STRATEGY
Vollmer is willing to offer a nameless breakdown of the digital transformation work Boston Consulting Group has done for its clients . “ To give you an overview , I ' m sometimes really shocked about seeing how slow the digital transformation in the procurement industry works .
“ Let me start with a survey , what we did with The Institute for Supply Chain Management , the main operations in the United States . With 50,000 people in this organisation , it ' s the largest supply chain procurement organisation in the world - and also very big in China . A survey was done , we asked more than 1,100 professionals and we got feedback on the importance of digital transformation - and also the outlook . How important is digital transformation going forward ? That was at 80 % in the last year . This is the fifth time that we did this survey , in as many consecutive years .”
However , Vollmer believes that the investments are preventing procurement from going to the next level , in becoming more digital . “ What we see in procurement , is a little bit lacking behind what you see compared to other industries and other business functions ”, explains Vollmer . “ It varies on the industry side , but this is definitely something which supplies procurement and is not really evolving really fast here .”
Transformation across industries In the automotive industry , it ’ s not just digital transformation that ’ s taking place . The shift from petrol to electric cars has begun and being German , Vollmer has a lot to say on the subject .
“ Number one from our client examples , is when you look at the automotive industry . Electric cars are on course for a fundamental change - that ’ s going on right now .”
“ You can imagine what this does to procurement , because this is a totally new setup ”, says Vollmer . “ It ' s also a mindshift in what the procurement industry needs to have , because the electric engine is no longer really a key differentiator , which it was in the past .”
As countries set historic dates for an end to the sale of petrol and diesel cars , German engineering giants Volkswagen , Mercedes- Benz , Audi and BMW have all created electric vehicles , suitable for customers who are planning ahead . “ When you look at the combustion engine from a technological
44 November 2021