High-Tech Company Merck Manages Suppliers with JAGGAER SRM Platform

Efficient Contractor Management with JAGGAER

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC – September 20, 2018 : Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company in the fields of healthcare, life science and performance materials, has completed all of its most important functions for external contractor management at its headquarters in Darmstadt, using JAGGAER’s procurement software. The company manages several thousand suppliers with JAGGAER’sSupplier Relationship Management (SRM) platform, reducing manual data management and maintenance, while optimizing supplier relationships and improving the security status of suppliers.

Merck KGaA, Darmsadt, has been carefully honing its processes for years and had reached a significant level of maturity; However, the growing structures led to different parallel IT systems, increasing the need for higher efficiency and a uniform system. “Our greatest challenge in external contractor management was dealing with the large amount of manual data and maintenance. We wanted a solution that would increase data transparency while simultaneously improving our supplier relationships and increasing their security status, ”says Udo Vogler, Head of Performance Management at Merck.

Two years ago, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, selected JAGGAER as a partner to manage suppliers. JAGGAER’s Software as a Service (SaaS) solution provided high level of flexibility, while covering the company’s requirements. JAGGAER’s Contractor Management put the flexibility and versatility of its intelligent procurement software, with more than 40 modules, to the test once again.

Strict Standards Are Easy to Check

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, has compulsory standards for technical contractors. The Technical Contracting department, in coordination with Group Procurement, is responsible for making sure that these standards are met and adhered to. In addition to meeting specific criteria in order to be approved, suppliers are also evaluated and rated based on their performance. Today, JAGGAER has taken over many of these tasks. For example, the system suggests suppliers for different commodities and all others are blocked. A customized Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, template, and the fact that the results are processed using tickets, make it easy to complete evaluations in under a minute. The existing system at Merck was replicated in the new application so that there was almost no change in procedure for the more than 150 company evaluators. The system also automatically generates key figures for internal evaluations and for managing suppliers.

Limited Data Maintenance, Central Availability

New suppliers can easily apply to Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, online using a registration interface. The JAGGAER application then automatically checks for duplicates. This means that Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, no longer has to update information manually, because each supplier is responsible for entering and managing their own data within the system. If important certificates are missing, the supplier can be blocked from new commissions until the required certificates are provided.

The whole company can access supplier data using the central platform. The automatic reminder notifications ensure improved data maintenance because the users are reminded to complete certain actions. Data and contractor management is also centrally accessible.

Apart from the accounting system, all of Merck’s external contracting processes at the Darmstadt location are now completed using the JAGGAER platform. Around 500 users and several thousand suppliers are managed and monitored using the platform. JAGGAER’s Integrated Supplier Application (ISA), covers all of the main elements of managing the performance of contractors, such as contractor registration, management, direction, and maintenance, as well as evaluation, the sample generator system, and the security database.

“JAGGAER helps us to control the number of suppliers much more efficiently and to increase the quality of the supplier’s performance,” says Udo Vogler, who is pleased with the results.

About JAGGAER: Global Indirect and Direct Spend Management Solutions

JAGGAER is the world’s largest independent spend management company, with 2,000 customers connected to a network of 4 million suppliers in 70 countries, served by offices located in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Australia and Asia. JAGGAER offers complete SaaS-based Source to Pay eProcurement solutions with advanced Spend Analytics, Sourcing, Supplier Management, Contract Lifecycle Management, Savings Tracking and intelligent workflow capabilities. JAGGAER has pioneered spend solutions for over two decades and continues to lead the innovation curve by listening to customers and analyzing the market. Our solution suites are trusted by the world’s largest manufacturing, education, health care, retail, consumer package goods, logistics, construction, utilities companies and public service organizations.