Why Knorr-Bremse Chose JAGGAER for Supplier Collaboration

When it comes to enterprise procurement and supplier collaboration, JAGGAER is nothing less than a global leader. 

Backed by 30 years of expertise, its proven AI-powered, industry-specific solutions, services, and partnerships enable all manner of organisations to manage complex supplier bases.

The company’s next major project is to support Knorr-Bremse, itself a world leader in the manufacture of braking systems and a leading supplier of other safety-critical systems for rail and commercial vehicles, with the digitalisation of its supplier communication. 

JAGGAER’s software was chosen following an exhaustive selection process involving several vendors, impressing with its Source-to-Pay suite. 

"One of the main challenges of software solutions for direct procurement is reliably and comprehensively mapping the complex needs of this area,” explains Andreas Piehl, Specialist for Tools & Processes Procurement at Knorr-Bremse Rail Division. 

“Due to its tailored and end-user-friendly solutions, the Source-to-Pay suite from JAGGAER finally prevailed among the competitors and won our contract."

JAGGAER stands out 

Knorr-Bremse’s ongoing goal is to make its collaboration with suppliers even more transparent, strategic and efficient, as well as to further optimise compliance in lieu of increasing requirements and regulations. 

During the final stages of the aforementioned selection process, JAGGAER not only convinced functionally but also through its collaboration with aneon solutions, a subsidiary of the H&Z Group. 

"We quickly realised that JAGGAER and aneon had the right expertise,” continues Andreas. “Our requirements were immediately understood and the team offered us both technological and professional alignment with what we needed.”

Building on this, an extensive test run was conducted in the final decision round, where more than 40 users from Knorr-Bremse locations worldwide – from dispatchers to directors – tested the practicality of the last two solutions within a test environment. 

User feedback was one of the decisive factors in favour of JAGGAER, as was its focus on direct procurement, extensive functional coverage and the clear and easy-to-understand test environment. 

Ultimately, Knorr-Bremse was convinced by the global and functional scalability of JAGGAER’s solutions. 

"We’re very pleased that, after such an intensive selection process, we were awarded the contract by a global player like Knorr-Bremse and that user feedback supported our solutions,” adds Justin Sadler-Smith, SVP Europe at JAGGAER.

“This also confirms that our tools have convinced not only technologically but also in handling. Direct procurement brings specific challenges, so it’s all the more gratifying to know that the Knorr-Bremse team and users trust our expertise.”

A phased implementation

With JAGGAER’s assistance, Knorr-Bremse is planning a phased implementation, introducing and verifying numerous functionalities in the areas of purchasing, quality and supply chain at defined pilot locations before rolling them out globally to all sites.

The challenge for Knorr-Bremse during the implementation project lies in migrating several thousand suppliers worldwide and harmonising numerous different processes.

Looking ahead, the JAGGAER ONE suite will be used at Knorr-Bremse Rail Division, including modules such as Direct Supplier Management, Direct Supplier Performance, Direct Document Management, Direct Sourcing, Spend Analytics and Multi ERP for seamless integration of all globally used ERP systems. 

Christian Keck, Vice President Global Supply Chain Management at Knorr-Bremse Systeme für Nutzfahrzeuge, elaborates: "The commercial vehicle division will implement further modules in the areas of quality and supply chain management to enhance digitalisation.”

Transparent supplier communication

Across the board, JAGGAER is set to contribute to the standardisation of numerous supplier management processes while driving efficiency through automation.

This includes creating a single source of truth for the central provision and transmission of all important data, documentation and certifications, enabling Knorr-Bremse to eliminate previous redundancies and optimise daily and campaign-based communication across locations, 

This begins with processes like supplier onboarding, sharing performance data such as delivery reliability, to standard templates for tendering processes and seamless audit-proof documentation for procurement decisions. 

Moreover, JAGGAER solutions significantly improve collaboration with suppliers, allowing them to manage their master data independently, providing a central platform for exchanging and approving documents like material drawings or directly viewing certificates regarding compliance with legal regulations. 

“From now on,” Andreas concludes, “everything will run uniformly worldwide through one system, creating great added value for all parties involved. 

“Among other things, key processes will be accelerated and communication between us and suppliers will become even more efficient.”

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