Delivery performance at top level

The implementation of the products of Dräger Safety AG & Co. KGaA at service provider Simon Hegele has been successfully completed.

On 08.19.2019, Stephan Kruse, Head of Global Operations at Drägerwerk AG & Co. KGaA, and Stefan Ulrich, Managing Partner at Simon Hegele, interviewed Simon Hegele about the challenges, current satisfaction as well as the perspectives and future objectives.

With the activation of further volumes from Dräger Safety, both partners have gone through a steep learning curve as part of the changeover. Mr. Kruse, how do you see the situation today?

SK: Logistics are back to a stable state. This is pleasing, because our delivery reliability is extremely important for our competitiveness.

How did you manage to reach the current level?

SU: Immediately after the changeover, we found that there was potential for catching up in the processes and that the need for clarification and optimization initially required more capacity than initially assumed in the planning. That is why we first had to draw on internal resources on a large scale and also strengthen ourselves with external forces.

SK: We have implemented various measures to get a grip on the delivery situation. We have improved processes, optimized the warehouse structure and trained the employees. Another focus was to make processes transparent, which are constantly reviewed on a daily basis.

What ultimately brought the breakthrough?

SU: These were certainly several levers: In concrete terms, Dräger has certainly helped to increase the delivery time by 3 days in order to be able to provide a higher reliability compared to its customers. This, in turn, has given the project participants the necessary time.

What conclusion do you draw from the experience of the last few months?

SK: The supply chain system is sensitive. As soon as something goes wrong , the whole process is interrupted.

SU: Complex project starts like this one require a close and constructive cooperation. The fact that we were able to draw on a team that showed the absolute willingness to make the project a success helped, of course.

What is the future perspective for a joint cooperation?

SU: Our team in Raunheim has emerged stronger from the challenges of the past months. The feedback from Dräger management regarding our performance is very good. We are doing everything we can to maintain the successful path of continuous improvement and have therefore set ourselves further efficiency targets, which we intend to achieve through joint process improvements in the coming months. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved for their high level of commitment and trusting cooperation!

SK: We have extended our collaboration with Simon Hegele. In the course of the project work of the last few months, Dräger is now also using Simon Hegele for the distribution of the portfolio of security technology.

Mr. Kruse, Mr. Ulrich, thank you very much for the interview!