We have been working successfully with the VDMA – German Engineering Federation – for over 5 years and offer one-day training courses and training series in various subject areas.

The cooperation between the VDMA and ADCONIA started in 2020, when the training series „Certificate Course Strategic Purchasing Manager“ was held for the first time. Divided into four modules of two days each, the participants are now in their fifth year of being introduced to the basics of strategically oriented purchasing in a practical way. The division of the 4 modules is as follows:

• Module 1: Basics of strategic purchasing
• Module 2: Cost transparency in purchasing
• Module 3: Preparing and conducting negotiations
• Module 4: Digitalization in purchasing

In line with our Adconia motto „From practitioners for practitioners“, the content is presented to participants by our three experts Gregor van Ackeren, Oliver Kreienbrink and Rainer den Ouden in a practical way with everyday examples and tips.

Building on this, the cooperation was expanded in 2022 and the training programme in the area of sustainability was greatly extended. The one-day training courses on the Supply Chain Act and carbon footprint for medium-sized companies provide participants with detailed information on emerging laws and requirements.

We would like to put three questions to Adconia Managing Director Oliver Kreienbrink, who is an expert in the field of cost transparency and purchasing processes, in order to report on our practical experience in training courses and exchanges with companies.

Please introduce yourself and your areas of expertise at the VDMA training courses.

Oliver Kreienbrink: After studying business administration, specialising in production and business informatics, I started as an analyst at a purchasing consultancy. My role in the first few years was to analyse material groups, cost influencing factors and supplier relationships. Today, I have been a purchasing and supply chain consultant for 25 years, and I still base my project decisions on extensive analyses. Without a clear view of the past, market influences and planning, I take a critical view of every decision in purchasing or supply chain management. I started with this orientation and philosophy more than 10 years ago with training courses on cost structure analyses, material and supplier management.

When designing the certificate course for the VDMA, it very quickly became clear that the modules should not stand alone, but that a development should take place for the participants, comparable to everyday procedures. After introducing and practising the basics in Module 1, I am responsible for Module 2 – Cost Transparency in Purchasing. This builds an optimal bridge between strategy development from Module 1 to Module 3 – Negotiation, facts and figures for realising objectives in negotiations.

What are your experiences so far?

A large number of possible analyses encounter a large number of material groups and different starting situations in relation to the existing data quality. There is no simple solution that always works. The training is structured in such a way that every participant gets an overview of possible analyses with application examples. In particular, the 5-K model developed by Adconia helps every buyer to quickly assess the cost structures of material groups. We also use the Beer Game to demonstrate the effects of costs in the supply chain, in order to emphasise the impact that purchasing decisions can have on the supply chain.

We have received a lot of feedback, especially in Module 3, on how and in what context analyses were used by the participants and what results they produced. However, we have also noticed that a lack of capacity is an important factor in the application; there is often simply not enough time for good analyses in day-to-day business. But that’s what strategic purchasing is all about – not comparing three offers and choosing the best one, but rather taking a close look at costs and how to avoid them.

What do you take away from the training courses and the exchange with the companies?

The participants in the VDMA Strategic Purchasing Manager certificate course come from all regions of Germany and from different company sizes. This has positive effects, as the range of participants is all the greater when it comes to exchanging information on the application of training content and experiences from day-to-day business. However, another negative effect is that the starting position of the participants is very different. A purchasing department with 2 employees definitely has less capacity than a department with 10 employees to deal with strategic issues.

This makes the simple application of training content all the more important for all participants, as there is often not enough time in day-to-day business for a comprehensive application of purchasing methodology. This is because the demands on purchasing are the same regardless of the size of the purchasing team. Therefore, the exchange between the participants of each course particularly is very important. There is always a targeted flow of information during the course and afterwards.

In addition to the experience that all of our training managers gain in the course of their project work, the exchange of ideas during the training sessions is an important factor in keeping our finger on the pulse and regularly incorporating this into our training programmes. This supports our credo: by practitioners for practitioners and demonstrates the strength of this training series.

Thanks to Oliver Kreienbrink for the exciting insight! We look forward to further cooperation with the VDMA and many joint training courses.