21st April 2026
DEEP DIVES
Deep Dive 1
Supplier Collaboration Challenges in Automating Outsourced Supply Chains
Dr. Florian Kaesen, Director Value Chain Integration, Intel Germany
Deep Dive 2
Stable material supply in volatile times - automated processes vs. manual allocation expertise
- -Scales its operational processes through end-to-end automation
- -Establishes transparent escalation management for delivery date conflicts
- -Guarantees security of supply even during bottleneck phases through a dedicated material allocation process
Sebastian Engl, Head of Corporate Procurement Business Development, Procurement, KRONES AG
Deep Dive 3
Panel Diskussion - Europe’s Raw-Material Challenge: A Multi-Sector View
Moderation: Lisa Immensack, BME e.V
Jean-Philippe COLLIN, CNA Board Member, Former Valeo-PSA-Sanofi CPO
Tim Schmidt, Projekmitarbeiter German Mining & Resources Network, DIHK DEinternational GmbH
Deep Dive 5
Nurturing teams to Empower Change: Tech is not the key for success, People are
Ana Dias, Chief Procurement Officer, Persan SA
Changeover break
Welcome speech
Dr. Lars Kleeberg, Chief Executive Officer, Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement and Logistics, (BME)
Opening by the Chairman
Dr. Thomas Germer, CPO, ADAC SE, Member of the Board, Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement & Logistic (BME)
EUROPE’S GEOECONOMIC BATTLE WITH GREAT POWERS
Dr. Tobias Gehrke, Senior Policy Fellow, Geoeconomics, European Council on Foreign Relations
Why Procurement Must Redefine Success
Ewald Raben, CEO, Raben Group
MULTI-TIER SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT IN AN ERA OF GEOPOLITICAL SHIFTS
What it takes to build resilience – and finally sleep well
Dr. Arnd Hirschberg, Senior Strategist, Siemens Energy
Networking break
Round Table Sessions 1
Round Table 1
How to Leverage Legacy Tools and Human Intelligence to Get Started with Agentic Plan-to-Fulfillment
This session will explore how organisations can make better use of existing tools and human expertise to begin their journey towards agentic plan-to-fulfilment. It will focus on practical ways to build on what is already in place, rather than starting from scratch. Drawing on GEP’s experience, the session will highlight where and how to get started across S2P and plan-to-fulfil, helping you focus on the right areas from the outset.
Participants will hear how to connect legacy systems with new digital capabilities, and how to support better decision-making by combining technology with human insight. The discussion will also cover common challenges, such as working across different systems and managing change within teams.
Attendees will leave with clear, practical ideas on how to take the first steps towards a more connected and efficient plan-to-fulfilment approach.
Darren Lynch, Vice President – Consulting, GEP
Round Table 2
Operational procurement excellence: leveraging digital solutions and AI @ Wacker Chemie
CPO agenda for operational procurement: optimal spend, compliance, requestor community satisfaction, best TCO. Dr. Erk Thorsten Heyen, Senior VP Procurement & Logistics (CPO), Wacker Chemie AG will share his experience in achieving cost savings and operational excellence in a complex industrial environment leveraging BeNeering Dynamic Guided Buying Platform for operational procurement digitalisation, as well as his vision for future procurement and his view on the role of digital tools.
Dr. Erk Thorsten Heyen, Senior VP Procurement & Logistics (CPO), Wacker Chemie AG
Natalia Parmenova, Chief Revenue Officer, BeNeering GmbH
Round Table 3
Beyond Plastic: Digital Payment Integration as a Strategic Lever for Lean Procurement
- Optimizing the Supplier Master Data: Strategies to keep your vendor list “clean” by shifting tactical spot-buys to virtual card ecosystems
- Unlocking Real-Time Data Visibility: Moving from “post-mortem” expense reporting to live data streams that empower better forecasting and negotiation
- Driving Process Automation: How embedded finance bridges the gap between the PO process and final payment for a seamless “touchless” experience
Renold Vasili, Director Business Development, Mastercard
Round Table 4
Mastering Metrics: Orchestrating Procurement for Measurable Business Value
- Reframing value metrics beyond cost savings
- Connect processes seamlessly with orchestration
- Demonstrate impact with benchmarking data
Christopher Parsons, Senior Manager, ORO Labs
Round Table 5
Beyond Automation: Building a Strategic Procurement Roadmap with AI Agents Overview:
- Intake Friction: Simplify intake, improve compliance via Agentic AI
- Negotiation Velocity: Automate tail spend; boost speed & savings
- Risk Mitigation: AI led supplier risk management and compliance
Monika Mutscher, Customer Account Manager – EMEA, Zycus
Dirk Fischbach, Regional Sales Manager – EMEA, Zycus
Changeover break
Round Table Sessions 2
Round Table 7
End-to-End Value Sourcing: Redefining Direct Procurement for the Next Decade at Flender
- From cost focus to holistic value creation across the supply chain
- Data-driven decisions powered by integrated, end-to-end processes
- Procurement as a strategic enabler of resilience, sustainability and growth
Yannick Weibring, Procurement Functional Excellence, Flender GmbH
Round Table 8
Turning Data Silos into Strategic Insight. Bertelsmann’s IT Spend Cube Approach
- Garbage In, Missed Value Out: The Indirect Data Gap Holding Back Procurement Performance
- Why ERP and BI tools fall short without a strong indirect data foundation
- How structured indirect data improves governance, unlocks opportunities, and aligns procurement with finance
Sebastian Michel-Wildner, Senior Director Group IT Sourcing, Bertelsmann
Rasa Raoufi, Co-founder, Mithra Ai
Round Table 9
Untangling Complexity: How MRO Transparency Drives Operational Resilience
- Adopting a “one part, one reference” standard to to eliminate data chaos, manage obsolescence proactively, and align maintenance and procurement on one shared data foundation
- Improving cross-site spare parts transparency to support maintenance planning and reduce unplanned downtime risk
- Enabling strategic sourcing by identifying OEMs and alternative suppliers, detecting cost deviations, consolidating vendors, and sourcing confidently across internal and external networks
Henning Lombeck, Senior Account Executive, SPARETECH GmbH
Round Table 10
Leverage Is Won or Lost at Component Selection - Across Cost, Supply and Speed
Most organizations treat component sourcing as a downstream activity - focused on RFQs, supplier negotiations, and cost reduction after design is complete.
This session challenges that model. It explores why the most critical decisions impacting cost, supply security, and time-to-market are made much earlier - during component selection - and why traditional sourcing approaches struggle to recover leverage once those decisions are locked in.
Varun Narayanan, Vice President, Business Transformation, Lytica Inc.
Round Table 11
From Scope 3 Data to Real Impact: Driving decarbonization across complex supply chains
- How companies overcome challenges like data quality, transparency, or supplier engagement?
- How can organizations move from reporting to real emissions reduction?
- What works in practice to activate suppliers and drive change at scale?
- How can data, AI and benchmarks accelerate better decisions?
Stephanie Herre, Sales Manager, Ecovadis. SAS
Round Table 12
ERP, Agents, Suite - What’s the 2026 Target Architecture? And What About the Buyers?
- There’s no single right answer to how ERP, AI agents, and procurement suites fit together - the right architecture depends on your organization’s size, spend profile, and existing system landscape. In this roundtable, we’ll compare approaches and trade-offs across different setups.
- Where do AI agents actually sit in your stack - and what should stay in your ERP or suite? We’ll discuss real examples from enterprise rollouts and what participants are seeing in their own organizations.
- What does it take to move from pilot to production - and how do you avoid adding yet another tool that nobody uses? An open discussion on governance, integration, and building buyer adoption.
Tim Geyer, Co-Founder, Zalion GmbH
Alex Morbe, Co-Founder, Zalion GmbH
Lunch break
MIDDAY PLENARY
Capacity-Building: How We Transform
Chairman Dr. Thomas Germer, CPO, ADAC SE
Transform to Perform: What does it mean for Procurement in a digitalized world
Samuel COCHON, Chief Procurement Officer, MANN+HUMMEL GmbH
Building a modern Procurement Organisation fit for the future
Görkan Ülker, Procurement Director, Body, Chassis, and Aftermarket, Jaguar Land Rover
HOW PROCUREMENT CAN HELP TO MAINTAIN COMPETITIVENESS IN EUROPE IN VIEW OF RISING ENERGY & CARBON COST
Dr. Erk Thorsten Heyen, Senior VP Procurement & Logistics (CPO), Wacker Chemie AG
Changeover break
DEEP DIVES
Deep Dive 7
Leading from the Front – Shaping a Culture for a Future-Facing Procurement Function
Görkan Ülker, Procurement Director, Body, Chassis and Aftermarket, Jaguar Land Rover
Deep Dive 8
Challenges in defense ramp up – From engineering with prototyping to serial business
Tim Teubler, CPO, Thales Deutschland
Deep Dive 9
From M&A to Procurement Excellence
Louise Noer, Senior Director, Head of Global Indirect Procurement, Novonesis
Deep Dive 10
Navigating the Next Wave: From Linear Cost-Centric Models to Resilient, Sustainable & Collaborative Ecosystems
Dr. Thomas Schamberg, Global Head of Supply Chain Management, BYK-Chemie GmbH
Deep Dive 11
From Disruptions to Decisions: A Data‑Driven Path to Supply Resilience
Emmanuelle PIKETTY, Group Director Procurement / CPO, Vaillant Group
Networking break
CLOSING PLENARY
Organization-building: how we lead & compete long-term
Chairman Dr. Thomas Germer, CPO, ADAC SE
COMPETITIVE EDGE: OVERCOMING COST CHALLENGES TO ENABLE SUCCESSFUL FUTURE POSITIONING
Lutz Berg, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Purchasing, BSH Hausgeräte GmbH
FROM FULFILMENT TO CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE: BUILDING TRUST IN SUPPLY CHAINS WITH DATA AND FORESIGHT
Saulo Spaolanse, Global SVP, Customer Experience, Global Supply Chain, Schneider Electric
THE TRANSFORMATION OF BAYER´S PROCUREMENT FUNCTION AND LEADERSHIP MODEL
David Buhmann, CPO, Bayer Pharmaceuticals
Florian Vollmer, Head of Procurement Sustainability & Risk Management, Bayer
Closing remarks by the Chairperson
Dr. Thomas Germer, CPO, ADAC SE, Member of the Board, Association for Supply Chain Management, Procurement & Logistic (BME)