“ It will probably take us two years to get back where we started but we expect everything to increase as projected before .”
Grothe firmly believes that this is also an opportunity to learn and adapt , and to use Covid to push for even greater digitalization .
“ There ’ s an amazing energy in the room right now . Suppliers who have been slow to adapt to digital , we can push them right now . I expect this to boost productivity . We can use that energy and when the crisis is managed , we want to focus on what I call responsible procurement ,” he says .
“ This means corporate social responsibility ( CSR ) from us and our strategic suppliers .”
Grothe admits that he has personally invested a lot into DB ’ s culture because he wants to make procurement the place to be within the company . So whereas just 10 years ago , no one really wanted to work in the procurement department because it was mainly seen as boring – just writing orders all day – the culture has shifted .
“ I think we as a procurement management team have already made this a great place to be ,” Grothe concludes . “ We are close to world-class and people are proud to work here .”
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