78.3 billion euros in short-term liquidity hidden in German warehouses
According to a recent “Overstock analysis Germany 2009” by management consultants Abels & Kemmner GmbH, Herzogenrath, the potential for reducing inventories – which also creates important liquidity in times of crisis – is enormous: around EUR 78.3 billion in short-term liquidity is lying dormant in German warehouses. This inventory reduction potential, which companies can realize within six months, amounts to an average of 18.8% of total inventories. The average surplus of all companies is 36.8% (EUR 153.2bn).
The sector or the type of order initiation have no significant influence here: companies were examined across all stages of the value chain, from the capital goods industry to the supplier industry to the consumer goods industry and retail. The fluctuation range of the average excess stock of all companies is only 3.5%. One conclusion of the study is therefore that there is a structural error in inventory management that runs through all sectors. This study was the first to prove this.
“German companies must learn to plan better. Although replenishment has improved compared to the 2000 overstock analysis – where the short-term inventory reduction potential was just under 20% – the greatest potential is still untapped,” says Dr. Götz-Andreas Kemmner, Managing Director of A&K.. Many instruments for sustainable demand-oriented replenishment are still not sufficiently applied. These include optimized scheduling strategies and the ongoing, systematic and, above all, automatic adjustment of scheduling parameters to changes in the market and the product portfolio. “Up to 130 logistical master data items per article can no longer be effectively monitored manually by the MRP controller,” warns Kemmner. Furthermore, unsuitable process chains and organizational deficits are also driving up companies’ inventories. The study “Overstock analysis Germany 2009” is available at ak-online.de for download.
About Abels & Kemmner
One focus of the company, which operates throughout Europe, is the streamlining of value chains (supply chain optimization) for series and variant manufacturers as well as wholesale companies. Abels & Kemmner deals with the optimization of planning and control processes, the article and supplier portfolio to be handled and the processes at the execution level (lean logistics).
The consultants develop solutions from conception to implementation, both in terms of organization and IT support. In the SAP area, A&K’s consultants go as far as customizing and adaptation programming if necessary. Typical of A&K’s projects is that the supply chain is made predictable in the literal sense. Supply chain concepts that A&K has developed with its customers have already won best practice awards three times.
The second focus is on restructuring and earnings enhancement projects. Here, the consultants develop going concern forecasts as well as restructuring and downsizing concepts and implement these in the companies. They have made a name for themselves in crisis and turnaround management through the successful restructuring of medium-sized companies.
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Reader contact
Dr.-Ing. Götz-Andreas Kemmner
Abels & Kemmner Gesellschaft für Unternehmensberatung mbH
Kaiserstrasse 100
52134 Herzogenrath
Tel.: 02407-9565-0
Fax: 02407-9565-40
BReineke@ak-online.de
