IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Sharing Solutions: How local approaches enable global success

Setting sail for the coffee business of tomorrow: On course to the first ERP rollout for NGUS

Depicting NKG’s growth in Asia: Insights from Mira Yudhawati and Emily Chua

Smart design for a sustainable future: The Ibero Uganda mill project

Behind the scenes

Mail from NG Comms: A personal Update

Virtual Tour: Berindo Jaya

Faces and portraits

Interview with Thomas Silva

Interview with Marcelo de Paula Nogueira

On a Cupping with Maks Mazurkiewicz

A visit with Kayd Whalen

NKG Integrity Champion: Thumbs up for reliable colleagues

NKG Holding who is who: Introducing Legal Department

Breaking the coffee ceiling: Inspiring women at NKG

Out of the box

Three by Three Questions: EUDR challenges and implementation

Time to take action: Neumann Gruppe donates to the promotion of democracy

At a glance

Recap: What happened in half-year one / 2024

It's your turn

Quiz: Spot the Difference

OUT OF THE BOX

Three by three questions: The supply chain crisis

OUT OF THE BOX

Three by three questions: The supply chain crisis

Supply chain management faced huge challenges in 2021, and there is no relief in sight for 2022. Three experts from our group explain, how supply chain disruptions are challenging NKG and how we are working together to overcome them.

Kay Lohse, Managing Director Internationale Commodity Logistik (ICL)

As a green coffee service provider, what problems do supply chain disruptions cause us?

Worldwide, the schedule reliability of liner shipping companies is currently only 32 % instead of the previous 85 %. Thus, punctuality is no longer given, which is mainly due to sometimes completely overloaded receiving ports. Recurring lockdowns in Vietnam and certain regions of China, for example, keep the situation even more precarious. Offshore Los Angeles and Long Beach, there are approximately 100 ships, 55 km of wagons with containers are jammed on the rails off Chicago, freight prices are skyrocketing, and competition for the scarce space on board is immensely high. With our green coffee, we are in direct competition with all other export goods. 

Can we take countermeasures or mitigate the consequences?

Barely. However, in this situation we benefit greatly from our long business relationships, of which some have lasted 20 or 30 years, as we are regarded to be a reliable partner and the shipping companies are therefore well-disposed towards us. With TradeLens, we have also initiated the right project at the right time. Even if we cannot avoid delays due to the increasing digitalization of the supply chain, at least we know where our goods are, so we can react in time and inform our customers reliably.

What advantages do we have as a group in this situation?

Our great advantage is our close cooperation with each other and with our business partners. Here at ICL, the strings come together, we can gather and pass on knowledge, gain experience together, and this also opens up alternatives. In the group, we are more efficient than if everyone was on their own.

Kay-Lohse

Kay Lohse,
Managing Director Internationale Commodity Logistik (ICL)

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Sven Hähnsen,
Managing Director NKG Kala Hamburg (KALA)

Sven Hähnsen
Managing Director NKG Kala Hamburg (KALA)

As a green coffee service provider, what problems do supply chain disruptions cause us?

In some cases, we hardly know when which goods will arrive at our facility and in what quantity. Therefore, storage is extremely difficult to plan, especially since smaller and smaller volumes are delivered for which our silo cell sizes are not really designed. As a result, our silo cell capacities cannot be utilized efficiently and accordingly, there are delays in unloading the containers. If we do not manage to unload them within the specified free times, new costs are incurred by the shipping companies or at the terminal. In addition, we receive a lot of short-term orders that prevent longer-term planning.  Of course, the shortage of containers, especially for export, is also causing us problems. Here, not only the lower availability is a problem, but rather the poor condition of the containers, which are then not suitable for the delicate coffee.

Can we take countermeasures or mitigate the consequences?

We already partially cover the constantly growing “small parts” with our own 600 storage containers, which we use for temporary storage on our site. In addition, we have rented more, as new containers for purchase are now twice as expensive as before and have a one-year delivery time. Due to supply chain disruptions, inventory levels will likely increase and we will need to expand our capacity in general to allow customers to have safety stock. We are already in discussions here. 

What advantages do we have as a group in this situation?

During the crisis, many customers turn to NKG because we stand for reliability. In our case, however, we have only limited advantages through the group, because in the end roasting customer requirements are passed on to us. In general, we at KALA would like our topics to be considered more in the customer business in some cases, so that we can really implement all requirements here. Our colleagues work under high pressure in 24-hour operation and we only get through if we pull together as a group.

Matthias Kudelka,
Director Supply Chain Management Bernhard Rothfos (BR)

As a green coffee service provider, what problems do supply chain disruptions cause us?

The biggest problems are with the provision of containers, the lack of ship space, and, as a result, not being able to meet deadlines. We lack continuity and reliability from the shipping company as a service provider. We have to communicate more with the customers, as they want to receive their goods in time of course. Overall, the situation has intensified our work a lot: Each processing of a sales contract takes twice as long as it used to. The dialog must also be intensified at the origin – where are the goods, when will they arrive? Business only rolls with insistence.

Can we take countermeasures or mitigate the consequences?

We need to communicate more and in more detail. We are also looking for new and alternative transport routes and trying to offer innovative solutions. Since we know all our contacts personally, we can communicate with them much more directly and openly – that’s our advantage now. However, at the end of the day, we are dependent on the shipping companies, who sit right in the middle of our business.

What advantages do we have as a group in this situation?

This crisis can and will weld us together as a group, as we are extremely dependent on each other. In addition, it also presents an opportunity: as a green coffee service group, we can show what we can offer and solve from a single source. Hopefully, customers will continue to use our services as a package. For this, we have to give them the feeling: we are here, we care!

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Matthias Kudelka,
Director Supply Chain Management Bernhard Rothfos (BR)

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Am Sandtorpark 4
20457 Hamburg • Germany

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