How does German logistics achieve precise management of the supply chain?

1. The overall situation of German enterprise supply chain management
(1) Enterprises begin to realize the importance of

In the German academic field, supply chain management generally refers to the optimization of the product process from planning, supplier selection, procurement, production, transportation and distribution to repurchase based on final customer needs. Logistics is a link in supply chain management. Supply chain management involves much of the value chain of goods, transcends industries, and requires close collaboration among all participants. The advantages of implementing supply chain management include reducing procurement costs, shortening delivery times, reducing product inventory, and improving supplier loyalty and service levels.

The logistics management of German enterprises has gone through the following stages:

In the 1970s (traditional logistics, the goal was to optimize the functions of each link): procurement - transportation, transshipment, warehousing - production - transportation, transshipment, warehousing - sales;

1980s (horizontal cross logistics, the goal is to optimize orders): procurement - traditional logistics - production - traditional logistics - marketing - customers;

In the 1990s (value chain integration logistics, the goal is to optimize the value chain): Customer orders - R&D (subcontracted to suppliers) - Procurement (subcontracted to suppliers) - Production (subcontracted to suppliers) - Distribution (subcontracted to supplier) - recycling (subcontracted to supplier) - customer;

21st century (globalized value chain integrated logistics, with the goal of establishing and optimizing global networks).

According to a survey, 81% of German companies believe that implementing supply chain management will improve their competitiveness. However, only more than 20% of enterprises have established effective supply chain management, because 95% of enterprises in Germany are small and medium-sized enterprises. Large enterprises and larger medium-sized enterprises pay more attention to supply chain management, while small enterprises are limited by their own size and strength. As a result, supply chain management has basically not been established. According to statistics, 37-39% of large companies in Germany do not yet have a strategic supply chain.

The total cost of supply chain management in Germany generally accounts for 7% of a company's turnover. The profitability of companies that implement supply chain management is twice that of companies that do not. Manufacturers of standard products that implement supply chain management have an average profit margin of 11%, and manufacturers of personalized products have an average profit margin of 9%.

Generally speaking, compared with countries with strong service industries such as the United States, German companies, mainly small and medium-sized enterprises, are still in the process of accepting the new concept of supply chain management in practice.

(2) Main practices of supply chain management companies

1. SCOR mode

Most of the companies that implement supply chain management in Germany are large companies. They have their own complete supply chains and manage and integrate them by themselves. Supply chains generally use the SCOR model. The SCOR model is recommended by the American Institute for Supply Management and can be used to optimize an enterprise's current supply chain. It transcends the boundaries of enterprises and departments, focuses on upstream and downstream partnerships in the supply chain, and focuses on strategic connections and efficient operations of related enterprises.

2. Contract logistics model

Germany's contract logistics (Kontraktlogistik) is what Britain and the United States call third-party logistics (3pl). From the perspective of the contract executor, it is similar to Hong Kong's "Li & Fung model." Simply put, contract logistics is a model in which manufacturers or retailers sign relatively long-term contracts with logistics companies and outsource the entire logistics process.

The contract logistics model is relatively popular in Germany, especially in the supply chain management of export-oriented enterprises. According to incomplete statistics from the Kompass enterprise exchange website, there are more than 700 contract logistics companies in Germany, including not only large companies such as Deutsche Post DHL, Deutsche Bahn Schenker, Kühne & Nagel, Dachser and Fiege, but also small and medium-sized enterprises such as Grieshaber and Karldischinger. These companies generally sign 3- to 5-year contracts with customers, and enter deeply into the customer's product value chain starting from the product planning stage, creating greater value for customers through their professional services. German contract logistics companies are mainly active in the automotive, textile, food and frozen products, and pharmaceutical industries. In 2008, the market size of German enterprise supply chain management was 81 billion euros, of which nearly 30% adopted the contract logistics model.

It is worth noting that the trend of supply chain management outsourcing among German companies has slowed down significantly. It reached its peak in 2005, when many companies outsourced their entire supply chain. However, according to a research report by the Confederation of German Industry, overall supply chain management outsourcing did not grow in 2010, and some large companies took the supply chain management part back in-house.

(3) The state has no support measures

Germany is a typical market economy country. Except for special circumstances (such as economic crisis), the government has less intervention in economic life. Specific to the supply chain management enterprise industry, the German government has no direct and specific support measures.

2. Suggestions for me to develop a supply chain management foreign trade enterprise

As the world's largest manufacturing country, we cannot rely on demographic dividends forever to lower labor costs. Moreover, the foreign trade environment faced by our country is becoming increasingly unoptimistic. The number of "double counterfeiting" cases against China is increasing and is spreading from developed countries to developing countries. Our manufacturing companies must improve their industrial structure and strive to occupy the two high ends of the global value chain, namely R&D and sales. We must work hard to develop and promote corporate supply chain management and supply chain management-oriented enterprises. Competition in the 21st century may no longer be purely competition between enterprises, but competition between supply chains. The current trend is that as globalization continues to deepen, companies are accelerating the pace of strategic alliances. We can consider:

(1) Large enterprises should strive to optimize their supply chains

Chinese companies are going global. We must see that with the rapid development of China's economy, our large enterprises have the strength to conduct global procurement. Our enterprises must cultivate a global perspective and cannot just be satisfied with the order-production-export model. The previous "two ends outside" processing model was a suitable model under the conditions at that time, but it could only bring the lowest part of the value chain and could no longer meet the needs of foreign trade companies for industrial upgrading. Big companies need to be global

Strengthen research on supply chain links such as procurement, supplier selection, transportation and distribution, and even foreign seller selection, and strive to integrate resources to build a multinational enterprise. Large transportation companies with natural advantages such as postal services, railways, and aviation must strive to rely on their own advantages to build their own supply chain management service departments or subsidiaries and become excellent third-party logistics providers.

(2) Small and medium-sized enterprises should strive to integrate into the global supply chain

For small and medium-sized enterprises, limited by their own strength, the most realistic approach should be to find a correct market position and become a link in the supply chain of large local companies or foreign companies. Strive to obtain long-term and stable contracts to ensure that the company has a basis for planning future development.

(3) We must make great efforts to pay attention to sustainable development issues

Sustainable development has become a worldwide topic. In order to maintain their own image, multinational companies pay great attention to environmental protection, energy conservation and emission reduction. Whether to obtain a certain green certificate has become a necessary audit condition for multinational companies to select suppliers. Our enterprises must pay attention to it and strive to become an environmentally friendly enterprise.