Supply chain management at the Zurich transport company
The Zurich Transport Authority (VBZ) are the municipal public transport provider in Zurich and operate a comprehensive network of streetcars, buses and trolleybuses. As part of the city of Zurich, they ensure sustainable and reliable mobility in the region. VBZ plays a central role in local public transport and relies on modern technologies and environmentally friendly means of transportation.
As an operator of public transport, VBZ is part of the Swiss public transport system and is therefore subject to the guidelines of the Federal Office of Transport BAVwhich monitors and regulates public transport in Switzerland. The FOT sets high standards in the areas of supply chain management, safety, compliance and sustainability. This is checked and ensured through regular audits by the FOT.
In addition, as a public service department of the City of Zurich, VBZ is subject to strict controls by the relevant authorities of the City and Canton of Zurich with extensive reporting obligations. Transparent supply chain management with comprehensive risk management and a comprehensible reporting system are therefore an absolute must for VBZ.
1. core requirements of the VBZ
VBZ was faced with the challenge of improving its supply chain management to modernize and optimize its supply chain management. A solution was sought that would meet VBZ’s particularly high requirements in terms of transparency, sustainability and risk management and risk management, while at the same time being user-friendly.
1.1. Optimization of supply chain management (SCM) and supplier management:
The processes that had previously been managed using self-created tools were to be replaced by a professional solution. Another important requirement was that the new system should manage all relevant documents centrally and offer users proactive support through automatic reminder functions, for example for the expiry of documents.
1.2. Compliance with the requirements of the FOT:
The reporting system must contain and present all relevant information, from a global overview to granular information on suppliers.
2. introduction of the SC Manager
VBZ decided to implement Simmeth System’s SC Manager, a comprehensive supplier management platform that centrally manages, monitors and reports all relevant supplier data and documents in the form of an information and communication center.
The central VBZ supplier file now not only contains all important company information on VBZ suppliers and their product groups and products, but also all documents such as contracts, insurance policies, certificates and other evidence are managed in a clear format.
A central element of the project is the risk scorecard consisting of various risk components. Financial risks are an important risk criterion for VBZ. For this purpose, the SC Manager has an interface to Dun & Bradstreet (DnB), which retrieves the suppliers’ financial ratings and automatically integrates them into the risk scorecard.
Another important component is the supplier evaluation. Here, the most important suppliers are evaluated from an internal VBZ perspective on criteria such as quality, occupational safety and the environment, prices and logistics performance. This is done through regular surveys using questionnaires sent to the relevant departments, which are managed and evaluated centrally by the SC Manager. Here, too, the users have detailed analysis options, reports and an action management system that can be used to make targeted improvements. Questionnaires are used to obtain information on sustainability, safety and quality from suppliers, which are sent to suppliers via the supplier portal. supplier portal are made available to suppliers via the supplier portal.
3. first positive results
After the go-live with a roll-out within VBZ, the first improvements were seen immediately.
Ali Biyikli, VBZ project manager for the implementation project, says: “With SC-Manager, our purchasing department now has a central platform for all relevant data and documents. From central purchasing to category management to the clerks: there is now exactly one central tool in which everything can be found. The SC-Manager fulfills the most important requirements for users. Simple, centralized and intuitive.”
The effort required for data collection and processing was immediately and noticeably reduced. The susceptibility to errors and dependence on individual employees was also reduced. Another major advantage of the central digital supplier file is that it not only automatically collects, summarizes and displays risks within the supply chain, but also makes the results seamlessly traceable and analyzable in detail. This enables VBZ to design its supply chain management processes efficiently, control risks better and increase transparency in the supply chain.
4. next steps
VBZ’s supply chain management requires constant optimization, which can be carried out at any time thanks to the flexibility of the SC Manager. The following work is currently underway:
- Intensification of use: After the introductory phase, users should now be able to integrate the tool seamlessly into their existing workflows and make greater use of it,
- New ideas: By using the tool, new ideas are generated and integrated into the flexible solution as part of a continuous improvement process.
- Integration of suppliers: Suppliers are integrated into the processes step by step via the supplier portal .
- Optimization of risk management: Among other things, the already activated integration of Google Alerts information is to be further optimized in order to monitor risks on a large scale with the help of external alerts.
Ali Biyikli concludes: “Looking back, I would like to emphasize the extremely positive experience of working with Simmeth System. The implementation of the software solution provided and the expert support from the consulting team made a decisive contribution to the success of the project and made the collaboration extremely efficient and pleasant. The professional support and the powerful tool met our expectations and created significant added value for our company.”
5. conclusion
The introduction of the SC Manager at VBZ represents a decisive step towards making supply chain management sustainable, transparent and efficient. Thanks to the central platform, VBZ has further optimized its processes and can focus more on sustainability, compliance and risk management .