August 2024 marked the launch of one of the most impor­tant strategic initia­tives in purchasing at the Uhlmann Group: ONE Procure­ment. A lot has happened since then – and there is even more to come. 

The demands on purchasing are constantly increasing – glob­ally, digi­tally, and strate­gi­cally. With ONE Procure­ment, the Uhlmann Group is sending a clear signal: Purchasing is being rethought – more effi­ciently, coor­di­nated across the group, and with a focus on the future.

The starting point was chal­lenging: varying degrees of matu­rity in the purchasing depart­ments, some of which were very oper­a­tional, and syner­gies that were hardly being exploited. But this is exactly where ONE Procure­ment comes in – with a clear goal: a group-wide purchasing strategy that involves and strengthens all Group Compa­nies.

In September 2024, all purchasing managers from the Group Compa­nies gath­ered in Laupheim to kick off the strategy together at the offi­cial ONE Procure­ment kick-off work­shop. The focus was on the central strategy topics: Organ­i­sa­tion & Human Resources, Commodity Manage­ment, Digital Analytics & Processes and Gover­nance & Strategy.

What does this mean specif­i­cally for the Group Compa­nies?

What makes ONE Procure­ment rele­vant for you—and how do you want to get involved?

What are the high­lights of the strategy?

• Global product group lead: Strategic respon­si­bility lies with purchasers from the various Group Compa­nies – with the aim of devel­oping and success­fully imple­menting cross-group and global strate­gies.
• Spend-Cube & Procure­ment Cockpit: Digital tools for trans­parency and control.
• Group-wide stan­dards & guide­lines: Uniform processes, RACI matrix, and clear distri­b­u­tion of roles.
• Commodity strategy: From milling and turning to elec­tronics and indi­rect spend. Imple­men­ta­tion in several waves to opti­mize procure­ment in terms of mate­rials, supplier base, and condi­tions.
• Goal: Signif­i­cant savings – through group-wide bundling of require­ments, access to global procure­ment markets, and targeted expan­sion of the supplier base for our Group Compa­nies.

Strong together: Group Compa­nies drive the strategy forward

The imple­men­ta­tion of the ONE Procure­ment Strategy is no longer just a concept – it is being actively put into prac­tice. The purchasers at the Group Compa­nies are already working hard on the strategic orien­ta­tion and contributing their exper­tise in a targeted manner. A partic­u­larly valu­able mile­stone was the joint work­shop on “Strate­gies in Commodity Manage­ment” in May 2025, where specific commodi­ties were iden­ti­fied and prior­i­tized.

In addi­tion to the tech­nical content, networking among colleagues also played a central role. Personal exchange not only promotes mutual under­standing, but also creates the basis for trusting and effi­cient coop­er­a­tion across company bound­aries. Espe­cially in a complex procure­ment envi­ron­ment, this networking is a deci­sive factor for success.

What oppor­tu­ni­ties or chal­lenges do you see in imple­men­ta­tion?

What’s next? What specific projects are in the pipeline?

The trans­for­ma­tion has begun

The trans­for­ma­tion roadmap is in place: from appointing global commodity team leaders to devel­oping and imple­menting group-wide commodity strate­gies to the first work­shops on the Smart2PO vision. The goal here is to funda­men­tally trans­form the cost-opti­mized design and procure­ment of machine compo­nents through the use of AI and automa­tion.

What are the concrete bene­fits of the project?

• Auto­mated award deci­sions based on perfor­mance and price
• Cost fore­casts and actual/target analyses for the entire parts port­folio
• Deter­mi­na­tion of rele­vant para­me­ters such as CO₂ foot­print or customs tariff numbers
• Increased effi­ciency through auto­mated master data main­te­nance, supplier commu­ni­ca­tion, and dead­line moni­toring

A look to the East – the China Sourcing Hub as a strategic lever

A partic­u­larly impor­tant project within the ONE Procure­ment Strategy is the estab­lish­ment of our China Sourcing Hub with our Group Company Wonder Packing Machinery as a strategic partner. The aim is to leverage the advan­tages of the Asian supplier base specif­i­cally for our Euro­pean loca­tions – and thus strengthen the compet­i­tive­ness of the Uhlmann Group in the long term.

In July 2025, a visit to Wonder was on the agenda. Together with Corpo­rate Procure­ment, Wonder’s suppliers were assessed on site to gain first-hand insight into their quality, perfor­mance, and poten­tial. This exchange forms an impor­tant basis for the further expan­sion of the China Sourcing Hub and strategic coop­er­a­tion with our Asian part­ners.

During this visit, the expanded busi­ness rela­tion­ship with Wonder as a hub service provider was also final­ized, laying the foun­da­tion for even closer, long-term, and strategic coop­er­a­tion.

Why is this so impor­tant?

The economic condi­tions in Europe have changed signif­i­cantly: mate­rial, personnel, and energy costs are rising sharply, while Asia continues to offer attrac­tive price advan­tages. By local­izing the ECO700 to Wonder, high-perfor­mance suppliers from the local purchasing orga­ni­za­tion have been qual­i­fied, and we want to leverage their cost advan­tages for our Euro­pean loca­tions without taking on signif­i­cant supply risks.  

What is behind the project?

What makes the China Sourcing Hub so rele­vant for you?

The journey with ONE Procure­ment has only just begun – and it promises great things. Readers can look forward to a host of exciting devel­op­ments.

With the courage to embrace change, tech­no­log­ical curiosity, and a shared commit­ment to imple­men­ta­tion, ONE Procure­ment will not only take the Uhlmann Group’s purchasing func­tion to the next level – it will also make it future-proof, resilient, and strate­gi­cally excel­lent.