Siemens Procurement Chief Klaus Staubitzer on the evolving challenges of a CPO
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ince starting his career at Siemens in 1996 , Klaus Staubitzer has seen how the challenges of procurement have shifted from being functional to becoming a key part of the wider business strategy . In a career that has spanned nearly three decades , he has progressed through the business , becoming Chief Procurement Officer in 2014 .
“ I ’ ve had many different roles within the company over more than 25 years , but today in the Siemens Supply Chain Ecosystem , we manage more than US $ 43.1bn in annual spend ,” he says . “ It ’ s a massive amount and we do our utmost to make the most of it , which is very interesting , and very challenging at the moment .”
Staubitzer ’ s roles in the company have included procurement , process consulting , and strategic marketing , giving him a wide scope of knowledge and experience . This equips him with the tools to meet the modern challenges of the CPO role .
“ At the moment we have the obvious challenge of getting all the materials and all the services that we need on site , due to the global availability issue that we ’ re all experiencing ,” he says . “ Aside from this , the big challenge is how can we transform our function from a pure cost-cutter into a value-add orchestrator . Where is our next north star ?”
Getting the cheapest price is no longer the most important thing , he explains . “ There are many other different facets we have to focus on ,” he says .
WRITTEN BY : NEIL PERRY
KLAUS STAUBITZER TITLE : CHIEF PROCUREMENT OFFICER , AND HEAD OF SUPPLY CHAIN
COMPANY : SIEMENS
INDUSTRY : TECHNOLOGY LOCATION : GERMANY
Klaus Staubitzer started his career at Siemens in 1996 with different responsibilities in the areas of Procurement , Process Consulting , and Strategic Marketing . He was responsible for different Business Segments and Business Units within Siemens as CEO / CFO . He became Chief Procurement Officer in 2014 .
“ That means productivity is a given , but quality and availability are other facets , and on top of this , leveraging the power of our suppliers ’ innovation is also something we have to focus on .”
He adds that the real discipline “ is to find the right balance in between
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