First, the overall situation of German enterprise supply chain management
(1) Enterprises begin to recognize the importance
In the German academic field, supply chain management generally refers to the process optimization of products from planning, supplier selection, procurement, production, transportation and distribution to repurchase for the needs of end customers. Logistics is a link in supply chain management. Supply chain management involves most of the value chain of goods, which goes beyond the industry and requires all participants to work closely together. The advantages of implementing supply chain management are reducing procurement costs, shortening lead times, reducing product inventory, increasing supplier loyalty and service levels.
The logistics management of German companies has gone through the following stages:
1970s (traditional logistics, the goal is to optimize the functions of each link): procurement - transportation, transshipment, warehousing - production - transportation, transshipment, warehousing - sales;
1980s (horizontal cross-logistics, the goal is to optimize orders): procurement - traditional logistics - production - traditional logistics - marketing - customers;
In the 1990s (value chain integration logistics, the goal is to optimize the value chain): customer orders - research and development (subcontracting to suppliers) - procurement (subcontracting to suppliers) - production (subcontracting to suppliers) - Distribution (subcontracting to suppliers) - recycling (subcontracting to suppliers) - customers;
The 21st century (global value chain integration logistics, the goal is to establish and optimize the global network).
According to the survey, 81% of German companies believe that the implementation of supply chain management will enhance the competitiveness of enterprises. However, only more than 20% of enterprises have established effective supply chain management, because 95% of enterprises in Germany are small and medium-sized enterprises, large enterprises and large-scale medium-sized enterprises pay more attention to supply chain management, while small enterprises are subject to their own scale and strength. Basically, supply chain management has not been established. According to statistics, 37-39% of large companies in Germany do not yet have a strategic supply chain.
The total cost of supply chain management in Germany generally accounts for 7% of the company's turnover. Companies that implement supply chain management have twice the profit margin of unimplemented companies. Manufacturers of standard products that implement supply chain management have an average profit margin of 11%, and producers of personalized products have an average profit margin of 9%.
In general, compared with the United States and other countries with strong service industries, German companies, mainly SMEs, have an acceptable process in the practice of supply chain management.
(II) Main practices of supply chain management enterprises
1, SCOR mode
The enterprises that implement supply chain management in Germany are mostly large enterprises. They all have their own complete supply chain and manage and integrate themselves. The supply chain generally uses the SCOR model. The SCOR model is recommended by the American Institute of Supply Management and can be used to optimize the company's current supply chain. It transcends the boundaries of business and sector, focuses on upstream and downstream partnerships in the supply chain, and focuses on the strategic linkages and efficient operations of affiliated companies.
2. Contract logistics mode
German contract logistics (Kontraktlogistik), the third-party logistics (3pl) that the United States and the United States call, is similar to Hong Kong's "Li & Fung model" from the perspective of contract executives. Simply put, contract logistics is a model in which a manufacturer or retailer signs a long-term contract with a logistics company to outsource the entire logistics chain.
The contract logistics model is more popular in Germany, especially in the supply chain management of export-oriented enterprises. According to the incomplete statistics of the Kompass corporate exchange website, there are more than 700 contract logistics companies in Germany, including not only large companies such as Deutsche Post DHL, German Railways Schenker, Kühne & Nagel, Dachser and Fiege, but also small and medium-sized enterprises such as Grieshaber and Karldischinger. These companies generally sign contracts with customers for 3-5 years. From the product planning stage, they enter the customer's product value chain in depth and create greater value for customers through their professional services. German contract logistics companies are mainly active in the automotive, textile, food and frozen products and pharmaceutical industries. In 2008, the market size of German enterprise supply chain management was 81 billion euros, of which nearly 30% adopted the contract logistics model.
It is worth noting that the trend of supply chain management outsourcing in German enterprises has slowed down noticeably. It reached its peak in 2005, and many companies outsourced the entire supply chain. However, according to the German Industry Federation research report, the overall outsourcing of supply chain management did not increase in 2010, and some large enterprises regained the supply chain management part.
(3) The state does not have support measures
Germany is a typical market economy country. Except for special circumstances (such as economic crisis), the government has less intervention in economic life. Specific to the supply chain management enterprise industry, the German government has no direct specific support measures.
Second, I recommend to the development of supply chain management foreign trade enterprises
As the world's largest manufacturing country, we cannot always rely on demographic dividends to lower the cost of labor. Moreover, the foreign trade environment facing China is increasingly pessimistic, and the number of "double-reverse" cases against China is increasing, and it is spreading from developed countries to developing countries. Our manufacturing companies need to upgrade their industrial structure and strive to occupy two high-ends in the global value chain, namely R&D and sales. We must strive to develop and promote enterprise supply chain management and supply chain management companies. Competition in the 21st century may no longer be a simple competition between enterprises, but a competition between supply chains. The current trend is that as globalization continues to deepen, companies are accelerating the pace of strategic alliances. We can consider:
(1) Large enterprises must strive to optimize their supply chains
Chinese companies are going out. To see that with the rapid development of China's economy, our large companies have the strength to make global purchases. Our company must cultivate a global vision and not only be satisfied with the order-production-export model. The former “two-outside” processing mode was the appropriate mode under the conditions at that time, but it only brought the lowest part of the value chain, which could no longer meet the needs of foreign trade enterprises for industrial upgrading. Big companies want to be global
Strengthen research on supply chain links such as procurement, supplier selection, transportation and distribution, and selection of foreign sellers, and strive to integrate resources to build multinational enterprises. Large-scale transportation enterprises with natural advantages such as postal, railway, and aviation should strive to build their own supply chain management service departments or subsidiaries and become excellent third-party logistics providers.
(2) SMEs must strive to integrate into the global supply chain
For SMEs, limited by their own strength, the most realistic approach should be to identify the market position and become a part of the supply chain of local large enterprises or foreign companies. Strive for long-term, stable contracts to ensure that companies gain the foundation for planning future growth.
(3) We must make great efforts to pay attention to sustainable development issues
Sustainable development has become a worldwide topic. In order to maintain their image, multinational corporations are very concerned about environmental protection, energy conservation and emission reduction. Whether or not a green certificate has been obtained has become a necessary review condition for multinational companies to select suppliers. Our company must pay attention to it and strive to be an environmentally friendly company.