In order to optimize our product “TraffiTower” and to better position it in the market, we had tendered a ReDesign-to-Cost project. The objective was to achieve transparency of the manufacturing costs and consequently a cost optimization of the TraffiTower, as well as to improve the quality and reliability of the product and to reduce the maintenance effort.

After having already gained positive experience, BERODE convinced us again by proposing a holistic approach to the project by looking at aspects of design, procurement and manufacturing.

The very stringent and successful project implementation more than met our expectations. Not only the expertise of BERODE’s consultants, but also their creative ideas really helped us.

We are very satisfied with the implementation, thank them for the professional and pleasant cooperation and are already looking forward to future projects.

Alexander Bauer, Vice President Global Operations

Ralph Engel, Global Head of Purchasing

BERODE GmbH has been supporting the Claas Group for almost 10 years in strategic and operative tasks in the field of cost optimization, value or target price analysis.

Due to the very good interdisciplinary know-how as well as the implementation- and result-oriented value management approach the BERODE employees have gained a very high acceptance as competent contact persons in purchasing as well as in production and construction.

Due to the long-standing cooperation BERODE has become an important cooperation partner for us who knows the high requirements of Claas and is therefore able to handle strategically important projects efficiently and successfully.

Rüdiger Mohr, Head of Purchasing

CHALLENGE & GOALS

TADANO FAUN GmbH is a leader in the development and production of all-terrain cranes, which are characterized by their road and off-road capability, and also produces truck-mounted cranes. In the last decades of its company history TADANO has produced and successfully delivered lifting equipment for more than half a million lifting vehicles.

For a series from the all-terrain crane product range, solutions were to be found for a constructive optimisation approach to reduce the costs and weight of the claddings and covers.

Tadano wanted:

• Cost transparency and advance calculation of the expected savings
• Determination of concrete saving potentials through material substitution, reduction of variants and the use of new technologies
• Know-how transfer for Tadano employees

 

PROBLEM & SOLUTION

At the beginning of the project, the assemblies of the superstructure fairing were analysed, evaluated in terms of cost analysis and the cost drivers were determined. Then the different functions of the assemblies could be worked out and questioned. In joint creative workshops, new technologies and functional solutions were identified and contrasted in a morphological box. From this, solution combinations could be identified which led to a significant reduction in manufacturing costs.

“In addition, the approach and new approaches to solving constructive tasks were taught in the project team and worked out together”, explains Stefan Altmann, Manager of Construction and Development. “We have got to know BERODE as a professional company which, due to its analytical approach based on great expertise, quickly and purposefully developed constructive suggestions for improvement. Our expectations have been more than fulfilled.”

CHALLENGE & GOALS

WEMAS is the market leader in Germany for integrated, certified solutions of road barrier technology. The broad product range essentially comprises barrier beacons, fall protection devices, lights, base plates and guide cones.

On course for growth, WEMAS wanted to create space for its strategic development and create a secure starting point for the company’s development through sustainable cost reductions in both production and purchasing. In addition, production processes were to be checked for inefficiencies and, based on an example product, transparency was to be created with regard to manufacturing costs and optimizations generated.

So there should be

• Purchasing costs reduced,
• improved throughput times and processes and
• product costs can be optimized using the example of a guide bar.

 

PROBLEM & SOLUTION

WEMAS had to generate optimizations on several fronts. This meant that we had to take a holistic approach and take the WEMAS employees with us on the way. It was also important to us not only to achieve the savings targets, but also to work out sustainable improvements in the production process. This has been achieved in many workshops with the customer and a generally pragmatic approach to the problems.

“We didn’t want a classic consulting firm that only tries to support its customers through theoretical approaches or moderation workshops. We were looking for a consultancy which is characterised by a “hands on” mentality, pragmatic approaches and a high level of technical know-how”, explains managing director Ralf Frenz the assignment of BERODE. “The expectations of our closely involved employees were exceeded by far, since in addition to the savings potential, weak points in the production area were identified and solutions were found for them.

“We will introduce both the suggestions for improvement within the framework of the structural and process organisation and also comprehensive purchasing controlling. The scope of the analyses and results has far exceeded our expectations”.

Ronald Hammacher (Purchasing Manager)

In the last few years we have carried out very successful optimisation projects in the area of purchasing with the consulting company BERODE. We were very professionally supported in the implementation of demanding projects in the areas of fans/heat exchangers, calculation and technical optimization of castings and forgings, structuring and execution of cost down workshops with suppliers for different automotive needs.

BERODE has understood how to react very quickly and competently to the requirements of the different business models at AL-KO and to integrate employees of different hierarchical levels and functional areas into the project work in a target-oriented way.

“BERODE has managed to point out previously unknown quality deficits through structured tear-down studies and product cost analyses of our purchased parts and to realise sustainable cost reductions in the course of supplier negotiations. The introduction of the “Supplier Team Approach” at AL-KO has enabled our purchasing teams to develop independently structured value-analytical and cost-oriented supplier strategies.

The BERODE team was fully accepted by our purchasers, as they succeeded in a very short time not only in making a significant contribution to supplier development but also in increasing the competitiveness of our products.

Thanks to the integrated coaching approach AL-KO was able to transfer the cost calculation approach to other products with great success. For these reasons I am more than convinced of the BERODE consulting approach and especially its implementation”.

Dr. Claus Kaluza (Senior Vice President Purchasing)

CHALLENGE & GOALS

Jenoptik is Germany’s leading manufacturer for traffic monitoring. Jenoptik not only develops systems for red light, speed and toll monitoring, but also manufactures, installs and evaluates the surveillance images. In the field of optical system solutions Jenoptik develops and supplies the TraffiTower. This product was now to be further developed to improve its market positioning in terms of functions and service in various variants. Within this framework, optimisation approaches for reducing manufacturing costs were to be found.

Jenoptik wanted:

• Achieve transparency of production costs and a cost optimisation of 25% for the TraffiTower.
• Improve the quality and reliability of the product, thus reducing maintenance requirements.
• Achieve a better positioning in the market through the various measures.

 

PROBLEM & SOLUTION

The ReDesign-to-Cost approach specified by Jenoptik offered BERODE the opportunity to prove its many years of experience in this field.

“As the competitive pressure in our market segment has increased significantly, we needed fresh input from outside to achieve the ambitious goal of a 25% cost reduction” said Alexander Bauer (Deputy Head of Production). “BERODE suggested new, innovative solution concepts to us and combined them with alternative manufacturing processes which were not present in our company. We have actually succeeded in reducing production costs more than expected,” says Alexander Bauer, the initiator of the project. “Not only the expert knowledge of the consultants of BERODE but especially their creative ideas, e.g. to integrate different components into one functional unit, really helped us and we are very satisfied with the implementation”.

Purchasing Manager Ralph Engel also emphasizes: “We were particularly impressed by the fact that not only were theoretical concepts presented on PowerPoint slides, but that a prototype was actually produced which was approved by the specialist departments. We are also pleased to receive proposals for new, specialized suppliers for various assemblies from production-specific regions. This ultimately improves our delivery reliability.”

“Through the combination of technical and commercial expertise as well as the structured and pragmatic approach BERODE has succeeded extraordinarily well in taking our employees along and realising sustainable cost reductions in product design and purchasing…

Especially the unique synergy between technical and commercial competence makes BERODE an important strategic partner when it comes to sustainable cost optimisation… The success for our company was indeed resounding and has clearly exceeded our already optimistic expectations.

Dr. Ralf Giere (CEO)