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Achieving KPI Transparency in Procurement and Solving Supply Chain Due Diligence Compliance Seamlessly
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KNOLL Maschinenbau GmbH
🏗️ Industry: Machinery Manufacturing
🗺 Headquarters: Bad Saulgau, Germany
🧍 Employees: ~ 1,200 worldwide
🧍 Procurement Team: ~ 15
The family-owned company KNOLL Maschinenbau GmbH, led by the second generation since 1970, is a market leader in the production of conveying and filtration systems for metalworking. KNOLL's products deliver value across industries where metal is machined, including machinery and plant engineering, automotive, aerospace, medical technology, energy technology, and other industrial sectors. As a new business area, KNOLL develops automated assembly and transport systems for manufacturing, such as automated guided vehicles (AGVs). As part of its continued development, the company focuses on internationalization—with existing locations in Asia, the Americas, and Europe—as well as process automation and digitization in production and logistics.
"Tacto offers everything procurement needs to act agilely—all in one place. From spend analytics to supplier management to compliance, including supply chain due diligence. In my opinion, it's the best solution for mid-market companies." - Mario Koch, Head of Procurement
Procurement Challenges
At the turn of 2018/2019, procurement at KNOLL was split into strategic and operational divisions. As procurement's role evolved and KNOLL continued to grow, restructuring became necessary. Unfortunately, SAP offered only limited reporting capabilities and virtually no data visualization.
Decentralization & Lack of Transparency
For example, each buyer manually calculated required KPIs in their own decentralized Excel files. Different calculation methods were used, leading to inconsistent metrics. While one buyer calculated based on order quantities, another used invoice quantities, resulting in time-based discrepancies.
This lack of transparency and decentralized processes were the decisive reasons for KNOLL to intensively pursue procurement digitization in 2021—with a focus on KPI transparency.
The overarching goal was to implement a lean solution that optimally fit KNOLL's procurement structures and requirements. Key priorities included transparency of procurement KPIs such as spend per supplier and identification of high-volume items, as well as standardized metrics that would be centralized and accessible to everyone—including trends, developments, and comparisons over selectable time periods.
Tacto as the Solution
Compared to other solutions, Tacto stood out through its flexibility and agility. Other solutions were too rigid and not suited for mid-market companies or KNOLL's specific requirements. KNOLL has been a cooperation partner of Tacto since the beginning of product development. Through mutual flexibility, both Tacto and KNOLL benefit from the results, as do other Tacto customers.
"Since implementing Tacto, we've significantly improved our processes. When I need specific KPIs for a supplier, I get them within seconds with just a few clicks. I no longer have to compile numbers, calculate unit prices or volumes, or prepare Excel spreadsheets. We're not only faster but also avoid errors. Additionally, the platform allows us to track developments over years and provides a comprehensive overview of data like supplier performance, quantities, and more—all at a glance." - Mario Koch, Head of Procurement
"Tacto significantly simplifies preparation for meetings or negotiations. The necessary information and available opportunities are easy and structured to find, and most importantly, they're reliable and available at the push of a button. Process-wise, this means enormous time savings for me and my colleagues, allowing us to focus on value-adding activities." - Ralf Wäscher, Strategic Buyer
KNOLL started with Tacto's Analytics module to initially improve transparency and centralization of data and processes. With Tacto, the procurement team gains complete transparency over KPIs and opportunities. Procurement spend can be broken down by supplier, item, or category at the push of a button.
This enables KNOLL to continuously identify which items are high-runners and which items should be the focus of the next negotiation. Additionally, Tacto allows KNOLL to track price trends and volume developments in real time, precisely identifying the need for potential price negotiations.
Through the implementation of Tacto, a unified and centralized KPI foundation for procurement was established. Now all buyers refer to the same data regardless of supplier, item, or category—no longer needing to work in decentralized Excel spreadsheets that lead to high error rates.
"The visualization is a particular highlight that doesn't exist in this form in SAP. There you only have tables and screens, but no charts. This visual approach provides significant added value. The ability to display data through graphics not only provides a clear overview but also shows important trends, such as price developments, in an intuitive way." - Daniel Rundel, SAP Process Manager Procurement & Key User Tacto
Solution for Supply Chain Due Diligence Compliance
Beyond procurement topics, KNOLL also addresses supply chain due diligence compliance together with Tacto. With 1,100 employees in Germany, KNOLL has been directly subject to the legislation since early 2024 and is already required to report.
Simplified Compliance Management
KNOLL's goal was to handle supply chain due diligence requirements as lean, straightforward, and—most importantly—as simple as possible for suppliers, while seamlessly integrating into existing systems and processes.
Time Savings Through Minimal Buyer Involvement
Through Tacto's Supply Chain Compliance module, KNOLL achieved significant time savings. Buyers were only minimally involved in the implementation process, substantially reducing the effort. Potential risk suppliers can be filtered at the push of a button, and corrective actions can be initiated immediately.
"Compared to competitors, Tacto offers a simple and intelligent solution: Instead of questionnaires with 40 to 100 questions, we use a targeted questionnaire with only 20 questions, sent exclusively to suppliers with specific needs, without overwhelming them. It was also important to us to be legally compliant." - Mario Koch, Head of Procurement
"Tacto's Supply Chain Compliance module is 100% aligned with the overall supplier module, enabling significant synergy effects and creating a unified working foundation. Tacto offers everything procurement needs to act agilely—all in one place. From spend analytics to supplier management to compliance, including supply chain due diligence. In my opinion, it's the best solution for mid-market companies." - Daniel Rundel, SAP Process Manager Procurement & Key User Tacto
The effort required for supply chain due diligence compliance will now be significantly reduced for KNOLL, as Tacto has provided a solid and future-proof foundation.
Future Outlook with Tacto
KNOLL aims to deepen its use of cost modeling to gain transparency into how raw material prices have developed and changed.
"I see Tacto as a long-term partner for us in procurement. I particularly value the mutual support and collaboration. Even though we're migrating to S4/HANA in 2025, this will in no way replace Tacto. Instead, we plan to deepen our partnership by integrating additional modules and working together on new initiatives." - Mario Koch, Head of Procurement
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Thank you to Mario Koch and the entire KNOLL team for our trusted and collaborative partnership.
Through partners and customers like you, we're able to develop our product in close collaboration and stay connected to the day-to-day realities of procurement, as well as discuss the topics that matter most to mid-market industrial procurement teams in joint webinars.
Learn how KNOLL uses Tacto to achieve KPI transparency in procurement and seamlessly solve supply chain due diligence compliance.
