Project interview New Ben GmbH

Sector: Trade

Products: Clothing, Accessories

Turnover: € 62 million (2014)

Employees: 450 (2015)

Interview with Martin Beucker CEO and Leonardo Virzi CFO of New Ben GmbH. New Ben GmbH sells textiles of the Benetton and Sisley brand through its own Benetton branches.

Were you skeptical or rather open-minded at the beginning of the project?
Leonardo Virzi: Right from the start I have seen the effort behind the project. Especially in view of the fact that we have already turned over every euro ten times, I was rather skeptical about the benefits.

Martin Beucker: I was open-minded about the project. Due to the fact that Kloepfel Consulting would be paid by success (profit-sharing principle), we did not take any risks. If the Kloepfel team didn’t save anything, we wouldn’t have anything to pay. And I saw that we would definitely learn something new from Kloepfel Consulting.

Marcus Schilling

Director Commerce

T +49 211 875 453 23

What were the biggest challenges at the beginning of the project?

Leonardo Virzi: The data recording of accounting and contracts, for example, was the biggest challenge for me and my team. But we also realized that the data acquisition and finally the data transparency was necessary to lead the optimization project to success.

To what extent does the optimization have a lasting effect on your day-to-day business?

Martin Beucker: It is still quite early to be able to say anything about this shortly after the project. Sustainable success has certainly been achieved in the areas of recruiting and HR. There has also been a rethink in the organization regarding new approaches, which made us more efficient.

How would you describe the operating principles of the Kloepfel project team with three words?

Martin Beucker: Professional and emphatic.

Joint project success is also always person-dependent. We are talking about being temporary colleagues in the projects. How was your feeling?

Martin Beucker: The direct contact to the Kloepfel Consulting team was positive.

Leonardo Virzi: However, the management of Kloepfel Consulting made a lot of pressure because they wanted to complete the project successfully, efficiently and quickly.

Martin Beucker: This was partly unpleasant, but at the same time tactically positive. In the end, Kloepfel Consulting was fast and clear at all levels and they knew what they wanted.

Some suppliers had to get used to seeing new Kloepfel faces at the negotiating table in addition to the familiar contact persons of our company. How have you experienced these situations and what were the reactions from the suppliers?

Martin Beucker: I was skeptical about the suppliers’ reaction.
And although the purchasing optimizers were announced, there were some question marks on the supplier site.

Leonardo Virzi: In the end, the reactions remained in the normal range. I expected more.

What is your conclusion after the end of the project?

Martin Beucker: For contractual reasons, some of our suppliers’ results will not be visible until 2015. Nevertheless our conclusion after the end of the project is positive. We are already recommending Kloepfel Consulting.

Thank you very much for the interview!

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