What is the cost situation in the German window industry?

The art of cost management lies in the fine balance between cost reduction and cost optimisation. Matthias König disentangles the jargon and shows why quality and the time horizon are crucial.

Customers provide clarity in the fog of interests

Matthias König says: "There are often different interests in companies that are not always orientated towards the common good because it is all about individual interests. Therefore, in my view, there can only be one stakeholder group as an orientation: the customers. They not only set the direction, but also show us the way."

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"After all, the aim must be to minimise or, even better, eliminate all costs that are reflected in expenditure for which the customer does not pay. This presupposes that company management is aware of what customers actually need (paid benefits) and what they do not need (waste). Which products and services actually lead to differentiation from competitors and which do not. It is therefore also about strategic clarity in competition."

"Furthermore, as is so often the case, it is about transparency. Transparency in costs means knowing which costs are caused by products or services, cost centres or processes. But it also means knowing what costs are incurred for ensuring internal services such as IT services, maintenance or accounting. And it's about responsibility, namely the responsibility of managers and employees for costs in terms of causation and amount, and ultimately the responsibility for competitiveness."

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Regular cost centre meetings, where management and cost centre managers discuss positive and negative cost deviations, are also essential and make a significant contribution to ensuring that cost discipline becomes part of the corporate culture. In the event of negative deviations, binding and scheduled measures are addressed to compensate for and avoid future cost deviations.

Also by Matthias König:

Cash is king?

Havana is everywhere - it's how you treat it that counts

Matthias König

has a degree in economics and has worked as a Managing Director in the construction supply industry (including the Alfred Bohn Group) for more than 25 years. He is the owner of prodatio consulting, a consulting boutique specialising in the construction supply industry. In addition to his consulting activities, he supports companies as an advisor.

Matthias König