Ep. 19 - Beyond Processes: Why People and Leadership Define Supply Chain Impact - with Barbara Stolle-Amedick

When you relish the hard problems, courage, culture and vision turn challenges into the spark of business success.

In this episode, host Martina Buchhauser speaks with Barbara Stolle-Amedick, Global Head of Supply Chain Management, Transformers Business at Hitachi Energy, about the journey of repositioning procurement inside a 100-year-old organisation.

Barbara explains how her team moved beyond being seen as “order writers” to becoming recognised as business enablers. She shares how silos were broken down and replaced with a truly end-to-end organisation, why culture and leadership proved just as vital as process and KPIs, and how recognition was built step by step, both internally and externally.

This is a story of transformation driven not by big-bang change, but by consistency, transparency, and the courage to push for more. It shows how procurement can thrive as a trusted partner and become a key driver of company-wide success.


You’ll learn:

1. How transparency, vision and courage can dismantle silos and build trust
2. Why people, culture and leadership matter as much as processes
3. How to move from “order writing” to enabling business success
4. How end-to-end structures and KPIs deliver speed and recognition
5. How to grow supplier partnerships into long-term success factors

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Get in touch with Barbara Stolle-Amedick on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-stolle-amedick-45a381156/

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About the host Martina Buchhauser:
Martina Buchhauser is a global leader with extensive knowledge of the automotive industry, and its shift towards sustainable technologies and low-carbon business practices. Her leadership journey includes executive roles in Global Procurement and Supply Chain Networks at General Motors, MAN, BMW, and Volvo Cars, where she served as Chief Procurement Officer and on the management board. She is a senior advisor at H&Z Management Consulting and a non-executive director on several company boards. Martina enjoys hiking, golfing, and skiing, and values time with her family and friends from around the world. She is passionate about leadership and actively engaged in developing and promoting talent.

Get in touch with Martina Buchhauser on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martina-buchhauser/

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:02

Sometimes we were even just being seen as an overhead cost rather than the value we are adding to the to the organization. And so that was really something where we had to work up, I mean, our contribution and as well as our reputation in the organization.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

Welcome to the Procurement Initiative Leader Podcast, the ultimate resource for top-level procurement professionals looking to stay ahead of the curve and drive meaningful change within their organizations. I'm your host, Martina Buchhauser, founder of the Procurement Initiative ThinkTank and senior advisor at HLZ, Europe's leading management consultancy. Join me as I sit down with global leaders in procurement and other relevant areas to uncover the latest trends, strategies, and insights that are shaping the future of procurement. We tackle crucial topics like leadership, technology, value creation, cost management, resilient supply chains, innovation, and many more. Ready to up your game as a leader in procurement? Let's jump into this episode of the Procurement Initiative Leaders Podcast with me, Martina Buchhauser.

SPEAKER_02 1:20

Welcome everyone to the Procurement Initiative Podcast. And this morning I'm extremely happy to have Barbara Stollle-Amedik with me. She is the global head of supply chain management for procurement and logistics in the business unit transformers at Hitachi Energy. So, Barbara, you and I have had the opportunity to meet in uh in the business environment. And I'm very happy, thank you for taking the time with us today. And thank you for sharing your insights, your experience, what you have experienced in the last, let's say, six years when you started at Hitachi Energy. And you basically have professionalized procurement and added on to it and put more emphasis on supply chain logistics. So we will be hearing a lot about transparency, vision, and courage from you today, breaking down silos. I think that is a topic that everyone is super interested in. We will hear about culture and leadership, my favorite, um being as important as you know, the processes, the structure, and also becoming a trusted partner to the suppliers. That is also something you advocate very much. And so, first of all, welcome Barbara.

SPEAKER_03 2:50

Thank you, Martina. Very happy to be here, and good morning to you and to everyone. Uh hello, maybe in a different time zone. Yeah, thank you for for this opportunity. And yeah, you asked me for the um what is key in in this entire supply chain um to have a success. So, from my point of view, strategy um is absolutely key. And it is not just the strategy you have in procurement supply chain, it really needs to be very much interlinked to the company strategy and as well understanding the view of current threats and future challenges. Furthermore, I think it's the question of position what you have as procurement function. So, how are you embedded in the company, being on eye level with the other functions so that you can have really good discussion and collaboration? And last but not least is as well about the processes, how you collaborate then together. Yeah. Culture. I think you mentioned it before, culture is important, and this is about what are the skills, um, what are the capabilities, how do you deliver, but as well being brave sometimes to speak up, challenge the organization. It it needs as well sometimes self-confidence, so really going for it, having a belief, taking responsibility and um yeah, put a healthy criticism and um and striving for excellence, not only in your own function, but as well with the partners you are working with, be it internally or externally.

SPEAKER_02 4:40

I think you bring up a very interesting point because you know sometimes you think, oh, procurement, you need to speak up more, you need to be more confident about what you do. And and that is something that I think not everyone has kind of in their DNA, and probably needs to crank it up a little bit, so to speak, and make sure that you're a bit more in the face of your colleagues. And I think we're gonna hear more about that from you today, which I'm very much looking forward to. Um, and I I think that is important to portray a bit, um, think about it when you when you go through your uh through your experience, how you do that actually, right? Because it's it's easily said, but then of course you have to have, as you said, the courage sometimes to say no, you have to have the courage to speak up, to tell people, no, we're not going to do this, because, you know. And then of course you have to have good reasons, but that's that kind of self-confidence that I think needs to be there, um, because procurement is a function that offers a lot. But of course, that's also what you need to do, right? You need to bring that offer to the table, right? So um in the last six years then, uh, that you have started with um the company, um you took on that role, right? And and how did you do that? Because I think that is very important for our listeners to see in in practice. What how did you set that up?

SPEAKER_03 6:21

Yeah, okay. So for me it started for sure with strategy. So, what is supply chain all about? What do we need to contribute from our side to the business success? Um, what is happening outside, and um where is the journey heading? So I need to say, back then, I mean, we will not be really well understood as a function. So it was really coming down to the understanding ah, yeah, yeah, you do the POs, you cut the purchase orders. But it was not really seen, I mean, what additional value we contribute. Sometimes we were even just being seen as an overhead cost rather than the value we are adding to the to the organization. And so that was really something where we had to work up, I mean, our contribution and as well as our reputation in the organization. And where we started, it was yeah, okay, there was some level of global organization, but there was a lot of work happening in the factories, and we did not leverage the size of the company we worked. And um, so I think then we started. I was starting to sit together with the team, they were really good people, and I had the feeling maybe it's lacking a little bit um an overhauling of the organization, the way how we work. Um, there was for sure, I mean, we have a very long tradition as a company, successful tradition as a company, so we are more than 100 years old. And um, so it was really bringing this together. I mean, what I saw maybe with the fresh eyes, but as well the experience the people have, the thoughts they have, and so it was all about how can we motivate the team to work on this. And so, first of all, it was to understand where we stand, looking at the KPIs, as well as sharing some results and of the company which were not so well known, and um reflecting, being honest, how we are being seen as an organization. And so people really realized where we stand, and we wanted to do something together. So we wanted to change this, and then we started to think about how we can do this. So the team was really motivated to change, and then we were starting the discussion. And I mean, so as I said, we didn't have really a good reputation that was inside, but I felt as well we could do a much better job with the supplier. So I didn't consider that we were really a very reliable partner, talking strategy on one hand, but maybe not being able then to implement it in full because we did not have the full end-to-end internal connection.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 9:28

So we said, okay, now we need to act. There's some stance of urgency, and how are we going to enable the business success? Wow.

SPEAKER_02 9:39

That sounds like uh a lot of work. But I I like it when you say you kind of made transparent um where you really stood and you were honest to each other to say, well, look, we're not really, you know, maybe bringing the performance we could bring or the the transparency or the the contribution. And I think this is the first step, right? To see, okay, yeah, we we could do better. Um and then that kind of also I think motivates everyone uh to jump on that train and um and find better ways. Because you want to bring a good service. And now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying procurement is like a service area, but of course you have to contribute, right? And then other functions need to see, you know, what's in it for them. If they wanna, if they work with you, what you know, what do they get and what can they bring to the table? I think that's also something, you know, this whole cross-functional enabling that cross-functional um collaboration is is also hard. But but then, well, we enable business success. I think this is a like a nice motto. Um, that you know, you can you also have to have a motto, right? Kind of so that everyone gets on the train and you have this vision of this is where we need to be. But it really sounds like a complete overhaul, right? If you will. Yeah, it was uh well, let's say everyone is talking about transformation, so we could also say it's a huge transformation. Um, but of course, you know, necessary. And um, I'm also very interested in it's also probably very interesting for our listeners to hear a bit more, you know, how do I do that? Because it's always it sounds like a huge word and it sounds like a but it it can also be put in pieces and can be understood very well and can be done, right? Not like we used to have these big changes and big introductions. That's not so much happening anymore with all the changes coming all the time. I think it's more the the constant reinventing um than you know the big bang bang, yet now we're doing a change, right? So you've you've already revealed a lot of secrets to that extent. Um, but do you have any more tricks and uh good recommendations for you know our community here?

SPEAKER_03 12:17

Yeah, um I think we I could talk a little bit how we actually did it. Um I think what's important is to understand as well the culture of the company. So we are not a company where top-down works very well, so it is more kind of getting the buy-in on every level. Um, so we we said, okay, let's start here. As you rightly said, we had the um had our vision, we enable business success. And so we started thinking, what how how do we do this? And so we were talking about having seen that we had gaps in the organization, not being able to bring that home what we may have thought we wanted to achieve. So we were talking about an end-to-end organization where we are being connected. I mean, yes, in a matrix, but I mean, functionally, we are fully connected end-to-end, having clear processes so that everyone understands what he or she is contributing and what the roles and responsibilities are. So we started with an organizational blueprint to make the organization around the world looking similar and to define which roles should be allocated where, adding an overall process framework where we defined as well, KPIs. And then we were starting thinking about how process flows should happen. Um, when we had done this more on a desktop, um, we then said, okay, we need to prove this concept. So we selected representative factories and went there for a workshop to understand with them how the processes are working out there, and if that could be kind of mirrored with what we have thought through. Because one of the challenges what we had was every factory thought they are unique. So, no, no, we cannot go for a global process. This is how we are. And that was really something where we saw when we first put it together. I mean, we did it with the experts in the team where we had, so it was not kind of somebody, I mean, thinking, not having a clue of the business. And then we were fine-tuning it with those workshops we had with the factories, and that was helping us well a lot with getting the buy-in because they saw, okay, there is the conversation, we can say something, what needs adjustments. So we we tailored it with them, but with a clear um drive and with a clear understanding we wanted to achieve a global process so that we can connect end to end and not getting lost in complexity because everyone is different. And you need to have a can I can I stop you there for just a little bit?

SPEAKER_02 15:09

So you're saying you went to the customer, your customer, the plants. Yes. Um, and it wasn't like procurement people, right? It was the the everyone. Everyone. I mean, yes, but definitely operations so that you understand in that moment, you know, what does my customer really need, and work with them and get their buy-in, because that's really all you know, that's the basis of uh of something working uh sustainably, right? Almost, is that you get their buy-in. So that's what you did, right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

But it was so it was the people around the SEM, but we had our team in the factories. So that is something. So that was what I said before. It was really a factory-by-factory approach, and there were some regional or global roles, but not really end-to-end connected. So it was as well driving the buy-in of our own organization, and they for sure. So it was really in the in the factory, this cross-functional collaboration happening, but that was kind of in each factory a little bit unique and not leveraging the full size of the company. So that was what we wanted to change, and so we um I mean the fear is always there, oh yeah, they will pull it out, and then what's happening? How, how, how do we go on? I mean, you risk the production and so on. So that was really key to go and have this proof of concept with the factories and adjusting then, I mean, to as well have processes which are down to reality and not, I mean, some high-level flying which doesn't work at the end. So um having that done, we then as well started to think based on the roads and responsibilities, uh, the um and the process map we had mapped. So then we started to create job descriptions so that we could really say what are your responsibilities, what do you have to drive? That helped us then for the hiring process, which came came along with that, um, to actually fill our organization. And what we did, we did not hire from outside. It was really restructuring with the existing people and moving them into a new role. So we had to look who who's capable on uh or who has the skills for maybe um doing a regional or global role, who is really very good. I mean, being in the factory, taking care of the operations there. So we really thought this through, and for that we needed as well the job description and the understanding. And then we went and we started, I mean, it was a transition basically to say, okay, there will be a handshake when we hand over, and from then you can start your new job because we I mean, we would have otherwise risked that we would have interrupted the ongoing business operations. Yeah, right, absolutely. And um, so that was we supported this, we went down to the factories, we said, okay, let's do workshops here. We explained how it will change. Um, we did trainings with them, so it was really kind of doing a phased implementation. So we started somewhere with a pilot, and that was as well good. I mean, so we could start with having good communication. And communication really was key. I mean, be it on the factory level with people who are concerned, be it in big town halls, I mean, talking about what's going on, celebrating the successes, even if they were small. I mean, very important. Getting bringing appreciation to the people who were brave enough to do the pilot, looking as well, what was there maybe still needed to be adjusted after the learnings from the pilot. But we had for sure as well STECOs because you need to get a lot of buy-in um from the organization from the different levels. And we had even to build up some roles from scratch. So, for example, supply quality and development was more part of the quality in the factory, and we wanted to bring that along with the category management. So to have really cost and quality delivery in balance and having the ability to have a joint strategy for our categories or commodities, however you want to name it. Ah, listen up, everyone.

SPEAKER_02 19:49

This is a good one too. Um, putting really all these responsibilities in one hand, right? Yeah. Because otherwise it's hard. Um, you know, if one side always only works on the cost, and we see what happens, right? Exactly. Exactly. It's a nice way to put it.

SPEAKER_03 20:07

Yeah, very good. So more thinking about that. And you need to think about, I mean, not just putting a global role, but how do you bring it then on a regional level and still are able to listen to regional or local needs? Yeah. So this was a team then. And um, yeah, so after we had done the implementation, we were saying, okay, now it's it's done from that level, but how do we continuously improve? How do we ensure that this implementation is sustained and not kind of okay, they have gone now? We can do our business as usual, you know. So that was a myth um what we wanted to achieve. So part of this continuous improvement phase, we put a questionnaire out to the organization asking them for their understanding, how did they like it? Um, are there still some improvement needs? So, are there any ideas they would have what they would like to see? And then we um yeah, analyzed this survey, so was it was surprisingly good. I mean, we were I was honestly I was a little bit scared that the factories could actually see it less good because I there was a lot of shift where responsibilities which happened before in the factories were kind of lifted up into regional or even global responsibility. So I was a bit scared that they would not like it. But there we got the same average of positive feedback, and that was really very encouraging. And we we went along, I mean, sharing with the people in the town hall what the feedback was, but as well what they gave us back as um a continuous um improvement. Opportunity, or as well, where we saw maybe the responsibility here is not fully understood. So kind of coming along, explaining further the organization and the processes. So that was really helpful, and I think it helped a lot with the buy-in of the organization.

SPEAKER_02 22:19

Yeah, but probably based on the fact that you guys had reached out very early in the process and, you know, been part of explaining and bringing in your customer, or let's say, in this case, the the operations, the plants, so that they see that there is actually a willingness to make this happen together and to make it happen because it doesn't help if procurement performs well and then you don't build a product, right? Absolutely. So that would not be the best. Um, but I think that's that's also a good share, you know, sharing that, you know, reaching out that early in the process before you even make any changes always helps, right? It just helps so much in the in the bonding, in the collaboration, and also the acceptance in the end.

SPEAKER_03 23:14

Yeah, and we noticed sometimes it was more sometimes I would say the middle management layer who was a little bit more skeptic than, I mean, motivating the people in the organ own organization that we would implement those changes, that they would most potentially receive a new role, but explaining to them as well with the job descriptions, what is their role in the future, what are their responsibilities. So that was well received. I would say sometimes we had m a little bit more challenge to explain it to the management in between. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:51

Yeah, but I mean it's a it's a strong group of Facebook, right? They're in the daily, and they need to perform, they need to bring their uh excellence. So yeah, can can understand. I wanted to um highlight some one one more thing that you mentioned, um, which I really like, and I really think it it helps the clarity in your own organization. You mentioned that you had actually set up the uh job descriptions, um, especially because you do have different needs in the different regions or needs regionally, needs globally, different needs in the plants. And of course, this is also great for you know the people who then you know can find what their kind of strengths are, right? Yes. And go there. And um and there there's I think procurement offers also offers so much and so many different skills are needed. Um now, you know, you can think of AI even in but but just in the in even in the basic business, not everyone is like the super global um, you know, uh how do you say, like globally um interested person, right? So it's uh it's good to use those different skills and find those different skills, but had you not described what is actually needed, then I think it's really hard. And then you can't even say whether someone does a good job or not, right? If you never say what you expect, um then it's really hard. And and and look, I mean, how you how you manage to bring people into new positions where they can thrive. Because people thrive when they like what they do. So I I I thought this is something we should highlight uh because I I I'm really a fan of that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

Yeah, I think it helps this job description helps the people to understand what their role is. I mean, it helps to get them interested in some in a move, and it helped for sure as well on the recruiting process. And um now we still benefit from these job descriptions we did at that time. I mean, with the growth we see at the moment in the company, so we do as well a lot of external hiring, and that helps a lot to to make this process um I mean, more efficient. Yeah. And um as well, how do you structure an onboarding? I mean, you can really tailor it in thinking about the specific need for that role. And same time, I mean, we have similarities then between the different roles. So a regional responsibility for category is the same, I mean, be it in China or be it in South America or in the US or in Europe. So this is really helpful. And um, what was as well one thing which we have seen, and um we had meanwhile as well changed uh um logistics organization. I did this together with my colleague from Hitachi Energy. So we really wanted to change the model how we work with the business unit and centrally, and so we followed a very similar, similar approach in this transformation. But what we saw before, there was basically a little bit like a dead end road for your career. So you were in a factory, you were maybe the highest position in the factory in your function, but there was, I mean, no further development if you are not stepping out of your function. And so by having this end-to-end organization, we actually create a career path for the people. If they want to stay in their function, even have an interest to do logistics or procurement or supplier quality, they can really, I mean, develop in that role further. Yeah, nice. Taking a regional role, taking a global role, or I mean, um, and that is that is really very helpful. And we we still have we don't have so much central offices. So we have still our people very much located in factory offices, and so they can perform out of that, um, they can perform the regional or even the global roles. So it's not necessarily a personal move from a from a location, yeah, but it can be still a really good career development.

SPEAKER_02 28:35

Absolutely. And I think that's important to offer perspective uh to people. Right. Wow, this uh this sounds big. Um so all this effort as you as you explain it must have really paid off, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

I mean, this is I think this is really nice. I mean, if you have this challenge not seeing the um value you can add as an organization, it's hard to explain, you know?

SPEAKER_02 29:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:03

But if you then see that results are coming. I mean, for sure, results came a lot on the cost reduction side. With rebuilding the organization, we didn't add fixed cost. I mean, we had a few cases where we added additional roles, but then we came with a business case. But we could really see, I mean, how much faster we could give answers because we didn't work in sequence any longer, what was before in our factory. So we kind of worked in parallel, assessing the different material types, categories in parallel, because we could utilize all the category managers. And so that was we became much faster, but we could as well um giving feedback on new products or whatever. And um as well from a delivery point of view. I mean, we all know we had quite some challenges over the past years where um supply chains um were at risk, I mean, on a global perspective, be it on transportation or be it, I mean, like COVID shutdowns. So we were much better able to deliver, I mean, what was expected from us. So we it was it was really a success story. And that for sure, I mean, uh helps a lot to to gain reputation and to to um that others see, I mean, not only in your own function, but that actually in the company your value is being seen. So you really and then you have a chance, no, you know. Sorry, yeah, you become a speaking partner to the management team. Right. Yeah. So you we walked our way up to to sit at the table.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

But yeah, but that's good because I mean you knew you had to improve, you knew you had to contribute more and really show the value of procurement, right? And supply chain, as you say, supply chain has become so much of an important topic in a company, right? That first of all, there is a lot being um spent on components coming from the outside, right? So that is huge. But also, if your supply chain doesn't work, well, you're not gonna build any product, right? Absolutely. And and then so so, but it it shows that if you kind of get your act together, well, then you can actually more self-confidently go to your colleagues and demand the same.

SPEAKER_03 31:38

Exactly. Yeah, yeah. And that is something what we have seen. I mean, before it was kind of, yeah, you are being told, I mean, what they want to do, and but then I mean you can say, okay, but to actually get better, um, I need this and that from you so that we can jointly contribute to the to the business success. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, very good. Yeah, well, we did for sure as well on the on the big way. I mean, we um started to introduce dashboards. Um, so we had started early already to break down our functional targets um into personal targets, but we have established really a very good dashboard where we can measure the KPIs on global level, but as well on individual level, regional level. So we have created this transparency, and it is for financial targets, but as well non-financial KPIs. So um it's really possible, and we have embedded it into people's targets, their individual targets, and they can check online. I mean, where they stand, and um yeah, so that helps as well a lot to focus. And um sometimes we um we see that oh, there are actually even things we deliver well we didn't measure, you know.

SPEAKER_02 33:04

Yeah, sometimes they are nice surprises, you know. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Yes, and I mean, of course, KPIs is always an interesting topic. Um I think it's always great if you know you kind of derive them from the company target and also make you know people cross-functionally be um um, what do you say, accountable for, you know, example cost and quality, because it can go wrong in so many areas, right? So or everyone should put it in a positive way, everyone contributes in this whole process, right, of engineering and procuring and and making a product and selling a product. So everyone is kind of part of this. And then it's it's nice to share that responsibility also by KPIs, right? Yeah. Yeah. Anyway, so it seems like uh what I also like is having a bit of a dashboard, call it you know, whatever, but making transparent what you do, um, and and really being uh relentless in your uh progress measuring and you know adjusting to what you need to adjust when you see that something is going wrong, and then you know, kind of take that uh joint effort and joint approach to make things better. So maybe it's also looking a bit more into what are we doing and is that helping? And I think that's also a bit a cultural change that you at the same time basically kind of kicked off, right, when you started uh making things transparent, when you started, you know, saying this is what we need, this is what we stand for. I think that also drives uh cultural change. Um and especially in today's world where you know you need to adjust things quickly, you have to have a good basis and you have to have the trust in the organization. Um can you maybe talk a bit more about that part uh of how you can change culture even by making such transformation?

SPEAKER_03 35:28

Yeah, I think what was key, I mean, to put the organization in place in the first um step, huh? And to be able actually to drive something with this organization. So I think there's a lot of expectation and challenge these days. I think there's not something which stays forever. I think we see all these disruptions and so on, uh kind of almost on a daily basis. So we came to the point really now starting to think about strategy and how we could contribute from our organization to the what the company wants to achieve. So, what are the targets, what are the big goals, what is the strategy of the company, where do they want to go? What are the external challenges? Um, how can we contribute as supply chain or procurement function um to the success of the business? Now, really talking about this. And what we have started then was um to really see okay, what are the um main targets of the business unit of the company? Where can we contribute? And out of that we started to think about which initiatives do we want to put in place to be future ready, to be more resilient, what's coming, to support growth, to support um result targets or whatever. And so from these initiatives, we really um we had put 12 initiatives and then thinking about what are the actions out of that, what how should we measure the actions from a KPI point of view so that they are successful, and um assigning clear ownership for all these actions. And um so we had uh some time we had thought, okay, we put some in the region, we put some on a global level, but there was as well a reflection to say, no, actually it everything should have an ownership on a on a global level, because otherwise you will not be able to transfer easily from one region to the other. It's kind of more things manifest too much that that you cannot bring it, I mean, like a lessons learned or best practice to to the rest of the organization. So that whole was a learning. And with these owners, I mean, we have some of the initiatives which are solely procurement or supply chain, and we have other initiatives which are about collaboration with our other function partners and um to to drive those. And here it's important to have the reflection to as a year-end re kind of see, I mean, how are things going? Do we need to adjust something in the process? Um, do we need to accelerate on some things more? Is there a better way to do things because we got stuck? And I mean, some of the initiatives are having achieved a maturity that we can really transfer them into um into a day-to-day business. Also, they had become already a kind of more day-to-day activity, and we can say, okay, now we can um bring that home so we don't need to keep it on our on our initiative board. So, I mean, for sure there's always the risk that um, I mean, with it requires a lot of discipline and having this process. So um we have I I'm happy I have a person in the organization who really enjoys this, who has a really really good strategic approach, and who very much enjoys, I mean, as well, running this project. So we have monthly reviews with the process owners and um then uh review where we stand, I mean, discuss it and uh yeah, drive it from there and and measure the progress really. Great.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

Well, that's also a good hint, I would say, that you sometimes you need dedicated people or you need to dedicate people to certain things that they actually happen. Right. It's because in the day-to-day business, usually things uh get a bit, you know, reprioritized, to say it elegantly. Um because you just have to act now, right? And um and it's really good to put someone in place that keeps keeps it together, right? Yeah, very good, very nice. Yeah. So, Barbara, we're coming to an end. I have a few more questions for you. Um, I think you have given everyone really, really good tips you know how to transform an organization. What would you say, because that I think is a is a hard one. Um, what was kind of the breakthrough uh for you in terms of being fully recognized as a supply chain organization in the company? So by your colleagues from engineering operations, plants, etc.

SPEAKER_03 40:50

Yeah, I think for sure the visible success helped a lot. But I think what's as well important, I mean, with these challenges ongoing, that we take the responsibility to actually initiate actions and highlight as well that there's a need to act fast and engaging cross-functionally because I mean, some things you cannot just handle out of the supply chain procurement organization. It needs cross-functional activity, it requires support from the top so that there's a clear message. I mean, otherwise you you run a significant risk for the for the company. Um and so that was very helpful. What is as well really nice, we have quarterly reviews. I mean, each function has it, um, the regions have it, and this is basically where our managing director, my my boss, and the counterparts, the colleagues on that level, we sit together um in a review two to three hours, um, explaining, I mean, giving giving context, talking about strategy, but same time as well, sometimes say what's not working and where we will need to have better support from other functions. So at the end, I mean, it's all about entire business company success. It's not, I mean, just individual function. It's really about the cross-functional collaboration. And having this um form of quarterly review is really helpful to put things on the table and um yeah, reflect where you stand.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

Again, yeah, transparency, be and being open with what's working and what's not working. Really, really nice. Absolutely. So, but then, I mean, from what you're saying, also looks like that your team has really reached a new level of, let's say, performance, excellence, uh, thriving, you know, as a as a team. Uh, they took on a lot of responsibility, which you must say is is not easy. I think it requires a lot of modern leadership and leadership development skills. Is that a right assumption?

SPEAKER_03 43:14

Yeah, I think it is absolutely right. And I think um A, I think I would say they enjoy a lot. Yeah, so it's for us, it's sometimes a little bit distalled in the soup. And so to see, I mean, what challenges are there and how we can um think through and master those. Um, but yeah, I think as a leader, you should not think that you know everything. So it's more about how you orchestra the team, having a a belief in there are high chances that a solution is within your team if you play it well. And if you I mean more act as a coach to the team, putting purpose, context so that they can think about the solutions. And being on one hand a team coach. But on the other hand, as well fostering a peer coaching. So that has helped a lot. I mean, it has helped a lot on business topics, but we have seen as well that sometimes people are struggling a bit on a personal side. So it was really great to see that there are people in the organization you can talk to who have experienced something similar or who are able to support. I mean, maybe taking something over for a moment. So rediscussing priorities. So that helps a lot because at the end, I mean, you need to keep the good energy level going, you know. I mean, and I think this is this is really important. And creating the space for inspiration and um a long life learning, I think is important. And yes, I mean, we we enjoy a lot our team spirit and uh and um celebrate our successes together, and we really have a strong belonging, I would say.

SPEAKER_02 45:01

That's nice. So you you have created this over over the last years. It's really nice to hear and see that as a as a result, as a consequence out of all the all the measures, all the initiatives you have, you have basically kicked off. Really nice to see. Maybe, you know, kind of a a last, because we haven't touched so much upon uh that topic. Well, the world today, especially recent years, shows us how important it is to balance decisions as a supply chain leader, right? I mean, we've all gone through the times and years of uh you know sole cost focus and and that just doesn't help, right? Um so maybe Barbara, as a last um question, and we haven't touched so much upon it, although you have spoken about the the suppliers just being key in this whole process, right? But in the world, in our world today, where there's so much disruption and new things coming up every day almost, um it shows how important it is to take balanced decisions as a supply chain leader, right? So people in the organization actually have good observation skills, right? Um there's footprint decisions being taken, there's partner selection. You need to look for flexibility. And and how you, you know, whether you do this right or not so right, it influences the company performance. So both from a bottom line perspective, but also from a top line, because if the if you know stuff doesn't come in, you you cannot build product, right? And then of course we have talked a lot about that kind of internal change of mindset, but how do you motivate the suppliers uh in in that transformation so that they also kind of jump on the same train?

SPEAKER_03 47:07

Yeah, I think I mean the the suppliers are key. I mean, if you think about that, I mean the external spend you have maybe about half of the revenue of the company, I think then you understand the importance of the external side. And I think what we need to appreciate is that we have not um that we have not the power over them. I mean, these are independent companies with their own decisions. Yeah, I mean it's not you're going to tell them how to do it. So it's a lot about collaboration, bringing business sense. So there need to be business uh interest from both sides. And I think this is key here. And um, rather of thinking short term, you really need to think about what's the long-term perspective, share the views on the market development. I mean how do you see it, how do we see it? I mean, uh bringing as well, maybe the managing director uh to one or the other supplier to share more the business outlook, the business perspective, building trust, you know, I mean, building trust between the companies, having the will to develop something together, and at the same time being consistent, I mean, in good or in bad situations. Yeah. I mean, I think you expect some similar behavior from your suppliers. And um, I think this is good to to show that you are consistent in what you say and that you are transparent, I mean, uh to a certain degree, and that you that you uh try to share a joint vision and that you are trying to look jointly for a solution. Um because you need to have in mind that the the supplier, the business partner, needs to have something to actually make it happen and to be successful on his side. So this is much more about understanding your business partner and then thinking about how you can achieve this together. And so I think this is this is absolutely key. And uh we we work a lot about partnership approach, more long-term approach with our suppliers, um, putting supplier conferences in, I mean, be it on a regional level um or on a global level. So I think it is key to bring this message and then bring as well not only the supply chain people, but bring people from the business um who can who can support the discussion.

SPEAKER_02 49:51

Yeah, and and possibly even influence improvements.

SPEAKER_03 49:55

Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And then more measure really on their the performance rather than saying this is not good and so on, but really showing, I mean, what is the status. And I think this transparency helps us as well a lot now being able to manage the data, um, that we can really measure as well performance of the supplier on a factory level, on a regional or on a global level. And having these conversations and what is needed. And I see there's a lot of motivation from the from the supplier side as well. So this is really nice to to have this, and they say, ah yeah, this is great. I mean, um that we that we it got to this approach.

SPEAKER_02 50:42

And you know what? I think it's a lot more fun work and very good. That's actually a really nice um way to you know stop our our discussion here today. Uh I am very happy you could share so many great things, your experience, your transformation success with uh with our community here. Um we'll probably have a lot of people being interested. Thank you so much, Barbara, for telling us about your way, uh making sure that transparency, vision, and courage, courage plays a big role and and how you even change the culture um, you know, with kind of a very modern leadership uh approach. Well, thank you so much. It's been fun, and uh wish you good luck in your uh future endeavors.

SPEAKER_03 51:37

Thank you. Yeah, thank you, Martina, and it was really I enjoyed it a lot, and thank you for this I mean inspiring discussion. It helped me as well a lot to reflect. I mean, some things you you forgot about it, but really I'm thinking through what we wanted to talk today. I mean, it reminded me of a lot of steps, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 51:57

Yeah, yeah. Well, you can be very proud of yourself. Yeah, I think oh, yes. Thank you so much, Barbara. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 52:06

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