Jürgen Gutschi is Head of Procurement at Bruker Alicona and knows everything about the challenges, developments and future trends in industrial purchasing. The best part: he is not afraid to share this knowledge with us.
I've worked at Bruker Alicona for six and a half years. I have been involved in various industries and purchasing functions since 2004.
The Procurement department buys everything for the company. The team has four people. They divide their work into operational and strategic purchasing. I oversee the supply chain and the procurement process. I also manage the cost structure of the procurement process.
Raaba near Graz is an excellent location for us because the highway junction Graz West is only 10 minutes away. Graz Airport is nearby. We choose most of our suppliers locally. This helps us make sustainable, future-oriented purchases. It has also helped us keep our supply chain and production going during the last few difficult years.
Jürgen Gutschi
Head of Procurement
High inflation and supply chain issues. Due to increased production, labor, and transportation costs, we have also had to deal with price increases, which we have managed well. We have also faced supply issues and longer delivery times in recent years. We managed these well thanks to early volume contracts and coordinated inventory increases. There are also more regulations, which have made paperwork more difficult.
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Most of our suppliers are from the DACH region, but we've focused on local companies recently. About 70% of deliveries come from Austria and are bought directly in the region.
Regional procurement keeps costs down and adds value locally. This helps local suppliers and keeps jobs in the area. Shorter delivery and coordination times also reduce risk.
We don't need to import from abroad because we have a good Austrian supplier network. Only in very rare cases, products are cheaper abroad and we buy them there.
Optical parts and assemblies are sourced from Asia. The price difference is 40-60%.
I usually buy locally or from Austria. This helps us to reduce risk and make our purchasing sustainable. We also use high-tech products and assemblies, but we haven't found a supplier in Austria.
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The last few years have shown us that looking for the cheapest country is no longer a guarantee of a secure, cost-effective supply in the long term. Supply chain management has recently faced many problems. Many companies have already switched from global to regional procurement.
In the coming years, we will focus on building better relationships with suppliers and becoming more independent. We are also looking at ways to make our products more sustainable.
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