How Scoutbee’s AI-powered supplier scouting helps Siemens procurement reduce time and workload
With the Scoutbee Intelligence Platform, Siemens was able to reduce their workload by up to 90%, quickly and easily identifying new potential suppliers without requiring expert knowledge or training.
94
projects carried out
18
BUSINESS UNITS AND PURCHASING CENTERS (PUCS) SUPPORTED
6,893
SUPPLIERS IDENTIFIED
283
quotations evaluated
Company background
Siemens AG is a technology company focused on industry, infrastructure, transport, and healthcare. From more resource-efficient factories, resilient supply chains, and smarter buildings and grids, to cleaner and more comfortable transportation, as well as advanced healthcare, the company creates technology with purpose adding real value for customers. By combining the real and the digital worlds, Siemens empowers its customers to transform their industries and markets, in turn helping them transform the everyday lives of billions of people. In the 2022 fiscal year, the Siemens Group generated revenue of €72 billion. As of September, 2022, the company had around 311,000 employees worldwide.
Opportunities for Siemens procurement
Processes: Time is of the essence as there is much greater urgency when it comes to decision making.
Information overload: The overwhelming amount of information available on the internet leads to a lack of transparency.
Lack of information: At the same time, finding the right information is, at times, impossible due to the amount of data to consider, or the right data is hidden in sources procurement does not have access to - and making decisions about suppliers based on limited information is a gamble.
Technology shift: The digitization of Siemens’ products is transforming their procurement world dramatically.
Exposure to risk: The number of suppliers in a product’s supply chain has doubled over the past 25 years.
Good decisions are based on the maximum amount of information available.
Solution
To tackle these challenges, Siemens turned to Scoutbee’s AI-powered, digital scouting solution. Scoutbee provided Siemens with a list of high-quality suppliers, with detailed information and enriched supplier profiles, including product range, strategic focus, country, and contact details - in just five working days. All of this was presented on the Scoutbee Intelligence Platform, allowing Siemens the ability to compare and contrast the identified suppliers in a meaningful and intuitive way.
In order to fill any information gaps, Siemens used the RFI (request for information) step, where they described the missing content and defined the questionnaire. Scoutbee then organized the supplier survey and presented the responses. This allowed Siemens to gain a deep understanding of potential suppliers’ technical skills and experience, quality standards, interest in Siemens’ business, local presence, and more.
Siemens managed the final selection transparently and directly, selecting only the most suitable candidates for collaboration. All communication between Siemens and the suppliers was precisely documented on Scoutbee’s project platform.
With the Scoutbee Intelligence Platform, Siemens was able to reduce their workload by up to 90%, quickly and easily identifying new potential suppliers without requiring expert knowledge or training.
Siemens is now successfully using Scoutbee, from the short-term identification of a second source to the strategic screening of specific procurement markets or the selection of R&D partners and start-ups for innovation projects.
The high hit rate of suitable suppliers found so far (~95%) and the enormous time savings (up to 90%) are clear demonstrations of the benefits to Siemens.
Conclusion
The Scoutbee Intelligence Platform offers a smart solution tailored to Siemens’ needs that’s immediately ready for use, with no expert knowledge or training required. Constantly reviewing projects and openly providing feedback helps to ensure continuous improvements within the procurement process. The data can then be used for all fields of strategic procurement (for example, risk management and product innovation).
Scoutbee has streamlined supplier discovery for Siemens, enabling them to make decisions more quickly, mitigate against price fluctuations, and avoid the risk of supply chain disruption that comes with being reliant on single-source suppliers.
With Scoutbee’s solution, Siemens has the ability to pre-select the best suppliers in each case and remain competitive in a complex, fast-changing marketplace.