiel (University of Kiel) awards the Horst Hartmann Prize for innovative purchasing to rhenag and Simmeth System
Cologne-based energy supplier rhenag Rheinische Energie AG and software provider Simmeth System receive award for groundbreaking, benefit-oriented digital supplier management
At the 7th North German Purchasing Day on 19 June 2019, the Kiel University of Applied Sciences (FH Kiel) awarded the Horst Hartmann Prize to rhenag Rheinische Energie AG from Cologne and Simmeth System GmbH from Burghausen.
In its supply area from Rhein-Sieg to Westerwald, rhenag Rheinische Energie AG supplies the end consumer directly with electricity, gas and water, but also holds interests in other supply companies and is a service provider for municipal utilities and energy supply companies.
Simmeth System GmbH offers a software solution for supplier management, equipped with a supplier portal for the direct connection of suppliers, a module for supplier evaluation and a tool for key figures and operational reporting.
The prize is intended to honour the life's work of its namesake, Prof. Dr. Horst Hartmann. Not only in his time as professor at the Kiel University of Applied Sciences did he have a decisive influence on the development of modern purchasing. His publication "Materials Management. Organisation, Planning, Execution, Control" is one of the standard works in economics.
"This application for the Horst Hartmann Prize convinced us because the successful implementation at rhenag is an excellent example of a systematic and goal- and benefit-oriented approach to the gradual digitization of supplier management," said Prof. Dr. Klaus Dieter Lorenzen of the Institute for Supply Chain and Operations Management at Kiel University of Applied Sciences, explaining the jury's decision. The companies received the award for the development of the digital rhenag purchasing information system with the core element supplier management.
In this "benefit-oriented digitalization of supplier management", both the internal component, i.e. the central administration of all information, key figures, evaluations, reports and documents on suppliers within Purchasing, and the external component, i.e. direct communication with suppliers via the Internet using a web-based supplier portal, were taken into account.
At rhenag, the digital supplier relationship begins with the qualification of new suppliers. Instead of the cumbersome exchange of forms and documents by e-mail, a potential supplier can directly enter and upload all this information via a web-based portal. Purchasing then simply checks this information via a clear checklist.
The digital support is continued throughout the entire business relationship, be it the ongoing review of performance and quality through web-based supplier evaluations or the management of contract and purchasing data.
At rhenag, the integration of suppliers is being expanded step by step and in a practice-oriented manner. More and more suppliers will gradually be connected to the portal and further processes such as the exchange of measures will be integrated.
"Which processes are focused on in such digitization projects depends entirely on the situation of the importing company. Because one thing should always be the focus of such a project: The benefit orientation," says Markus Simmeth, founder and managing director of Simmeth System.
