Intergamma

Intergamma is the organization behind the do-it-yourself formulas GAMMA and KARWEI. With almost 400 stores they are market leader in the Benelux. Marijn Lanen is Assistant Buyer Hardware at Intergamma and contact and coordinator of WTP.

Within Intergamma there are about 20 WTP users, 10 of which are very frequent users. These 10 users mainly consist of the assistant buyers because they are busy keeping track of raw material developments, price changes, article data and sourcing new products on a daily basis. They prepare the negotiations for the buyers.

The other group of users are the buyers themselves. They also use WTP but at a different level. They use the software to keep an eye on the big picture and thus use it on a more strategic level.

Motivation
Within Intergamma we had the ambition to purchase more data driven. Where previously this was more based on gut feeling and experience and only the larger indexes were followed.  We wanted more insight into the various elements that determine the price.

So in recent years we have been focusing more on TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) and to do that you need to have a lot of data at your disposal, in addition to a lot of knowledge of your own product.

“Our procurement director Frank Mortel always says that we need to be ruthlessly transparent within procurement.” And that’s what WTP makes possible for us.

Results

Saving
Previously, we received price changes from suppliers that were not always substantiated, and these suppliers almost always had more knowledge than we did. Now that we are using WTP, we can immediately investigate the reality of the price components and have easy access to the facts.

We can then actively approach the supplier and negotiate on the basis of facts and don’t have to ‘blindly’ accept or refuse a price increase. Rather , we can move into a more substantive discussion. Moreover, because suppliers immediately understand what we mean, we enter the conversation in a very transparent way.

We also have a number of suppliers who work with WTP themselves. We’ve noticed that this actually improves our collaboration. For example, after a meeting they sometimes have a reason to go to their producers and open negotiations themselves. Because you are working together to get a better price, the relationship with the suppliers greatly improved.

We have been working with WTP for almost 2 years now. In the last year (2021), which was dominated by large price increases, we managed to counter a lot of those increases. In the year before that we were able to realize many savings. As a result, we are easily extracting the cost of using WTP.

Securing knowledge
In addition to the savings and an improvement in cooperation, there is another important function that should not be underestimated, and that is securing the knowledge within Intergamma. Because we have entered the BOM (Bill Of Material) for all products and this is secured in the system, it is also future-proof. Once it’s in there, we always have the data ready.

In addition, we were of course already working with various sources from which we could obtain raw material developments and industry data. But that was very confusing. Now we have one general point where we can find all the reliable data.

WTP Services
The service during the implementation and the use of WTP made a real difference. Being able to ask questions directly to an expert, who then responds quickly, and the fact that you can continue immediately after receiving help, has been very helpful. The enthusiasm and goodwill with which the Buynamics team provides this service is incredible. Finally, it is noticeable that when our colleagues use WTP more actively, they become more enthusiastic and the use of the software increases in a natural way.

“Our ultimate goal is to be able to offer the best possible price to our customers and we achieve that with WTP.”