Regionetz expands its “purchasing management system”
Regionetz GmbH, one of the leading grid operators in the Aachen region, relies on innovative digitalization solutions in purchasing. With the modular SC-Manager, the company optimizes processes, promotes transparency and ensures precise supplier evaluation – a role model for modern purchasing strategies in the energy supply sector.
Further elements such as product group management and digital signatures for supplier documents have now been implemented.
One of the largest network operators in the Aachen region was launched at the beginning of 2018 under the name Regionetz. Regionetz is a company with almost 800 employees and bundles all tasks relating to construction, operation, network management, asset and meter management in the areas of electricity, gas, heating and water networks in the city of Aachen, the Aachen city region and parts of the districts of Heinsberg and Düren. Aachen is also responsible for the operational management of the wastewater sector.
Regionetz is a cooperation between two equal partners, which is also reflected in the distribution of shares in the company: Stadtwerke Aachen Aktiengesellschaft holds just over 50 percent of the new company, while EWV, Energie- und Wasser-Versorgung GmbH, Stolberg, holds just under 50 percent.
The project
1. 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 “product 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.
2. digital signature and supplier portal
Regionetz uses the supplier portal in particular to qualify suppliers by means of self-assessment and to store the necessary documents. A workflow wizard has recently been supporting suppliers by guiding users step by step through the required processes at the click of a mouse.
3. supplier evaluation
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 assessments? Hardy Creutz explains: “This year, Regionetz has already carried out a number of certifications, for example IT security, ISO 9001 or TSM (technical security management), for which up-to-date, well-founded supplier assessments 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 with a click of the mouse and the departments concerned 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 impressed for years, especially by the level of detail in the assessment analyses,” says Hardy Creutz.
5. key figures and reporting
The SC-Manager app “KPI-Monitor” is used at Regionetz to ensure process transparency. This visualizes 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 authorizations. Here too, tasks are derived directly from the KPIs, which in turn are managed directly in the tool.
Dashboards and cockpits not only display KPIs in relation to suppliers, but from all desired perspectives. Be it for supplier evaluations, product group overviews or detailed order evaluations.
6. maverick buying analysis
Based on the order details, Simmeth has 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 evaluation in 1-2 minutes,” says Hardy Creutz.
Conclusion
Regionetz is an example of exemplary digitalization in the procurement of energy supply companies. It shows how modern technologies can contribute to optimization and transparency in purchasing. Hardy Creutz has been a visionary for the smart use of digital technology in procurement for decades, without forgetting the practical relevance. He summarizes: “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.