Avnet + Celonis

Avnet is a global leader of electronic components and services, founded in 1921 in Phoenix Arizona, but with a huge presence in EMEA. They employ about 14,500 people globally and reported revenues of $19.53 billion in 2021.

Enabling digital transformation in a world of supply chain disruption

Balancing demand and supply as a creator and distributor of electrical components is an interesting task right now. Thanks to the pandemic there’s been a vast increase in demand for electrical components as organizations undergo digital transformation, and employees are increasingly working remotely or in hybrid environments. At the same time, there’s a supply chain crisis, and a shortage of raw materials needed to make components. 

As Stefan Maurer, Vice President of Enterprise Effectiveness at Avnet, says, “In today's world — the supply chain, the shortage of components, the non-availability of certain products — it is key that we actually understand our own processes, have full transparency of our processes, and have very, very good short-term reactions to real time activities.”

Here’s where Celonis comes into play.

Getting the most out of what Celonis has to offer

“We're using Celonis widely across many different departments,” says Isabel Fuhrmann, manager for business intelligence, analytics and process mining at Avnet. “We started in the purchasing teams, but expanded to our sales organization and finance departments.”

Avnet previously shared how they freed up over €6M in working capital and reduced costs by finding and fixing early supplier deliveries and making adjustments in A/P. More recently, they shared how the EMS helps them effectively manage supplier price increases and optimize inventory — for example by providing real-time alerts to buyers so they can cancel their orders in an end-of-life scenario. 

“And on the side, we have also been developing new data models to really look in detail into automation,” adds Furhmann.

They’re now using Celonis to both identify potential areas for automation, and monitor if the automation measures they’ve already implemented are actually helping their teams in their day-to-day work.

This provided a surprising moment for Fuhrmann and her team. Their assumption was they were operating at 100% electronic (EDI) transactions, but Celonis revealed the number was closer to 70%. Using the EMS, they were able to identify where adoption was lagging, and bring the number up to above 90%.

The direct and indirect value Avnet sees from using Celonis

Tracking the value Celonis delivers is a key part of Fuhrmann’s project methodology.

But beyond this direct, quantifiable value, Stefan Maurer identifies another kind of value. He says, “There is also an intangible value, because process mining and Celonis gives you insight into your operational processes.” 

“So when we look at value, we very clearly have the financial ones, but also ones which are more strategic driven values, like risk mitigation, compliance, sustainability, which are key for Avnet.”

What’s next for Avnet and Celonis? 

Maurer has a solid idea what the future holds for Celonis and Avnet, and it’s got three stages. He says, “ I have a clear vision. First of all, I think [Celonis] will be the main driver of how we manage continuous process improvement. Then I see it as a big advantage in usage when we transform to S4/HANA. And then we plan on expanding into the areas of accounts payable, accounts receivable, and pure logistics & warehouse processes.”

 Want to learn more? Watch Avnet speak at Celosphere 2021.