Managing growth and anticipating market trends by optimizing logistics and supply chains

Remaining competitive by optimizing logistics

Founded in 1967 by Robert Bosch GmbH and Siemens AG, BSH Hausgeräte GmbH, or BSH Home Appliances (BSH), is a global leader in home appliance manufacturing. The company includes the well-known flagship brands of Siemens and Bosch and other brands such as Neff, Constructa, Junker, Balay and Thermador. Today, as a wholly-owned Robert Bosch subsidiary, BSH employs over 63,000 people, maintains 39 production facilities around the world and operates in a highly dynamic, global and increasingly changing marketplace.

To remain nimble and competitive in a changing market, BSH needs to continually analyze and strategically optimize its logistics networks. In support of this, the Global Planning and Logistics department established a Supply Chain Network Design (SCND) team. The task incorporates running six to seven network studies per year and enabling the identification of network setup improvements as well as preparing tenders for external logistics services
(warehousing and transportation).

"Our objectives include the identification of the size and location of the facilities, defining the product flow routes and calculating the associated logistics costs,” says Bart Meers, global executive head of logistics for warehousing at BSH. “Other recurring themes include distributing and organizing inventory, streamlining storage levels, cutting handling costs and enhancing customer service levels.”

As a solution, BSH, with support from Siemens Digital Industries Software, found the Siemens Digital Logistics Supply Chain Suite software, which is part of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform of software, hardware and services.

Establishing an in-house solution and study basis standards

Before landing on the Supply Chain Suite software as a solution, BSH did not have the in-house technological capacity for data-driven modeling, analysis and optimization of its logistics networks. “We had neither the software nor the standardized methodology to design our own supply chain network,” says Meers. As a result, BSH had to turn to outside consultants to run these studies. However, the lack of uniform standards meant that implementation was inconsistent.

Often, the other companies owned the models, or they were stuck using one-time solutions, reducing visibility and making it difficult to repeat the studies. Naturally, BSH wanted to standardize how to conduct studies and establish an in-house solution at the same time. Additionally, since BSH is a global business, which creates a need for studies about a wide variety of regions and countries, the underlying data often varies. What BSH needed was a robust modeling strategy with flexible software.

Using the Supply Chain Suite to solve logistics issues

BSH found the smart software solution it was looking for in the Supply Chain Suite, which it has used since June 2021 to create data models of its logistics networks. With this solution, BSH can access various functionalities for visualizing and optimizing its procedures, as well as deploying reusable models for streamlining its workflows. “Using the Supply Chain Suite, we
could create a digital twin of our logistics networks and a reusable template for our studies and models, which we can adjust as necessary,” says Meers. Due to this reusability, BSH can now standardize its processes while reducing errors and the time it takes to run a study by about 50 percent.

“To BSH, the Supply Chain Suite cloud-based model is a clear win,” says Merve Arioglu, project architect on the SCND team at BSH. “It lets us process huge volumes of data and share information, such as entire network models, from anywhere in the world.”

Implementing the solution within a few weeks

One benefit of using the Supply Chain Suite is that BSH was able to implement it quickly. “Thanks to the cloud model in the Supply Chain Suite, we had the software up and running within a few weeks,” says Stefan Hauers, tool expert on the SCND team at BSH. “We were able to conduct basic and various advanced trainings to gain the necessary expertise in our in-house center of excellence.”

undefined

When developing the initial studies, Siemens provided in-depth support to help BSH make the most of the solution and fine-tune the models. “With support from consultants at Siemens, we were able to develop a modeling standard that we can apply internally and extend to other network models,” says Christian-Daniel Schoene, project architect on the SCND team at BSH. “Our team gradually took on more complex and sophisticated tasks until
we are now ultimately also able to run various SCND studies entirely on our own, in-house.”

Helping BSH employees train their colleagues

Since the Supply Chain Suite is so easy to use – due to its cloud deployment and hosting – BSH employees no longer need costly external training. New BSH employees are trained in-house by colleagues to use the Supply Chain Suite solution. Many BSH employees are taught to use the application via a train-the-trainer concept, keeping these skills in-house where
employees can pass them along at any time.

Managing U.S. rollout, growth and costs

Another important benefit of using the Supply Chain Suite is that its real-world value can be seen in managing BSH’s sales growth. “We’re expecting sales growth in the U.S. by 2027,” says Meers. After conducting a data-based study, BSH was able to see how to manage this immense growth logistically.

“North America is one of our key sales regions,” says Meers. “The logistics network there consists of a central distribution center and a host of regional warehouses, with imports coming in from all parts of the world.” Managing the forecasted growth without significantly
increasing costs requires optimizing the storage sites and product flows.

"By leveraging the Supply Chain Suite models, we can determine the expected increase in demand and manage it by using adequate warehouse facilities for the appropriate inventory levels in the central and regional storage sites,” says Meers. By optimizing the layout of existing storage facilities, allocating customers to warehouses and planning replenishment
intervals, BSH capped the rise in logistics costs while improving service levels. BSH is now using this analysis to prepare a call for bids for logistics services. This is just one example of how BSH has successfully deployed the Supply Chain Suite.

Benefiting from reusable models

BSH can now run this type of study and others on its own whenever the need arises. “Thanks to the Supply Chain Suite, we now have the capacity to create our own models and reuse them again and again,” says Meers. “If the underlying data changes or the parameters vary, we can always go back to our preexisting models.”