PROCUREMENT STRATEGY
When a new owner collects a BMW from the forecourt and drives away, they will not be thinking about purchasing, procurement and parts – just enjoying the experience.
BMW’ s 100-year heritage of automotive design and manufacturing means its vehicles are very unlikely to disappoint.
But how does this global giant, with 159,000 employees and operations in 140 countries, continue to produce quality cars and never stop evolving?
Mastering immense complexity Much of it is down to an effective miracle of procurement and logistics – the two areas that are under the bonnet, quietly keeping the BMW machine purring.
Nicolai Martin, Member of the Board of Management of BMW AG, Purchasing and Supplier Network, outlines how the purchasing division of the automotive giant manages and deploys an annual sum of US $ 104bn to achieve significant carbon reductions – while maintaining competitiveness.
Speaking about the scale of BMW’ s operations, Nicolai emphasises the magnitude of the challenge.
“ Every day, we master immense complexity: merging 36 million components from thousands of suppliers worldwide – to produce one of the most complex and yet emotional products on earth.” he says.
“ Our annual purchasing volume is around 90 billion euros.
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