China

Due to sales and cost motives and ongoing globalisation, low-cost procurement markets are increasingly opened up by small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). These enterprises’ long-term success is directly linked to their success on these procurement markets. A procurement strategy which takes local market characteristics into account and fully integrates them will lead to success. The procurement process focuses on the selection of required components and the choice, support and further development of suppliers. The following article presents the “SiLu“ project approach (Sino-German cooperation for the support and further development of suppliers). The SiLu project comprises four SMEs that came together in order to elaborate a joint procurement strategy and to implement it on the Chinese market using their concerted buying power. Besides presenting this project the article focuses on the first project phase, the methodical selection of components and the identification of ...

The increasing competitive pressure leads to a reduction of the depth of value creation and therefore to a rising importance of suppliers. Additionally, globalization is the cause for a tighter international network in production. Asymmetries in interests can obstruct a cooperation between companies and may endanger the commercial success. The article describes asymmetries in interests in the cooperation with local as well as Chinese suppliers.

Due to the economic boom the demand for transport and logistic services increases dramatically in China. Experts promise for the Chinese logistics market a more than three times faster growth than for the German market. China offers not only cheap work force. With the accession to the WTO in 2001 the Chinese government liberalizes the logistics market. After outsourcing abroad and the integration of Chinese suppliers into the worldwide supply networks thousands of companies follow to China to open up the huge interior market with products as well as transport and logistic services.

Given the current and anticipated future economic development in China, annual growth rates around 10 % and the opening of the Chinese market to logistics services, foreign logistics service providers are expecting annual growth of 30 % in this particularly lucrative market segment. One of the greatest challenges is the lack of sufficiently qualified Chinese logistics experts. This presents foreign research organizations and enterprises an opportunity to become active in China.