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Senior Consultant Kathrin Reimann has been working at SupplyOn in Hallbergmoos near Munich since 2018. She started as a working student and is now a Senior Consultant Supply Chain Digitization, managing customer projects in the area of Supply Chain Collaboration and Transport Management. What are your tasks as a Consultant Supply Chain Digitization at SupplyOn?I take care of the implementation of customer projects in various modules of our SupplyOn platform. The focus of my tasks is on implementing customer requirements in the Transport Management Systems (TMS) module and our Supply Chain Collaboration Platform (SCC). I support customers from the conception of the future process to the test setup and go-live.My tasks also include training on individual SupplyOn applications. Both for customer key users and for new employees. I train them in how to set up and maintain our systems and explain what configuration options are available.I mainly carry out my tasks from my home office. One exception was my trip to Shanghai in September this year. I spent two weeks there supporting and training our Chinese colleagues on an ongoing local project in China. I really enjoyed the international exchange.You can find out more about the tasks and role of the Consultant Supply Chain Digitization at SupplyOn in Munich on our Consulting careers page. What does a typical working day or week look like as a Consultant Supply Chain Digitization at SupplyOn?We usually start on Monday morning with a team overview: We have a quick chat on our weekend activities and then, in the second part of the meeting, we discuss who is taking on which tasks this week and which topics are on the agenda.The day is then divided into several internal and external appointments (mainly via MS Teams, occasionally on site), as well as meeting-free working hours.In the customer meetings, current requirements are coordinated, challenges are clarified and the project status and next steps are discussed.The internal meetings are used, for example, to align with product development. As consultants, we provide input here so that the product developers receive first-hand feedback. Both from us as application professionals and directly from the customer.In some cases, we also support our sales team with new customer demos or detailed questions.In the meeting-free time, we configure systems such as our SupplyOn Portal or the Transport Management System and prepare workshops or customer scenarios.How many customer projects are you currently working on and what specific challenges are you solving?As a Senior Consultant Supply Chain Digitization, I am currently working on six customer projects for four different customers. The number of customer projects varies greatly for us and depends on various factors. For example, it depends on the customer's project phase. But the preferences within the team are also taken into account when assigning projects.One challenge that I am currently tackling together with some customers is the creation of transparency regarding the daily location of delivery goods and delivery materials for production. For example, these customers do not yet know where materials and goods are located after pick-up and whether delayed transport may have an impact on production. Any transport status is missing. The TMS module, for example, could provide more visibility here. Every transport status is recorded and displayed transparently for the customer. The customer has clarity about where the goods are moving and can plan more efficiently.Another challenge my customers face is providing evidence and traceability as to whether and where potential damage has occurred during the transport process. To this end, we use a mobile app solution to offer transport service providers the opportunity to report damage directly upon collection of the goods.The results from the mobile app are systematically mapped on our platform and can be enriched with photos, status updates, etc. to provide better evidence. As a result, the customer receives a systematic recording and logging of damage to delivered goods and materials and can better understand complaints from transport service providers and take countermeasures earlier if necessary.How does your role as a Consultant Supply Chain Digitization influence your customers' business development? In the examples mentioned above, the solution to my customers' challenges helps them to be able to produce more efficiently and transparently and thus save costs.At the same time, some customers, with whom I usually have a close relationship of trust, involve me in new topics at an early stage. They ask me for advice on how certain problems can be solved using our system landscape. What was your career like before you joined SupplyOn and how did you become interested in the supply chain industry?I completed my Bachelor's degree in Business Administration at LMU Munich with a minor in Computer Science and my Master's degree in Management and Technology at TU Munich. During my studies, I did an internship semester and repeatedly took on working student jobs, which gave me an insight into different areas of the company.After working as a student trainee in the area of supplier evaluation, I specifically looked around for working student digitization jobs in this area in Munich and came across SupplyOn.What particularly appealed to me about SupplyOn in consulting was not only the digitization of processes but also the area of process analysis and process improvement.How has your career as a Consultant Supply Chain Digitization at SupplyOn developed?I started in 2018 as a working student in the consulting department and was already involved in preparing customer workshops and analysing data. In some cases, I was already allowed to take on junior tasks.The following year, I wrote my master's thesis in the Invoicing department at SupplyOn on the topic of "Influences of electronic invoicing on key financial figures".After completing my studies, I applied for a junior position and started at SupplyOn in November 2019 in the Consulting SCC/TMS team with Martin Zwingmann. Here I was able to work directly on a major project, a transport management system migration for our customer Schindler.After successfully completing the project, I was promoted to Consultant Supply Chain Digitisation in 2021.I gradually took on more responsibility: I managed projects, initially sub-projects, then several customer projects in full and in parallel.I also supervised employees, such as working students in the team, and trained new colleagues.At the beginning of 2023, I was promoted to Senior Consultant Supply Chain Digitization. How do you collaborate with other teams and departments within SupplyOn?We work very closely with our corresponding team, Product Development Transport Management System, before and during product development and specify and test features, for example.We occasionally exchange ideas with other consulting teams from the Finance and Supply Chain Collaboration departments.What always helps me personally in the initial phase of complex large-scale projects are brainstorming sessions with process flow models (if already known) on the whiteboard or via Microsoft Visio. I welcome the fact that these often take place in the office, where we can all see each other in person.I would describe the collaboration as very trusting. The working atmosphere within Consulting is generally open and collegial. There is no one you can't ask for advice and you help each other.What excites you most about your position as Consultant Supply Chain?We still have a varied field of activity. It never gets boring, which is also very important to me personally. I always feel comfortable at SupplyOn and am challenged and encouraged.And my interest in digitization and process optimization has remained the same even after five years at SupplyOn. I am always delighted when we implement smoothly running end-to-end processes for customer projects that ideally no longer require 1000 manual interventions. I particularly like it when customer projects, which we have usually worked towards for months or years, are finally realized and take flight. What opportunities for further training and development does SupplyOn offer to consultants in the area of supply chain digitization?In Consulting, there are internationally recognized qualifications in which we undergo further training. In the area of project management, for example, PRINCE2 or a training course on "Winning Complex Sales".Individual requests for further training can be addressed during the annual feedback meetings, in which personal requests for further education and training can be taken into account and agreed.So far, I have been invited to various presentation training sessions, for example on designing slides for presentations to a steering committee. In the future, I am looking forward to moderation training and/or conflict management training.SupplyOn also supports self-organized learning via digital learning platforms such as Udemy and LinkedIn Learning. Learn more about this in the interview with my colleague Angila.Where will your career take you in the future? Do you already have plans or wishes?My greatest wish is to never be bored.So far, my career at SupplyOn has developed by successively taking on new responsibilities.To keep things exciting, I can imagine taking on more different projects in the future, for example building up expertise in other SupplyOn modules or continuing to support the team in the USA/China. I am also open to a management role in a smaller (sub-)team. How do you ensure a balance between work and private life?I find our flexible working time models very positive. From a doctor's appointment, which can only be attended at certain times, to other private commitments, I can take advantage of these when customer appointments and the workload allow and organise my working hours as I wish.I also think mobile working abroad is a very cool benefit at SupplyOn, which I like to take advantage of. I spent a few days with a colleague in Thessaloniki this summer, for example, where we worked together remotely and could relax together in the city or on the beach after work.Otherwise, the workload itself depends on the project cycle. For example, there are definitely "hot" phases in the day-to-day work of a Consultant Supply Chain Digitization when projects are completed. The workload is then higher. However, I then try to compensate for this in quieter project phases.I generally work with appointment blockers. From 4 p.m. onwards, I generally have a meeting-free period in which I continue to work on important topics. During lunchtime, I schedule a fixed break in my diary every day and consciously arrange to meet with the team in the office twice a week to exchange ideas. What skills are crucial to be successful in the role of a Consultant Supply Chain Digitization?It is helpful to have a certain intrinsic motivation and the ability to think processes through to the end. Curiosity and a willingness to familiarize yourself with new systems are also a benefit. An affinity for IT and a basic technical understanding are ideal. In my experience, the relevant expertise in transport management systems or supply chain collaboration is helpful, but not crucial, as this can be learnt on the job as you go along. What advice can you give future SupplyOn applicants if they want to apply for the position of Consultant Supply Chain Digitization?Personally, getting a taste of the company as a working student really helped me to form an opinion and sound out my interests. So my tip is: just try it out and get to know SupplyOn and the subject area! Has Kathrin's experience report as a Consultant Supply Chain Digitization piqued your interest?Apply now asJunior Consultant Supply Chain DigitizationSenior Consultant Supply Chain Digitization
May we present the new features that our developers have realized over the past months. These are the highlights from the different areas: Visibility & AnalyticsOur goal? Continuously increasing transparency for transports! In the Container Tracking Overview customers can now view the current position of the ships with their shipments on a map. The color scale shows whether the shipments arrive on time (green) or whether there are deviations (yellow or red depending on the length of the delay). Supply Chain CollaborationThere are many new functions to discover in Supply Chain Collaboration:In the order overview, a preview now shows orders in PDF format and allows to navigate through the list at the same time.Previously, collaboration within the solution could only happen between the customer and their suppliers. With "Extended Collaboration", the customer can now define an additional party (for example a logistics service provider) that performs certain tasks for one or more suppliers.The overview of call-offs (call-off preview, delivery call-offs, detailed call-offs) now also appears in a new and modern user interface.In the Capacity Management solution, our development teams have added an assessment-driven component. The customer can use it to carry out a structured evaluation of the supplier's capacity data. This is particularly helpfulin case of poor quality,in the start-up phase and for new developments,for strategically important parts,for new suppliers - or simply to reduce the general risk in the supply chain. Supplier Quality ManagementThe compact "All Questions" overview allows users to view all questions in the Technical Review solution and analyze their status at a glance. If required, users can also access a specific question directly from here. This function is very useful for both customers and suppliers, especially for complex questionnaires.In the Problem Solver solution, it is now possible to work with a database when manually entering material master data. This is particularly interesting for customers who do not use their own backend system. AirSupplyWithin AirSupply the Practical Problem Solver (9S) has also seen some changes:The new analysis solution with KPIs can be used to monitor the performance and number of 9S documents created over time.The "Quality Wall" is now also available as an additional tool for improving quality. The customer can activate it on a 9S document to carry out additional important checks.The customer can now also record identified quality defects - so-called non-qualities - and share them with the supplier.With the advanced search, users can create and save their repeated searches as individual profiles. So many new functions! Stay tuned and discover the results of the current development phase!
"Taking Ownership" is a philosophy of corporate culture and a professional attitude in which employees actively and autonomously take responsibility for their work, projects and tasks, which we at SupplyOn welcome and encourage. It includes commitment, initiative, a sense of responsibility and self-motivation. On this subject, we interviewed Maria-Pia Drago and Xiurong Cai, Product Owner and Integration Specialist in the Visibility & Analytics Department.Learn more about Maria-Pia and Xiurong's approach to solving problems, driving innovation and promoting their professional development in the interview. Enjoy reading! How do you motivate yourself to proactively tackle issues, manage challenges and implement innovative ideas in your area of responsibility?Pia: I am fundamentally motivated by being interested in my job. It's very multifaceted. Each day I am confronted with different topics. This motivates me to constantly learn something new and to deal with different tasks and then successfully tackle them.I also enjoy working with my colleagues very much. The good atmosphere in the team, the team spirit. That keeps me motivated every day.SupplyOn as a company also motivates me. I feel supported as an employee and have the opportunity to work on different projects. An example for this was an internal leadership workshop. Taking part made me feel like I was really a part of the company and not just a number.Xiurong: My greatest motivation is my curiosity to learn more about myself and the world. The challenges fascinate me. For me, it's exciting to see that you can take different approaches to solving a problem. I am very interested in pursuing them, analyzing and evaluating them and testing different methods to find a solution.I strive to grow together as a team. People think differently depending on their experience and background. Working together as a team, I therefore enjoy sharing my experience and perspective on problems and learning more about my colleagues' approaches. In this way, I experience that we can learn from each other as a team and grow together. How do you take a proactive approach to identifying and dealing with challenges in your area of work?Pia: Challenges often become apparent in discussions with colleagues or during status analyses. This is when I look at the current status of the issue and consider how I can take a step-by-step approach. I like drawing up a short plan or process for this. I ask myself the following questions: What is my problem? What are the individual points that I should tackle now? How do I prioritize them? And how do I find my solution? To avoid potential blinkers, I get feedback from colleagues.Xiurong: Personally, I am a very data-oriented person. I observe the challenges and categorize them. I use internally documented findings, comments from colleagues, external community insights, e.g. from forum posts - and thanks to the AI boom - machine-supported impulses. This kind of data-based approach suits me very well. This gives me the feeling that I can evaluate the situation objectively. If I need decisions from my manager or buy-in from other departments to solve the tasks, I proactively approach them and ask for feedback.What steps do you take to actively work on your professional development and how do you proactively contribute to promoting innovation?Pia: I always try to keep myself informed. For my own professional self-development, I'm a huge fan of workshops or online courses that you have access to quickly. I use the LinkedIn Learning access provided to me by SupplyOn to attend training courses. I get a sneak peek into different subject areas and get to grips with them to expand my range of knowledge.In my opinion, innovation can only occur when there is an interest in trying out new things. Driven by the curiosity I've already described, I try to implement things in product development that we didn't have before at SupplyOn, which may also require a new concept. It is also important to me to initiate and drive forward new, value-adding topics within the company.Xiurong:My philosophy is: "Learning is a lifelong journey in different phases." I differentiate between active and passive learning channels. Passive for me means training up on the job. I receive goals and requirements from colleagues and then implement them.For me, learning on the job also means actively learning about topics that are interesting to me beyond my work tasks. For example, I have developed an interest in being able to understand my colleagues' code beyond debugging and have taught myself other programming languages through online courses.However, learning in a work context is just a small part of the learning journey. In my opinion, most of it takes place outside of work. For example, I'm currently spending a lot of time learning about AI, because the current AI boom isn't just changing the way we work, it's really changing our world. Other topics I'm currently learning more about include neural networks, PyTorch and deep learning.Personally, learning is an important prerequisite for innovation. In order being able to continuously learn in the subject areas that interest me, I have built my own, customizable AI tutor that provides me with the learning content that interests me and helps me to progress.I set up sources and used them to create my own news channel. My AI tutor extracts information from websites, provides me with tech news from sites I follow - e.g. from LinkedIn and content from Telegram or WhatsApp. I have created bots that request this information for me. I use ChatGPT to customize my learning topics. Instead of sitting in front of my PC for several hours studying, I consume my personalized learning information in bites on my smartphone or tablet every day, for example on my way to work. What steps do you take as a team member to proactively promote a culture of ownership in your team or at SupplyOn?Pia: In the meantime, there are four product owners in the team with different expertise and experience. I suggested that we set up a small PO group to exchange ideas. We realized in the group that this regular exchange helps us to structure our day-to-day work. We recognize similar problems that we have with customers, for example, give each other tips and define new processes that could help us. This mutual support helps us move forward.Xiurong:Whenever I see that colleagues are facing challenges that I can help to solve based on my experience or my mindset, I approach them. Officially, it may not be my job, but I think it's a win-win for all parties to share the way we think. It helps us to develop together. What tips or advice would you give to people who are interested in living the concept of "Taking Ownership" in their own work and career, but may not dare to do so because they may be afraid of change?Pia:As a general rule, you shouldn't approach something new with a feeling of fear. Instead, my tip is to always plan a short period of observation in order to minimize any potential feelings of uncertainty. Take a look at the change, reflect on it and let it sink in. This is the only way to work out both the positive and negative factors. So my advice is: be open and courageous, don't be afraid! Observe first and then form an opinion.Xiurong: I also believe that we should always be open to change and new technologies. My recommendation is to be better prepared for a changing world and to adapt your way of thinking to the changing way of working. Because the world is changing, and anyone who doesn't change with it will be changed by it.Innovation always means testing and making mistakes. So my tip is to aim for small, incremental changes that you can take back and correct before pushing forward on a larger scale. I think this could be a good compromise when evaluating the risk between change and stability for people who are afraid of change. Are you interested in working in a company where personal responsibility is expressly encouraged? Then we look forward to receiving your application! To our job advertisements: SupplyOn Group
As Vice President, Thomas Bickert is responsible for the SRM & Portal Solutions division at SupplyOn with over 35 employees. His department designs and develops integrated solutions for successful supplier relationship management - supplier management, source-to-contract and supplier quality management. In the context of the SupplyOn Health Weeks, we asked him for personal insights and tips on health and work-life integration. Enjoy the reading! How important s health to you and how do you personally integrate time for your own well-being?Health is an important issue for me, particularly because I expect to keep my job for longer. I want to stay fit for a long time. Not only for me personally, but also for my family. However, I am not someone who goes to extremes in terms of sports and nutrition. I try to eat balanced and do sports on a regular basis. But I am not a top athlete and do not exercise daily. I try to maintain a healthy balance.How has your own engagement with health evolved during your career and what experiences have strengthened your focus on this important issue?I realized over time that I can't just perform. At some point, you must pay attention to signals from your body and take them seriously if you don't want to struggle with any ailments on a permanent basis.In my experience, every person, every body, has certain stress valves (e.g. back problems, knee pain, infections). When things get too stressful, they react. Probably everyone knows these points for themselves. I know mine. This is where you need to actively deal with them and decide. Do I want this permanently? If not, you need to adjust your behavior.A few years ago, these valve points were the determining factor for me to rethink. So, I started asking myself questions: What am I changing? What am I actively modifying? Where do I set limits?I implemented my personal answers, and I'm now living a good life with them.Certainly, you often have a busy workday and deal with a high workload. How do you manage to switch off from your daily work routine and maintain a healthy work-life balance?Time and self-management is essential for me. This personally helps me a lot, and I always try to optimize and develop it for myself. This begins with perception. I start to focus on the contexts in which I'm moving. Am I currently in the context of work? Or in the context of family, for example?Each context has specific rules for me. In the context of work, I focus 100% on my work and exclude my private life. This also means, that in my private life, I focus completely on my family life. For each context, it is very important for me being able to rely on managing things.For me, an important learning is to recognize that I can't work through everything. Because that will never happen. At some point I said: There will always be work for the next day and I will never get my inbox down to zero.In this process, I believe it is important to develop a method or approach that offers a feeling of confidence and to find the right balance between personal ability and the expectations of the company or team. This self-organization leads to satisfaction, self-affirmation and prevents negative stress.How do you support your employees in improving their own work-life balance and taking care of their personal well-being?I trust in the self-responsibility of each individual and in the fact that my employees will take measures and give me signals if there is an imbalance. Taking this into account, I see it as my responsibility to recognize and respect the limits of my employees and not to influence them negatively. For example, if employees tell me that they pursue a hobby at certain times during flexible working hours and cannot be reached at that time, I respect that.It is not part of SupplyOn's culture to expect people to be available outside of regular working hours. We don’t have a - I write an e-mail at 9 p.m. in the evening and expect a response by 7 a.m. the next morning.I communicate this actively. It is even more important to demonstrate this in your own behavior.What advice would you give (younger, less experienced) employees about setting boundaries and reaching that balance you named?It is very important that you already have the understanding that this is a process. A highly individual one. No one can dictate that. In my opinion, there is no pattern, and a healthy balance will not appear by accident. Everyone needs to figure that out for themselves: Some people need more to be satisfied, others less.One thing that helped me personally was confidence. Trust in my own performance. Trust in my own assessment of the fact what I'm doing is good. This confidence is also generated through feedback.I would recommend getting feedback proactively by the organization. Is this how it works? Is this what is expected of me? Do they expect more? And not just to reflect on this with your manager, but also with colleagues or customers.Be confident to actively ask for feedback, managing your own expectations and building trust as a result. Recognize: What I'm accomplishing is enough. Or recognizing that not so much is expected of you, but you are putting pressure on yourself and stressing yourself out.Colleagues may also be surprised of how much you can achieve and perform during your available time, and you realize being able to slow down. It's worth making that adjustment and investing in your own self-confidence! Thank you, Thomas, for the great insights and tips! Are you interested in an employer who cares about your health? 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Stepping off the plane into the bustling metropolis of Shanghai, I could feel the energy and excitement in the air. I embarked on a remarkable journey to one of China's most vibrant and economically significant cities. It is home to numerous multinational corporations, financial institutions, and tech giants. During my trip, I had the opportunity to progress the project for “Transport Management Outbound for ZF China” for two pilot plants and support my Chinese colleagues with an internal application training. Together with the ZF local colleagues and Qianqian Shan and Xiaowei Zhang from SupplyOn Shanghai we clarified the detailed process steps and worked on the specification of China-specific requirements for Transport and freight cost processes to guarantee a smooth implementation. During those two weeks, I could experience a better understanding for the Chinese colleagues, the project conditions, and the local network. The SupplyOn China colleagues made it easy for me to feel welcome and supported me with whatever I was willing to do.They regularly made sure that I was tasting every food worth to try; During lunch we had a lot of different dumplings, buns, noodles, soups, and a lot of milk tea and snacks. We also went for Hotpot one night – that was definitely one of my culinary highlights! Besides that, I was lucky to be in China for Mooncake Season and tasted a lot of different flavors, colors, and sizes of Mooncake. (Moon festival was shortly after my departure on September 29th, 2023).Moreover, I was invited by Hong Rupeng to travel to the deep-water terminal of Shanghai Seaport for one sunny Sunday. We took the trip via the 42km long bridge to the island where this terminal is located and admired a huge number of containers waiting to be loaded and checked out the destinations of a few smaller ships with the vessel tracker on site. Although the container traffic seemed to be rather calm on that day, the port scenery was highly impressive. The Container throughput of Shanghai International Port (Group) is more than 40 million TEUs (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit) per year. Thanks again for bringing me to the biggest port of the world!I appreciate the very warm welcome, dedication and hard work making this trip a memorable and productive experience. Your kindness and thoughtfulness made a significant difference in my experience, and I am so grateful for your hospitality to make me feel comfortable and valued.Next to the fruitful training and brainstorming sessions, we had a lot of unexpected daily adventures, like a spontaneous dancing class in preparation for the SupplyOn Shanghai 15-year birthday celebration, or a visit at a Chinese hairdresser, what added a special dimension to our time. I also had the chance to take part in the “Bobing” game, what is a special dice game from the region the SupplyOn China Head Zixi Zheng comes from. It is played only in mid-autumn and heavily focusing on rolling the dices to get as many fours as possible to be lucky next year.These are some for the lasting memories from the business trip. I gathered profound appreciation for the modernity, culture, and culinary delights of this dynamic city. I am confident that the insights gained, and strengthened connections during this trip will continue to benefit our projects and collaborations in the future.So, I left Shanghai with a sense of awe and admiration for this captivating city, and I can't wait to return for another adventure.
Inspired by the charity project "Münchner Geschenkeregen" in 2020, our marketing colleagues Anja and Lena, together with us vocational trainers, Marco and myself, founded the "SupplyOn 4 Children" initiative last year. We raise money internally to fund a special event for the kids at the Children's Home in Feldkirchen which takes place each year on World Children's Day, September 20. Last year the kids could jump around in the Maxxarena, a huge trampoline park in the east of Munich. This year's plan: go-karting and bowling at the GoKart Arena in Neufinsing.The fundraising platform: a very special trainee projectA fundraising event of this kind needs to be well prepared. After all, our employees can either support a child directly by paying . Or they can make a flexible donation of their choice for food and beverages. All of this is handled through a dedicated platform. Charlotte from our UX team designed this year's website. Our trainees Christos, Lukas, Paul and Tim did all the programming and testing.As part of their vocational training to become IT Specialists, our first- and second-year apprentices took this project completely on their own and even added their own ideas. For example, Paul came up with a feature allowing donors to add their personal greetings to the children. These very touching words were then printed on the children's personalized tickets.All in all, a lot of hard work went into the platform, front-end and back-end were diligently coded—and the result was really something to be proud of: appealing design, user-friendly forms, PayPal connectivity, email notification and reporting were all implemented by the four of them.The response was simply incredible: the same day the web page went live, 80 percent of the planned trip had been funded by donations already. In total, we raised more than 1,800 euros. Thanks to this generous support from SupplyOn employees, the kids of the children's home had a memorable trip full of fun and adventure on World Children’s Day 2023.Go-karting: a fast-paced start to the adventureShortly after three o’clock, the SupplyOn delegation, consisting of the trainers Marco and myself as well as the two trainees Christos and Paul, arrived at the GoKart Arena in Finsing and were welcomed by Nici, Division Manager of the children’s home. She and a colleague were on site there with some of the kids. Outside the entrance was a discarded go-kart where the children took their first souvenir photos. The children's faces were already filled with anticipation. A little later, all the other children and caregivers arrived, and registration for the go-kart race could begin.After the children had registered for their driver's license, the instructions for the upcoming go-kart race were supposed to follow. But first, the children wanted to thank the SupplyOn employees, whose donations made this wonderful day possible. They presented us with lovingly designed cards and boxes of chocolates as a thank-you.Then the go-kart race began. The two trainees also joined in. The first laps were for getting familiar with the karts and you could feel the ambition in everyone. The smallest girl had great respect for the speed, but still she bravely managed lap after lap. Again and again, she waved excitedly and proudly to her caregiver. After the warm-up, the race was on! On the scoreboard, the lap times improved steadily. There was a fierce battle for places. From time to time there were small touches on the barriers, and it was often very tight in the corners. When everyone crossed the finish line, it didn't matter who had the best time. They were all fearless racers and winners! "Let's do it again! That was so great!" they exclaimed enthusiastically.Bowling: simply smashingBut there was no time for another round because the next adventure was waiting: bowling. The kids picked out shoes, found the right sizes, and headed downstairs to the bowling alley. Not one, but three lanes were reserved for the children. The rules were quickly explained, and the appropriate balls were selected.At first, the shots were a little tentative. But with a little practice, the first pins fell. The children became braver, stronger, and more accurate in their throws. Every hit was cheered and celebrated. Another hour with a lot of fun, but also physical exertion, passed and hunger began to set in. This was also taken care of, and we headed to dinner together.Action makes hungry: a delicious end to an eventful dayThe friendly staff at the GoKart Arena had prepared a long table for everyone. Soon, large plates of chicken cutlets and generous portions of French fries were being served. Everyone was obviously enjoying the food. When everything was completely devoured, the landlady returned with two more large portions of fries and a lollipop for dessert for everyone. Even the older "kids", the interns, got one each 😉Three and a half hours passed quickly, and it was time to go home. But not without once again thanking the SupplyOn employees for such an exciting day. "Can we please do this again? It was so much fun!" they asked longingly. So, we were all the more delighted to be able to tell them that we will soon start planning for World Children's Day 2024. In the meantime, thanks to the many generous donations this year, we have a surprise for the backyard of the children's home. What that surprise will be is still under wraps. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it? All we can say is that the children will have a lot of fun with it for a long time to come.
Angila Paikar-Megaiz has been working at SupplyOn for five and a half years as a Scrum Master for Invoicing / Procure to Pay (P2P). She not only works in an agile manner - she also learns in this way: Angila continuously builds up her knowledge via digital learning platforms. In this interview, you can find out about the advantages of self-organized learning and which courses she recommends: How does self-organized learning via digital learning platforms effectively support you in advancing your professional development?I think platforms like LinkedIn Learning and Udemy are amazing because they help me save a lot of time: Instead of reading a lot of books and researching topics in detail first, they allow me to watch the video recordings that are relevant to me in a flexible and condensed way.It allows me to adjust my learning pace, stop or repeat the videos and study when, where and as much as I want. The recordings contain both a theoretical and a practical part. They convey knowledge in a very compact way. Which is very helpful for me at work.What tangible benefits do you see in allowing employees to learn on their own and in an agile way, rather than waiting for formal training programs?Especially in IT software development, today's content will be outdated tomorrow. The latest content on learning platforms is modern and up to date. This helps me stay updated.Continuing standard education programs sometimes contain outdated content. In addition, formal training programs may not be specific enough.Learning platforms allow me to search agilely for the knowledge I need now and retrieve it in a targeted manner.Could you share some of your favorite courses or topics that you've discovered through LinkedIn Learning that have been particularly inspiring to you?I enjoyed the technical courses on Docker and Kubernetes. But there are also some great soft skills courses. Rhetoric classes, for example, that I can recommend to others.How do you integrate self-organized learning into your daily work and how do you find the right balance between learning and your daily tasks?I set appointment blockers for this in my calendar. I actively register for some training sessions and receive appointment invitations. But I also have regular, self-set appointment blockers and learn on an individual basis.Furthermore, my managers support me very much in this. On the one hand, I have annual development meetings in which we set further training goals. On the other hand, they support my method of adding appointment blockers to my calendar.Of course, it's also challenging keeping to my own deadlines and not continuing to work, which I enjoy doing. And there are also phases that are so stressful that I don't attend the learning sessions.However, it has proven successful for me to continuously build up my knowledge in this way, and to acquire knowledge for my work in such a demand-oriented way that I always return to my routine of learning. This way I always stay up to date.Are there particular successes that you can directly attribute to your self-organized learning?Definitely! In my role as Scrum Master, there have been situations where I wanted to know specifically how I can react even better to certain feedback, for example.This is where I did a specific search via LinkedIn Learning and found soft-skill training that helped me with my issue. I immediately put my knowledge into practice, and it worked well.On the technical side, I took self-study courses on DevOps and was able to apply my knowledge here directly for SupplyOn and therefore drive the topic of DevOps forward internally.Thank you, Angila, for the great insights and tips! Angila's report has piqued your interest and you would also like to join a company that promotes self-organized learning? You are committed, curious and want to use your potential and continuously develop personally and professionally? Find out about our current open positions here: SupplyOn Group
Beginning of July, SupplyOn hosted a Supplier Community Event on the topic of Company Carbon Footprint (CCF) to promote the importance of measuring and reducing carbon footprints within the supply chain. The event was a collaborative initiative of Continental, Bosch, Schaeffler, and Vitesco Technologies, and was run and supported by SupplyOn.The event focused on encouraging suppliers to accurately measure and report their carbon emissions. The tool to do so is provided by SupplyOn through a survey, which allows the information to be obtained very efficiently. The data collected that way is crucial in determining the environmental impact of the supply chain and can help identify areas for improvement. The event aimed to raise awareness about the importance of carbon footprint measurement and provide guidance on calculating and tracking emissions.Throughout the session, experts from the participating companies emphasized the necessity for sustainable business practices. Andrej Antipov from Bosch highlighted the alignment between all companies involved, emphasizing the shared goal of implementing CO2 reporting and reduction measures across the supply chain. As part of Bosch’s climate action activities, the company keeps an eye on emissions in the upstream and downstream stages of its value chain (scope 3). Bosch has the goal to cut such CO2 emissions by 15 percent in absolute terms by 2030 compared with the baseline year 2018.Veronika Leutgäb from Continental discussed their commitment to renewable energy and the importance of suppliers having a roadmap toward using electricity from renewable sources. Continental has joined the global RE100 initiative committing to using green electricity and expects its suppliers to do the same. By increasing the use of renewable energy, CO2 emissions can be significantly reduced throughout the supply chain.The event provided a platform for companies to learn from each other and exchange best practices for measuring and reducing carbon footprints. It was an opportunity for suppliers to understand the expectations of their customers in terms of environmental impact and to work towards aligning their practices with sustainability goals.A major step in driving environmental awareness among business partnersSupplyOn's CCF event marked an important step in promoting environmental consciousness and sustainability within the supply chain. By encouraging suppliers to accurately measure and report their carbon emissions, companies can work together toward creating a greener and cleaner supply chain for a sustainable future.Continental further emphasized its commitment to sustainability and indicated that they are working on enhancing its supplier evaluation process to give greater weightage to sustainability aspects, including carbon neutrality and responsible value chains.Markus Oberender also emphasized that Vitesco Technologies is interested to learn about the general strategy and roadmap of suppliers, e.g., when will they start using only renewable energy and when do they plan on becoming carbon neutral.The Schaeffler Group set itself the goal of achieving climate-neutral operations and reducing CO2 emissions in both in-house production and the supply chain by 2040 – for example, by using renewable energies. Sophia Schmid, from Schaeffler, expressed the importance of the CCF survey in gaining transparency from their suppliers. The survey results will be considered in future supply chain evaluations, underlining their commitment to sustainable sourcing decisions. Vitesco Technologies supported that expression by emphasizing the seriousness of the topic. For them, this will be one of the major issues for the next years. Therefore, the sooner the suppliers start the better.Overall, the event was a huge success, showcasing not only the collaboration of industry leaders in promoting sustainable business practices but also the commitment of their suppliers to support this joint effort. The collaborative endeavor of SupplyOn, Continental, Bosch, Schaeffler, and Vitesco Technologies highlights the importance of measuring and reducing carbon footprints in creating a more environmentally conscious supply chain.
In the current economic predicament, one of the ways out for manufacturing companies is through supply chain thinking, research and practice. For more than 20 years, SupplyOn has not only provided leading supply chain solutions for intelligent collaboration and visualization in the industrial sector, but also has a leading global customer base in the industry and the best industry ecosystem with more than 140,000 active suppliers.From SupplyOn's point of view, the successes and awards that have been and are being achieved cannot be separated from the various forces behind the company, including a progressive corporate culture, executives with forward-looking strategic thinking, excellent teams and so on. SupplyOn aims to build a "Channel Partner Ecosystem" in China by sharing our many years of success and experience with our partners, and the participation of our partners will also become an irreplaceable source of strength behind SupplyOn's continued success.The so-called "Channel Partner Ecosystem" is initiated by SupplyOn, which fully considers the interests of the channel and utilizes the "Channel Leading Strategy" to vigorously promote and provide effective suggestions to partners, aggregate services, complement capabilities, and achieve mutual benefit and a win-win situation. In short, based on the general environment of digital transformation, SupplyOn will actively share expertise and experience in supply chain solutions with partners, and both parties will cooperate to develop and further expand their business scope.Stronger together: mutual benefits and win-win results are the key to successSupplyOn will continue to expand and support its channel business in China, provide high-quality services to customers, accelerate the promotion of SupplyOn solutions and services, and actively support more Chinese high-quality manufacturing enterprises in their global layout.SupplyOn is always actively seeking like-minded partners. If you want to take advantage of digital transformation to embark on a journey of intelligent solutions, we welcome you to join the SupplyOn Channel Partner Ecosystem. SupplyOn will help you build a professional team, support your customer practice and connect efficient empowerment markets through online and offline channels. The first channel partner meeting will be held in October in Shanghai.If you would like to become our channel partner, please click here.
Time flies! Twelve weeks have gone by again: We present the work of our development teams in the solutions Supplier Quality Management, Invoicing and AirSupply. Supplier Quality ManagementThe goal of the last three months was to create more transparency for the customer and supplier in the Technical Review solution by means of a new status display in the navigation area: As a result, the users can now easily identify the categories in which questions have already been answered. They can also immediately check which categories contain questions that have been accepted, not accepted, or tentatively confirmed. InvoicingThe user interface of SupplyOn Invoicing has been rebuilt from the ground up — both in terms of design and functionality: Users can now see a lot faster which functions are available to them and how they can use them.Thanks to the revision of the invoice validation, it is now possible to identify and correct potential validation errors more easily.All lists, such as the invoice list, now have a full table view with extended display options. For example, the users can more easily show and hide columns, sort, move or filter them as needed.Even non-registered suppliers can now view the processing status of invoices in the Payment Status Overview. They no longer have to contact the customer's support team and get the information they need much faster.Find more information about the new user interface here. AirSupplyThe last few months have also been dedicated to making it even easier for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to use the AirSupply SCM solution. The Easy Starter Package includes process simplifications as well as a streamlined message format that can be implemented even without any mapping experience. The new preconfigured software enables a stable and encrypted exchange oforder data,order confirmation dataand forecast data. In the Scaled Agile Framework, one development period seamlessly follows the next. So stay tuned to find out which new features we will develop in the next Program Increment.
