Operational Purchasing at Dieseko</span><span id="test" class="kool-class" style="color: #f90;" fs-test-element="test">.</span>

Operational Purchasing at Dieseko

Dieseko Group is an internationally operatingmanufacturer of innovative foundation rigs, with branches in the US, China,Australia, and Poland, with headquarters in Sliedrecht. The company has approximately200 employees, who serve the global market from the Netherlands through anextensive dealer network. In the early 2020, just before the outbreak of thecorona crisis, the first contact to Dieseko was made by Procurement Services,Kloepfel Benelux’s sister company, to discuss about a cost improvement project.“We wanted to investigate where savings could be realized in purchasing.Because of the COVID-19 crisis, however, we had to put on the brakes. Cautionwas called in the financial field, including when it came to hiringconsultants,’ saysFrank Seegers, Strategic Procurement Specialist at Dieseko.

Growing challenges

The project was put on hold for a while, until theeconomy picked up again in the early 2021. Suddenly, it also became a lotbusier at Dieseko in terms of workload while the company had also scaled downin terms of staff due to COVID-19. “In addition, in the first quarter of 2021,we faced increasing supply chain challenges, which further increased theworkload of our people. Operational purchasing was also hampered by a number ofillness cases in the department,” Alblas outlines. Another reason to contactKloepfel Benelux again.

Fast moving train

With the cost-improvement project on hold, KloepfelBenelux offered to provide an interim employee for operational purchasing. “MarnixLangeveld, a young and outgoing guy, turned out to be an extremely professionaland motivated consultant that helped us out. I has already warned him that hewould have to jump on a fast-moving train and that we did not have anyoneavailable to train him,” Alblas said. “He had to fully understand the materialvery quickly, there was no room for analysis, it was really performingoperational work rather than being more strategic. Thanks to his highadaptability, he did that very well.”

Useful observations

During the interim assignment, it soon became apparentthat the consultant hardly needed any guidance and worked mostly independently.“When necessary, he delegated some operational tasks to Kloepfel's back officeand always showed a drive to do the job. All in all, Marnix was in for sixmonths and it was a very good experience,” Seegers said. “To conclude, he alsoshared some useful observations with us about what he noticed in the processand how we could improve it. We have actually adopted a number ofrecommendations.”

Good solution

Looking back, bringing in Kloepfel Benelux's interimconsultant was the right solution at the right time for Dieseko. “The changingcircumstances caused the intended cost savings or optimization project forprocurement became less opportune. At the same time, we were then confrontedwith a capacity shortage, which was solved through the efforts of Marnix.” Theassignment could even lead to a follow-up assignment. Seegers lastly said, “Thanksto that interim assignment, Kloepfel Benelux has already been able to take alook behind the scenes at Dieseko. Should opportunities arise here, that wouldcertainly be an advantage.”