The Purchasing Chessboard: 64 Methods to Reduce Costs and Increase Value with Suppliers

About Alenka TriplatChristian SchuhJames PearceJoseph L. RaudabaughMichael F. StrohmerRobert Kromoser

Christian Schuh is the leader of A.T. Kearneys European Procurement Practice and founder of the firms high tech office in Taipei. He is based in Vienna Austria. Since joining the firm in 1995 he has led an array of projects for clients in the automotive construction equipment defense high tech packaging and steel industries in Austria China France Germany Russia Taiwan the United Kingdom Ukraine and the United States. His areas of expertise include strategic sourcing product development and organization and he has written several books monographs and articles. Before joining A.T. Kearney he worked for Unilever for several years. Christian studied aeronautical engineering and earned a doctorate degree in business administration from the Graz University of Technology in Austria. He lives in the historic city center of Vienna. Joseph L.  Raudabaugh is the founder and global leader of A.T. Kearneys Procurement & Analytic Solutions Practice and is based in Chicago. Since joining the firm in 1984 he has led projects for clients in the brewing construction equipment consumer products direct marketing food ingredients healthcare industrial products pharmaceutical and specialty retail industries in North America China Europe India Japan and South America. His areas of expertise include supply management strategy and organizational development and he is the author of various monographs and articles. Joe is the co-founder of A.T. Kearneys Student Lab a program that connects more than 45 clients with students and faculty from Carnegie Mellon University the University of Chicagos Booth School of Business the University of Michigans Ross School of Business MIT and UCLAs Anderson School of Business to address operations and strategic business projects in an experiential learning model. Before joining A.T. Kearney Joe worked for Air Products and Chemicals for several years. He studied economics and operations research at North Carolina State University and earned a masters degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Robert Kromoser has been with A.T. Kearney since 1998. He is based in Vienna Austria but gained most of his consulting experience during international projects in Germany Switzerland Belgium Denmark Netherlands France Italy Great Britain Taiwan and the United States. He is a member of the leadership team of A.T. Kearneys Procurement & Analytic Solutions Operations & Performance Transformation Practice with a focus on strategic sourcing procurement transformation and supplier risk management. He has led multiple projects in the automotive construction equipment building materials mechanical engineering and retail industries. In several studies he analyzed the role of strategic sourcing and procurement as a value-adding factor and he is the author of several books and articles on procurement. Robert studied business administration at Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration in Austria and Carnegie Mellon University in the United States. He lives near Viennas famous baroque park Augarten.Michael F. Strohmer is a member of A.T. Kearneys Operations Practice and leader of the European raw material competence team. He is based in Vienna Austria. Since joining the firm in 2001 he has led projects with a broad range of international clients mainly post-merger. His work encompasses the utilities automotive defense consumer goods packaging and steel industries. He is an expert in raw material strategies procurement transformation post-merger management and large-scale capex projects. He has published several books and articles and is a frequent speaker at international conferences. Michael earned a doctorate degree in business administration and law. He lives in Austrias picturesque lake region near Salzburg. Alenka Triplat is a member of A.T. Kearneys Operations Practice. Since joining the firm in 2003 in Vienna Austria she has led multiple projects on supply management topics in the construction equipment packaging and steel sectors. She has worked with international clients based in Austria Germany Italy and Eastern Europe and spent long periods of time working and living in the United States. She is an expert in supply management including negotiation strategies and global sourcing. She is a trainer in sourcing strategies and negotiations and has published multiple articles on these topics. Alenka studied economics at the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia and business administration at Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration in Austria. She lives in Vienna and Ljubljana.   Jim Pearce is the leader of A.T. Kearneys European Operations & Performance Transformation Practice. Based in London he joined the firm in 2001 after earning his MBA from INSEAD. His focus is on operational organizational and merger and acquisition projects largely in extractive and heavy industries such as oil and gas and mining and he is a regular conference speaker on these topics. Jim developed A.T. Kearneys global capex benchmarking survey ExCap and has led multiple capex optimization projects. A geologist by profession he started his career in gold mining in Ghana before joining Schlumberger and working on oil rigs around the world from Saudi Arabia to Venezuela Alaska to India Bahrain to Brazil. He now enjoys a quieter life in the countryside outside London with his wife and three young sons.