Procurement strategies with value & purpose

Say hello to “akiro”

The AI-enabled enterprise-wide collaboration platform for strategic procurement shaping the future

Contact us now - Version 1.0 coming soon

World-class Strategic Procurement Framework

akiro has been built upon an industry-proven 20+ step process and enhanced with future-looking and innovative capabilities to drive business foresight

Intuitive Collaboration Workflow

All stakeholders BEYOND category management work together on one SaaS-platform: R&D, manufacturing, sales & marketing, you name it, all led by strategic procurement

AI-augmented Market Intelligence

Latest AI/ML capabilities are embedded in the process for real time information and innovation scouting in the web and for auto-sense-making

Strategy & Knowledge Repository

All strategies are stored and accessible in the cloud to create an infinite knowledge repository

TRUSTED BY OUR GLOBAL ADVISORY BOARD

IN STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH

AKIRO WILL ELEVATE YOUR PROCUREMENT BEYOND CATEGORY MANAGEMENT AND SAVINGS
BY BOOSTING STRATEGIC RELEVANCE, EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY

Consider everything

Apply an industry-proven 20+ strategic procurement framework used by global cutting-edge organizations. No matter if you center your strategic procurement around categories or BEYOND, e.g. projects or new business models. Applying our framework ensures consideration of all factors impacting your "procurement object".

Collaborate with everybody

Enable stakeholders from Procurement, R&D, Marketing, Manufacturing, Quality and Sales to collaborate frictionless on a cloud-based platform. All relevant cross-functional knowledge and experience is fully incorporated in your strategies. Transparency and traceability guarantees most impactful outcomes.

Gather all insights

Leverage akiro’s AI-driven market intelligence to find insights, innovation or anything else of relevance for your strategy. Internal and external content is seamlessly integrated into the strategy workflow to foster data-driven decision-making.

Retain all knowledge

Create a strategy library and knowledge repository accessible to all stakeholders. Ensure that knowledge is retained despite employee turnover or re-organization. Build better strategies grounded in existing organizational knowledge.

Resources

Check out our thought-provoking pieces on the future of procurement

Procurement in 5-Minutes: How do you know that you have the right skills to succeed in procurement?

Hear what our Scientific Advisor Karsten had to say in the Procurement in 5-Minutes Podcast presented by Sourcing Solved.

Art of Procurement Podcast: Seven ‘Next Generation’ Procurement Skills

Our co-founder Christoph Flöthmann speaks with Philip Ideson on the Art of Procurement Podcast, Episode #405, about NextGen Procurement Skills

dpw.ai article: 3 Key Principles for Growing Your Early Stage Startup

Tim and Christoph, our co-founders, share three guiding principles that they apply throughout their ongoing company building and product development journey.

Whitepaper: Syncing Procurement Digitalization Roadmaps with NextGen Procurement Skills

In akirolabs’ first whitepaper we investigate interrelations of procurement activities, digitalization roadmaps, NextGen skills and HR strategies.

10xProcurement – Value Chain Orchestration

The traditional role of Procurement is obsolete – Procurement will become the Value Chain Orchestrator.

akirolabs Press Release Download

We are excited and proud to inform you that we have launched akirolabs. We start akirolabs with the determination to leave a mark in the world of procurement.

Procurement – A Business Partner – Really?

How can Procurement rise to become a true business partner to all relevant departments in the company? There is no certain recipe, but there are ways to get much closer.

Procurement in the C-19 Spotlight

Are the Procurement Labs developing the desperately sought-after C-19 business vaccine for strengthening the immune systems of our economy and our businesses?

Procurement in 5-Minutes: What are the biggest challenges procurement will face in 2021?

Hear what our CEO Michael had to say in the Procurement in 5-Minutes Podcast presented by Sourcing Solved.

Procurement in 5-Minutes: What’s the biggest threat to procurement’s success?

Hear what our Executive Chairman Detlef had to say in the Procurement in 5-Minutes Podcast presented by Sourcing Solved.

We are recognized for our thought-leadership, extensive procurement experience and ability to execute

Detlef Schultz

Detlef is driving our Vision and Customer activities. In his stellar 30+-year career he was the Creator and CEO of the Vodafone Procurement Company and still serves as Chairman. Apart from that he is also an investor in and advisor to several startups. Detlef is also Procurement Leaders’ Lifetime Achievement Award Laureate.

Michael Pleuger

Michael is responsible for Strategy & Growth, leading akirolabs and the Procurement profession into the future. Beforehand, he held Senior Partner roles at Roland Berger and KPMG, focusing on procurement transformation and excellence for 25 years.

Tim Ergenzinger

Tim is taking care of everything that keeps our engines running. Before he became our superstar, he helped clients to transform their procurement as a Consultant. He was also project manager for developing and implementing an award-winning strategic procurement platform at several clients.

Dr. Christoph Flöthmann

Christoph works and lives in the intersection of customers and developers to create the products our customers really need. After a PhD in Supply Chain Management he joined forces with Michael and Tim at two consultancies, driving (digital) procurement transformations of large- and mid-sized companies.

Kanti Prabha

Kanti is a highly-recognized tech entrepreneur in the procurement and legal space. As Co-Founder and former COO of SirionLabs she was a major pillar of SirionLabs’ success story, scaling the company from the co-founder team to 500+ employees and winning numerous innovation and tech awards on the way. Kanti is advising akirolabs on all topics related to tech, customer success and company building.

Prof. Dr. Karsten Machholz

Karsten is Professor for Supply Chain Management & Strategic Procurement at the University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt. He acts as our Scientific Advisor and Chairman of the Global Advisory Board bridging the gap between latest research and practice. His research and teaching interest include Digitalization of Global Value Chains, Riskmanagement/VUCA, CSR & Sustainability, Blockchain Technology and Future of Work incl. New Skill Sets.

Our Vision for Procurement

10xProcurement – think exponentially

In the current business environment, namely the ongoing digitalization, Industry 4.0, IoT and most recently C-19, Procurement needs to further mature and take on a new, even more strategic role where it is involved in and impacts major parts of the value chain. Procurement should be a sought-after business partner, the powerhouse of information. We have been taught to think in linear terms but now we need to leave the linear path and start to think in exponential terms to shape the future of Procurement. We must become 10x Procurement. It is apparent that the traditional category management approach is not sufficient anymore and will not deliver on the business partners’ requirements.

Strategize BEYOND Category

Procurement must step up into a much more strategic role and must have a much deeper integration into the core business. Buyers must think BEYOND procurement categories and must consider the entire ecosystem. Category is a procurement perspective only. Nobody else in the business thinks in categories, but in products, projects, or business models. In order to be a valued and respected business partner, it is essential for procurement to think in the same way the core business does.

Orchestrate the Value Chain

Value Chain Orchestration will be the new norm. As a Value Chain Orchestrator, Procurement takes advantage of its unique position in the ecosystem as a spider in a complex web, applying the entire suite of digitalization, data analytics, robotics, and automation to contribute to the success of the entire enterprise. It develops BEYOND category management towards the primary provider of business insight and foresight and as such having a huge impact on the value chain.