Global Footprint

Footprint strategy

Strategic guidelines for footprint design

Entry into new markets, competitive pressure, risk mitigation or entrepreneurial goals: There are various motives for developing a global footprint. It is therefore essential that you keep your company’s overarching strategy in mind and go through a targeted and coherent design process.

We analyze your existing value creation network and develop suitable strategic guidelines based on this analysis and your corporate guidelines, on the basis of which the Global Footprint can be created. To do this, we overlay the goals, requirements, risks and opportunities from your company’s strategy and organization, the market environment and global political events. Our experts structure the thematic diversity and support you in developing a uniform target image for your company’s global footprint.

Our service packages:

• Align plans with corporate strategy
• Carry out market, environment and risk analyses
• Identify fields of action for the Global Footprint
• Derive strategic design guidelines

Your benefit:

1. You develop a target image for your Global Footprint
2. They ensure the strategic conformity of the Global Footprint
3. You receive a basis for harmonizing the different perspectives within the company

Procurement and sales market strategies

Value creation in harmony with supply and demand

If your company thinks and acts internationally, your global footprint must also exploit the opportunities of global procurement markets on the one hand and take into account the requirements of your customers worldwide on the other. Depending on the market segment and region, different strategies are required for procurement and sales.

The procurement strategy must aim to ensure that your production network is supplied in line with demand. Your company should take advantage of the different local characteristics of the global procurement markets – especially with regard to specific skills and the respective cost structure – in order to generate purchasing advantages and at the same time create the conditions for short and resilient supply chains.

The aim of the sales market strategy is to ensure that your customers are supplied quickly and cost-effectively. Depending on the market characteristics, suitable supply concepts should be selected. These can take the form of a local-for-local approach, local stocks or centralized value-added structures.

We ensure clarity in terms of diversity: our experts work with you to develop the right strategies for both areas. With the support of advanced analysis methods (e.g. product mining and AI research), we identify strategically relevant market segments and regions for you.

Our service packages:

• Analyze supplier networks
• Analyzing the procurement market with AI support
• Work out market requirements
• Perform powerful market analysis with product mining
• Integrating the potential of the supplier and sales market into the Global Footprint

Your benefit:

1. They ensure a reliable supply of goods in their footprint
2. You focus your footprint on high-growth and high-margin sales markets

Flow of goods and trade barriers

Transport goods quickly and smoothly

In international trade in particular, the flow of goods must be designed intelligently and flexibly to ensure rapid and uninterrupted transportation. Trade barriers always cost time and money. This is why internationally active companies must think ahead and continuously monitor and analyze customs tariffs, import and export restrictions, technical standards and other regulations.

We advise you on the optimal design of your goods flows and on overcoming trade barriers in the global footprint. We examine the potential financial impact of changing framework conditions and design efficient and resilient transport routes for your logistics network.

Our service packages:

• Identify and evaluate global trade barriers in target countries
• Develop import and export strategy
• Evaluate the impact of the flow of goods in monetary terms

Your benefit:

1. You gain transparency about the trade barriers in your global footprint
2. You get clarity on the financial implications for the Global Footprint

Risk management and flexibility

How to counter future risks

The operational risks for an internationally active company are manifold: political and social changes, competitive pressure and currency fluctuations are just as much a part of this as, for example, the theft of intellectual property. However, changing framework conditions can be enough to jeopardize the profitability of an international value creation network as a whole. For this reason, it is important to establish a robust risk management system and to organize the global footprint flexibly. This enables companies to take appropriate precautions and respond to such challenges in a targeted manner.

We support you in protecting your operational performance as well as possible from negative impacts and strengthening the resilience of your global footprint to external challenges. To do this, we identify the relevant risks and assess their potential impact. We ensure long-term stability by developing risk mitigation strategies on the one hand, and optimal flexibility on the other: to this end, we examine various scenarios on the basis of which we adapt your global footprint.

Our service packages:

• Identifying and assessing risks in the Global Footprint
• Develop risk mitigation strategies
• Adapting the global footprint to the requirements of risk management
• Evaluate different scenarios

Your benefit:

1. You are prepared for the risks in your footprint
2. You shape a flexible global value creation network

Cost structures and benchmarking

Use international cost advantages

The differing costs for resources, services and production in other countries and regions are a key reason for many companies to operate a global value creation network. Their existing cost structures are often no longer sufficient to remain competitive in the medium to long term.

What cost structures does your company need to be successful in the long term? With cost comparisons and benchmarking within and outside your existing network, we support you in using international cost structures to your advantage by shaping your global footprint accordingly. If your international competition puts you under strong price pressure, we can simulate this as well as possible cost advantages that are possible through changes within existing value creation structures.

Our service packages:

• Identify cost drivers
• Carry out cost comparisons in your network
• Create cost comparisons with competitors

Your benefit:

1. You know the cost drivers that can be influenced by a global footprint
2. You understand the possible changes to cost structures as a result of a new global footprint

Technology and infrastructure

The right technologies at the right locations

Depending on how a location is to be set up, the plant there needs suitable technologies. Perhaps you would like to implement a decentralized footprint in which identical production technologies are available at several locations (“local for local”)? Or is it necessary to centralize individual manufacturing or product technologies? What consequences does this have for the stability and flexibility of your supply chains? What is the right level of automation for your low-wage locations?

We analyze the technology requirements and competencies of your locations and products and compare them with the footprint strategy. With a comprehensive, economic-technological evaluation, we work out the optimum technology configuration within your value creation network and derive the necessary infrastructure measures for the various locations.

Our service packages:

• Determine the technological focus of the locations
• Allocate technologies to their sites
• Evaluate economic efficiency

Your benefit:

1. You know which technologies are to be provided for which location
2. You can develop the infrastructure of your locations in a targeted manner

Cooperation and acquisition

Expanding your own opportunities with partnerships

Whether you intensify existing partnerships or find new partners: By creating synergies, gaining local market access or establishing a global reach, you strengthen your global footprint. Which type of partnership really suits your plans – cooperation, joint venture or company acquisition?

We show you how partnerships can strengthen your global footprint. To do this, we analyze the strengths and weaknesses of your international value creation structures. We then evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of different partnerships for your global footprint so that you can go on a targeted search and establish an optimal negotiating position in advance.

Our service packages:

• Identify the strengths and weaknesses of your international value creation structures
• Identify and evaluate partnership potential
• Evaluate advantages and disadvantages in the context of your Global Footprint

Your benefit:

1. You know the potential of different partnership models in your global footprint
2. You can look for and enter into new partnerships in a targeted manner

Value creation network and localization

Developing a coherent overall picture from individual decisions

Localization of products and technologies is essential for the realization of the global footprint. The planning of such an internationally oriented value creation network brings with it numerous challenges. At which locations will which components or products be produced with which technology in the future? What can efficient and resilient supply chains look like and how can they be developed? The configuration of the value creation network is a composition of many individual decisions, both large and small. Each individual decision can interact with other measures. This makes it all the more important to check that everything is in line with the planned strategy in order to avoid unwanted collateral damage.

We ensure that you can make conscious and fact-based decisions by providing you with a fundamental system. Based on the existing strategies and framework conditions, we work with you to configure the future value creation network.

We define exactly to what extent your production can and should be localized and, on this basis, develop different variants for how it can be allocated to individual locations. In addition to the operations analysis, we also evaluate the profitability of the project and use our many years of expertise to show you the advantages and disadvantages of the individual footprint variants. We determine the value flows in the model and work with you to develop the optimum global footprint for you.

Our service packages:

• Allocate products to your locations
• Develop different options for your footprint
• Evaluate value flows for the Footprint
• Evaluate economic efficiency

Your benefit:

1. You receive your future-oriented footprint
2. You receive a transparent presentation of the economic efficiency
3. You know the building blocks for realizing the Footprint

Location selection

Expanding the production network with a new location

Location decisions are among the most important decisions a company makes and are therefore at the heart of footprint design. This makes it all the more important to think through the selection process carefully: in addition to the company’s individual situation, economic, political and legal location factors are particularly relevant in the selection process.

With many years of experience and a global network, we support you in setting up a comprehensive decision-making process for site selection . Our consultants search for possible locations for you and evaluate them transparently and comprehensibly according to jointly agreed criteria. In order to secure the decision, we visit a selection of preferred locations together with you during the selection process and familiarize you with local conditions and partners.

Our service packages:

• Identify suitable locations in North America, Europe and Asia
• Evaluate locations according to individually tailored criteria
• Present potential locations on organized site visits
• Evaluate location options economically

Your benefit:

1. You will be guided through a detailed and transparent selection process
2. You get to know the locations personally during visits
3. You receive valuable local contacts
4. You have a sound basis for deciding on a location

Sustainability

From global footprint to ecological footprint

Are ESG criteria relating to environmental protection, social responsibility and governance important to you or are you subject to corresponding national regulations? Then sustainability and the ecological footprint of your company should play an appropriate role in the development of your global footprint. How do you achieve a sensible compromise between profitability and ecology that preserves your corporate values and at the same time ensures your company’s success?

We help you to achieve an ecologically and economically sustainable footprint. For the various locations in your corporate network, we evaluate how compliance with ESG criteria can be achieved. In particular, we create_{CO2 balances} for different footprint variants, which then serve as part of the evaluation criteria for further decisions.

Our service packages:

• Working out the_{carbon footprint} of supply chains
• Evaluate ESG criteria for the Footprint
• Developing a sustainable footprint
• Define fields of action of the carbon footprint

Your benefit:

1. They ensure a sustainable footprint
2. You bring your corporate values to the entire corporate network