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Over 4,500 projects worldwide

Launched in 2001, the ThyssenKrupp best program notched up a record number of projects in the past fiscal year. At September 30, 2005 the total number of projects reached 4,542, of which 2,343 had already been successfully completed. In line with the program's underlying concept, many of the projects can be transferred to other areas of the Group. This is true for example of the Groupwide travel management system and the intranet-based ideas management system.

The chief task in 2004/2005 was to implement projects already defined, identify further scope for improvement, and strengthen cross-segment knowledge transfer. Project work continued to focus on four main areas: operating efficiency, sales, quality management and capital productivity, which account for around 80% of the projects. In addition, there are initiatives to optimize purchasing, enhance knowledge and innovation management, and strengthen the involvement of employees and executives. This broad spectrum shows that ThyssenKrupp best unlocks significantly more value-enhancement potential than, for example, conventional cost-reduction programs.

The program is now firmly established worldwide, with over 60% of all projects taking place outside Germany. As well as companies in Europe, North, Central and South America, an increasing number of subsidiaries in Asia are also participating in ThyssenKrupp best. At the end of the reporting period, Europe was the region with the highest number of projects – almost 2,600 – most of these concentrated in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom. Over 1,500 projects were under way on the American continent – in the USA, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. Project teams in Asia and the Pacific region were working on over 200 projects altogether, many of them in China and Korea. Almost 200 projects were organized on a cross-country basis.

The importance of the program was again underlined by numerous visits by Executive Board members of ThyssenKrupp AG and the segment lead companies to projects in Germany and abroad.

The sales initiative launched in 2003/2004 again achieved significant success in the reporting period. A total of 435 projects helped access new markets, intensify customer relations and optimize the product mix.

ThyssenKrupp best  projects worldwide

 

Purchasing initiative adds new focus

A new focus has been added by the purchasing initiative, under which more than 250 new projects were launched in the reporting period. Scheduled for a period of at least three years, this new ThyssenKrupp best initiative will not only strengthen the Group's earning power but also enhance the quality of purchasing functions at Group subsidiaries. Under the initiative, existing ThyssenKrupp best activities relating to purchasing are being brought together, and new action fields identified and implemented in concrete projects. In their work the project teams have the support of various purchasing tools, serving both commercial (linear performance pricing, global sourcing, supplier management) and technical (design-to-cost, product/process benchmarking) purposes. After intensive training events in Germany and abroad attended by some 200 participants, pilot projects were conducted in all segments which were completed in May 2005. The Groupwide rollout then began with numerous projects.

Groupwide knowledge transfer intensified

A central element of ThyssenKrupp best is the efficient organization of knowledge transfer. Accessible throughout the Group, the web-based project management database best plaza is particularly important to this as it provides comprehensive information on all projects and permits rapid Groupwide transfer of project-related expertise. Over 4,500 employees worldwide now use this system. Also in the reporting period we again provided intensive support for Groupwide knowledge transfer through cross-segment training courses in Germany and abroad, method collections and best practice examples.

Awards for successful projects

In the year under review the now traditional ThyssenKrupp best Award was won by six project teams from the Steel, Automotive, Elevator, Technologies and Services segments and ThyssenKrupp AG. Their efforts helped optimize operating, planning and production processes and achieve substantial cost reductions. The significant feature of the award-winning projects is that they can be transferred to other areas of the Group where they will also reduce costs. The competition will be held again in fiscal year 2005/2006.