Excellent purchasing platform

REHAU Industries has won the BME Procurement Excellence Award for its new purchasing platform with integrated artificial intelligence. The Procurement Excellence Award for large companies is given to purchasing projects that contribute to a lasting increase in efficiency by optimizing strategies, structures, systems, processes or behaviours. The award ceremony of the German Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics (BME) took place on 13 November 2024 in Berlin. Together with his team, Ingo Krendelsberger, Head of Purchasing at REHAU Industries, accepted the award.

REHAU Industries has implemented a new system to simplify purchasing processes. for all employees. This reduces both complexity and the potential for error, which ensures greater compliance.

Ingo Krendelsberger, Head of Purchasing at REHAU Industries: ‘Having AI execute routine and simple purchasing activities, gives us leeway to focus our purchasing teams on value-adding activities. Furthermore, it has allowed us to significantly improve the attractiveness of purchasing and to position ourselves as an innovative area within the company.'

REHAU relies on digitalisation and artificial intelligence to optimise processes. Specifically, the artificial intelligence checks orders for plausibility and adds purchasing-specific technical information to thus ensure high data quality right from the start. For all questions that arise for REHAU employees concerning procurement, the artificial intelligence either provides pre-negotiated conditions, information on other company processes or a contact person who can help clarify the question. The new purchasing platform and integrated artificial intelligence intuitively support REHAU employees in complying with numerous mandatory internal and external regulations. These include, for example, national and EU legislation, supplier certifications, compliance and cybercrime rules.

Ina pilot project, the system was rolled out and tested throughout Germany and has now been fully integrated into the process landscape. The optimised standard processes are now being rolled out worldwide at REHAU.

‘The aim is to enable our buyers to focus on purchasing projects with high added value in the future,’ says Ingo Krendelsberger.