CASE
STUDY
Fibre manufacturer: Process and cost optimisation in the transport industry
THE LENZING GROUP OPTIMISES TRANSPORT LOGISTICS WITH
TICONTRACT AND TRANSPOREON
It is hardly possible to exploit the benefits of e-sourcing with Ticontract more
convincingly than the Austrian Lenzing Group has done in 2013. However, the global
supplier for the textile industry went one step further and integrated modules from
Transporeon for automatic process control through to invoicing.
GLOBAL TRANSPORT ORGANISED
MANUALLY
Lenzing operates the world's largest integrated pulp
and viscose fibre production site and also
manufactures a series of chemical liquid materials at
its site location in Lenzing. Export freight of the fibre
products alone add up to 160,000 tons per year,
each week around 150 40-foot containers leave the
company site. This generated sales of 1.9 billion
euros in 2013. The vast majority of them are
destined for the Far East and Asia.
The Global Logistics department previously dealt
with tender processes for land, air and sea freight
transportation manually using Excel spreadsheets.
The analysis of the obtained tender information was
complex and only partially transparent as a result.
Freight rates agreed with forwarders also had to be
manually copied into the operational systems. The
team sent orders by telephone or email respectively.
Invoice control also took a considerable amount of
time due to the lack of transparency.
OPTIMISE PROCESSES - REDUCE COSTS
As a result, Ralf Hammer, Global Transport Planning
and Global Logistics Manager at Lenzing, describes
the objective of the restructuring project as follows:
“Our overall goal was to ensure greater
transparency, especially in the processes, and to
reduce the costs and time involved.“
The approach Lenzing decided on in 2013 was an
integrated solution from Ticontract and Transporeon.
In this way, individual modules from transport
planning and freight purchase, over rate
management, through to accounting and control are
interconnected, and they have significantly
enhanced the efficiency of Lenzing logistics: “On the
one hand, we have achieved significant savings on
our freight volumes. On the other hand, we were
able to increase productivity enormously and speed
CASE
STUDY
up and improve communication with partners in
qualitative terms,” sums up Hammer.
FREIGHT COSTS REDUCED BY FIVE
PERCENT
The figures are actually impressive: savings on
freight costs across all divisions are at five percent.
The tendered land freight for 2014 had a total
volume of 16 million euros and a total of 549 lanes,
for which 32 of the invited 97 service providers were
commissioned.
Transporeon ensures a no-touch order for this
purpose: based on the Ticontract rate management,
a suitable forwarder is automatically determined
and a request is sent. This forwarder may either
accept or decline the order in the system.
Transporeon best carrier also operates in a similar
manner with air freight. Lenzing places the air
freight orders in the system. The carrier connected
to the system then submits up-to-date offers.
Lenzing accepts the appropriate carrier offer and
awards the order directly in the system.
OPTIMISATION CONTINUES
EIN DRITTEL
DER OF
DIENSTLEISTER
ONE THIRD
SERVICE
GEWINNEN
PROVIDERS GAIN BUSINESS
32
SERVICE
PROVIDERS
The standardised process carried out with Ticontract
has led to savings of close to 600,000 euros. The sea
freight tender was even more profitable: here, a cost
saving of around 529,000 euros was achieved out of
a total volume of 5.6 million euros.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESSES REDUCED
BY 80 PERCENT
Administrative processes such as auditing, freight
rate management, foreign exchange rate, calculation
of surcharges for bulkiness or the diesel floater have
declined by around 80 percent. Many of these
processes are handled automatically by the
Ticontract and Transporeon system. 99 percent of
the orders are carried out virtually automatically.
Rolf Hammer has already identified further areas for
optimisation: According to the head office in Lenzing,
other locations, such as Heiligenkreuz and Indonesia,
will be connected in 2015.
And: for carriers and manufacturers alike, long
waiting times for delivery and collection at work
were previously a hindrance. Lenzing is therefore
also planning to implement time window
management from Transporeon in 2015. The
Lenzing manager is convinced that “with this we will
design the physical operational workflows much
more efficiently”.
CONTACT
sales@ticontract.com