The project covered the complete re-tendering of the logistics for outgoing goods in all the factories for all of the sectors in 19 European countries. At the start, the main challenge was to check the validity of over 650,000 items of shipping data and to organise them. "For this project, we were full-service providers. We not only made our electronic tool available, but we monitored the whole project as consultants over four months," said Thomas Biendl, Manager of Business Development for the TICONTRACT platform. After the shipment data had been verified, the tendering data were generated and organised. Via a 'Request for Information" (RFI), an appropriate preliminary choice of service providers was made. "Through the extensive pool of service providers and the detailed profile search, we were able to get to know new, interesting Thomas Biendlpartners: they offer the equipment for the tendering process, the corresponding relationships and bring with them the necessary experience. In addition, we invited our existing carriers to tender," says Biendl. A specification document described the relevant details of the requirements and specifics of each customer sector. Alongside the schedule, outline data, range, contractual conditions and sector-specific transport requirements for service providers, requirements regarding personnel, service and quality - such as observing the specific DIN and ISO standards - were also given here. Supplying DIY stores presented a particular challenge: on only one trip, up to eleven unloading points must be reached. In addition, very limited times for the receipt of goods made the conditions of supply more difficult.

"Our customer wanted a tendering process in two rounds, which is very easy to implement through the round management on the platform," Biendl explains. After we had organised the first stage of the tendering process with Klenk and the business consultants, the invited service providers could submit their tenders over four weeks." Using their own user rights, the staff of Klenk followed the tendering process live from beginning to end. In this way, various evaluation scenarios could already be drafted during the tendering and initial allocation strategies could be developed from them. The final results of the analysis by the TICONTRACT experts were made available to the customers and formed the basis of the decisions about invitations to the second round. "Via the evaluation function in the system, you can show the best prices and rankings, as well as simulating different scenarios for the commissioning of service providers," said Biendl. At the same time, the necessary industry-specific knowledge is also brought in. Alongside the price, quality factors, experience, references and the chemistry between the partners in the contract are still decisive in the end. "Personal contact remains the key link," says Hammer. "This is also clear in the concluding personal negotiations after the second round."

"For reasons of capacity, we wanted to have little to do with the operational handling of the tendering process. For that reason, our target for the project team was to supply us with the results of their analysis, which we can then use further," said Hammer. Moreover, the TICONTRACT team was heavily involved in a consultancy role, as the voice of experience and as sparring partners. Among other topics, the amalgamation of supply in individual customer sectors was discussed, as well as the content of the specification documents and supplier contracts. The latter were subsequently made available by TICONTRACT. "Without TICONTRACT, we could never have implemented this project in such a market-transparent way: rapidly, responsively and cost-effectively. The contribution of TICONTRACT paid off for us within a few weeks," said Hammer.