The Bundesvereinigung Logistik BVL has been awarding the German Award for Supply Chain Management at its annual German Logistics Conference in Berlin, which drew some 3200 visitors from 40 countries this year, since 1984. Since then, the award has become one of the most important and prestigious awards for supply chain management. It is awarded at the leading conference for supply chain management specialists, the German Logistics Conference in Berlin, and includes a certificate and a sculpture, “Das Gespräch” (“The Conversation”), exclusively created for the award-winner by the Worpswede sculptor Waldemar Otto. The award-winner has the right to use a “seal” to draw attention to the award.
Moderator Prof. Dr. Thomas Wimmer (r.), Chairman of the Executive Board of the Bundesvereinigung Logistik (BVL), handed the award over to the winners 4flow (left) and AGCO International.
The Fendt Team with Ekkehart Gläser, Vice President Manufacturing Fendt, (4th from left) and Head of Logistics at Fendt, Sabine Gutbrod (3rd from right), in front of the 1000 Vario.
AGCO, with its premium brand Fendt and partner 4flow, service provider for supply chain consulting, supply chain software and 4PL services, realised the initiative “AGCO Smart Logistics”. The effort not only paid off for the company in the economic sense, but also garnered the agricultural equipment company a major supply chain management award. Accordingly, there was a high level of cheering at the awards ceremony, which took place in the Hotel Estrel in Berlin. The goal of “AGCO Smart Logistics” was to transform the traditional inbound logistics concept, where each factory acts independently, to a digital, fully integrated inbound supply chain network, which provides cost benefits, increases flexibility and ensures a uniform quality, explained the jury at the gala event. The solution controls material flow while optimising costs and reducing risks.
The Fendt 1000 Vario was a real surprise for many guests at the gala event.
The happy winners! The staff of 4flow, AGCO and Fendt celebrate their German Award for Supply Chain Management 2016.
“We are very pleased to have won this award,” says Ekkehart Gläser, Vice President Manufacturing Fendt. “With this project, the entire material flow for the different AGCO manufacturing facilities is now organised centrally by our partner 4flow. 4flow has intelligent cloud-based software, as well as all the required information on our material needs and suppliers. With this information, they can optimise the material flow over the suppliers and into the factories. This is much more efficient than the traditional variant.”
With this solution, AGCO was able to reduce costs in the inbound supply chain by more than 25 percent in the few past years. The costs for the implementation of these processes and the IT have already paid for themselves after a year. “The cost savings and work simplification that have been achieved are also important results for our staff, who conducted this project. These positive effects and changes clearly show them that their work has paid off,” comments Sabine Gutbrod, Head of Logistics at Fendt.
At the end of the gala, the AGCO staff drove the new Fendt 1000 Vario into the ballroom, where it quickly became a popular photo model.
Picture gallery: German Award for Supply Chain Management 2016
