Mercedes-Benz South Africa

Production Purchasing

This department administrates production purchases for all vehicles manufactured by Mercedes-Benz South Africa. It is divided into three main commodities:

• Body in White, covering body panel and chassis components; 
• Interior, exterior and electrical, including most of the trim mouldings, paint and electronic components;
• Powertrain, which covers all drivetrain, suspension, wheel and exhaust components as well as lubricants and sealants. 

All contractual relations with suppliers are monitored in terms of Daimler AG's global Extended Enterprise programme. This also includes government and parastal activities that may affect supply chain management and exports as well as cost planning and cost optimisation programmes.

Non-Production Purchasing

Purchasing Services at Mercedes-Benz South Africa, represents a central foundation within the organization at all its locations committing itself to a shared vision and mission.

Increasing the efficiency of the Non-production Purchasing activities is the goal of the Purchasing Services management. Purchasing Services utilizes global and globally aligned processes and tools which have adopted from International Procurement Services (IPS) to identify and realise synergy opportunities and further cost reduction efficiencies throughout the company.

IPS has a clear vision: To be the recognised authority for Global Non-Production Materials and Service Management by 2010

We are committed to creating a structured approach to make this vision a reality. 

We value the professionalism and work performance of our partners and encourage free scope of creativity. 

We set the highest standards for both our suppliers and ourselves. Only in this way can we secure a sustainable competitive edge. Together we pursue mutual goals and our customers must be able to have confidence in our mutual performance.

• We will shape the future together
• Our processes are customer driven
• We expect our partners to be efficient companies
• We expect and promote supplier creativity and involvement
• We expect uncompromising cost, quality, cycle time and technology commitment
• We build and maintain ethical long term partnerships
• We believe in trust, fairness, open communication and information
• We will work to be our supplier’s best customer and most valued partner
• We accept ecological responsibility
• We commit to social responsibility

Purchasing Services Business Tools

Mercedes-Benz South Africa Supplier Portal – Partner.Net This MBSA portal is a business-to-business solution intended to web enable the SAP R3 back-end system, as well as any other applications which could have value added benefits for MBSA or our supplier base. Making use of SAP Enterprise Portal technology, the aim is to develop a seamless, integrated solution, operating in a secure environment, whereby suppliers can carry out daily tasks, thereby strengthening the partnership and transparency between MBSA and its suppliers. The real value will be in man-hours saved, as well as additional costs that will be avoided due to lengthy processing times.