In automotive manufacturing, one missing component can stop an entire production line. For a Tier-1 supplier serving a major OEM in Poland, that risk had become reality. Material shortages, unreliable planning, supplier disruptions, and missing system functionality were putting production at constant risk.
This is where KORN CONSULT GROUP (KCG) stepped in.
For two years, our team acted as the OEM Representative for Material Planning, taking full ownership of material availability, supplier risk mitigation, and crisis management on site. Our mission was simple but critical: keep production running, no matter what.
The challenge: Production without reliable planning systems
The situation was far from ideal. The local SAP system was not fully functional, MRP data could not be trusted, and visibility across the supply chain was limited. At the same time, suppliers were facing financial stress, capacity constraints, and payment delays — all of which caused shipment stops and constant escalations.
The plant needed stability. Fast.
Our approach: Control first, optimization second
Rather than waiting for IT fixes or system upgrades, we built control manually.
KCG designed and implemented offline material-planning tools that enabled reliable forecasting, demand tracking, and stock control — independent of SAP. These tools gave the site immediate transparency over:
What was needed
What was available
What was at risk
At the same time, we took ownership of supplier risk management:
Visiting bottleneck suppliers on site
Supporting and leading critical negotiations
Managing delivery escalations and shortages
Tracking overdue payments that were blocking shipments
This hands-on approach turned conversations into solutions and suppliers into partners.
Building resilience on the shop floor
Crisis management is not sustainable if it lives in one person’s inbox. That’s why we focused on capability building just as much as firefighting.
We trained the local purchasing and logistics teams in:
Escalation management
Crisis communication
Supplier prioritization
Risk-based material planning
We also redesigned how safety stock, over-ordering, and inventory buffers were calculated — shifting the plant from reactive panic to structured resilience.
he results: Stability, trust and long-term security
The transformation was measurable:
No OEM production stops caused by missing materials
Four weeks of safety stock for raw materials and finished goods
Long-term win-win agreements with critical bottleneck suppliers
A confident, well-trained purchasing team
Clear, fast, and effective escalation channels
What began as a crisis became a blueprint for supply-chain stability.
What this project shows
This project proves one thing:
You don’t need perfect systems to run a perfect operation — you need control, transparency and leadership.
At KORN CONSULT GROUP (KCG), we go beyond dashboards and slide decks. We go on site, into supplier plants, into negotiation rooms, and into the heart of the operation to make sure production keeps running.
If your supply chain is exposed to risk, missing data or constant firefighting , we’re ready to help.