[CASE STUDY]: Kaiser + Kraft GmbH

The following Q&A session was held between Market Dojo and Eva Nickolaus, Director of Logistics at the KAISER + KRAFT GmbH

Please tell me about yourself, your role in the company and how you got involved in procurement.

My name is Eva Nickolaus and I am Director of Logistics at the KAISER + KRAFT Group. In this role I am responsible for the design of the transport network within the company.

Please describe in your own words the business areas in which your company operates.

As a mail order company, KAISER + KRAFT supplies B2B customers with operating and business equipment, from desk chairs and pallet lift trucks to high-performance shelving.

Why did you contact Market Dojo for the first time and how did you find out about us?

We first turned to Market Dojo when looking for assistance with our tenders. We were looking for a tool that would allow us to consolidate all of our documents, prices, and responses into a single repository. The real goal is to easily compare our suppliers’ prices to ensure we are making the right decisions in the supply chain.

What were your requirements for the service you were looking for?

When determining our desired requirements, it was important that the software was easy and straightforward to use. Of the other solutions we looked at, Sourcing Dojo was the best fit when it came to ease of use and intuitive design.

How was your interaction with the Market Dojo team?

Our interaction with Market Dojo was very good. We got a particular benefit from the support team via Market Dojo’s live chat. The chat feature was especially useful when we were first using the tool and were still exploring all of the features available. The team has been very helpful throughout.

What events have you organised? Which categories?

We have used Sourcing Dojo for multiple tenders including questionnaires and price inquiries. Several freight forwarding suppliers were invited to tenders in different regions to submit their best price for their delivery service.

How do you rate our service?

The Sourcing Dojo portal is extremely easy to use which is one of the main advantages that we saw from the start. This had a big influence on our decision to select Sourcing Dojo as our software provider. As mentioned earlier, the support team has been extremely helpful and available not only to our internal users but also to our suppliers.

Has Sourcing Dojo solved the problems that you had?

Yes, evaluating RFI questions with a points system through Sourcing Dojo is very easy and convenient and has alleviated our problems. However, in the request, some users did not use the tool correctly and filled in their bids via the Excel download and uploaded the document to the tool again. While this is due to a problem with supplier training, it does require significant evaluation. Market Dojo has a variety of buyer and supplier training materials on its website that can help resolve this issue.

Were there any other benefits / gains from Market Dojo that you did not expect?

Yes, the standardization of submitting bids means that each supplier must submit their bid in the centralized Sourcing Dojo solution. All data is then securely stored in the tool, even if you have to access it again many years later.

Have you received feedback from the participants (suppliers)?

The participants had different experiences depending on the market. In Switzerland, the suppliers responded excellently to the tender and there were no problems. As already mentioned, in Poland some bids were not submitted as a “bid” via Sourcing Dojo, but the file was saved as an Excel download, filled in and uploaded again. A systemic comparison was therefore not possible and then had to be carried out again manually. However, we understand that this is not a disadvantage of the software itself, just a problem due to a lack of supplier training. Unfortunately, it is not suitable for some of our advanced requirements as we use an extensive matrix of price ranges. However, with Sourcing Dojo’s ability to upload through Excel, we can fix this problem.

How do you find Sourcing Dojo compared to using email with all communication taking place in the tool?

We found that using Sourcing Dojo is extremely convenient in terms of being able to send messages to all attendees. However, in some cases we have found that communication via email is still required after this. An example of this was when we made a mistake while uploading to the platform. However, we wanted to correct this for all participants, as one participant had already placed a bid. Unfortunately, this was not possible as it can rightly influence the result of the tender if the participants are familiar with different or more information. Therefore, we had to email the corrected file to every supplier outside of the tool.

Would you recommend Sourcing Dojo to others?

I would definitely recommend Sourcing Dojo. For companies that want to save time and money in their tendering processes and simply want to work together

To find out more about Kaiser + Kraft, please click here.

About Market Dojo

Market Dojo offer an array of capabilities to help procurement professionals get the most out of their sourcing and supplier engagement activities.

Whether you’re looking to run ‘on the spot’ eAuctions, revamp your Supplier Onboarding process, or simply a safe place to store your all important supplier contracts, we have the tools to help.

We believe in making better eSourcing a reality for all procurement teams, regardless of location, experience or budgets. All our products are fully on demand, designed by procurement professionals and built with a focus on ease of use.