Bye-Bye Excel in Automotive Supplier Price Management: Save Time and Avoid Mistakes

Managing thousands of part prices with countless changes per year is commonplace in the automotive supply industry. Every adjustment has a direct impact on a company's profit and loss situation. In this environment, the use of Excel is no longer up to date: susceptibility to errors, manual effort and a lack of transparency pose considerable risks to profitability.

Digital solutions offer clear advantages here by automating the entire pricing process, from calculation and pricing to quotation generation. The 12 most important advantages of replacing Excel with a digital price management solution are described below.

Advantage 1: Importing calculation bases from upstream systems

Manual entry of bills of materials (BOM) and production times is time-consuming and prone to errors. Digital systems import this data automatically from upstream systems such as PLM or ERP systems, which significantly increases efficiency and accuracy.

Advantage 2: Automated costing in acquisition and change management, including profit calculations

Complex calculations with factors and surcharges require a lot of manual effort in Excel. Digital systems automate this process, always use up-to-date values and even automatically calculate profits resulting from changes or acquisitions. Error-prone manual calculations are a thing of the past.

Advantage 3: Quotation creation including automatic CBD filling

Quotation creation is time-consuming, especially the filling of customer cost break-downs (CBDs). Sales teams often find this step tedious and error-prone. Digital systems fill customer CBDs automatically, including individual formats. This saves time and creates consistency.

Advantage 4: Automated calculation of amortization allocations

Amortization allocations are based on quantities, interest calculations and start and end dates. Digital systems automatically retrieve volume figures from upstream systems and calculate the allocations correctly. Price changes due to the start or end of the amortization period are automatically transferred to the price list.

Advantage 5: Automated amortization tracking to detect quantity deviations

Insufficient quantities in the agreed amortization period lead to underpayments and have a significant impact on profitability. A digital system automatically detects such deviations and creates the basis for extending amortization periods or adjusting prices. This saves companies extensive manual tracking and avoids financial losses.

Advantage 6: Automated transfer of changes, claims and amortizations to the price list

The manual transfer of changes, claims and amortizations to price lists is time-consuming and error-prone. Automated processes ensure seamless integration and guarantee up-to-date and consistent price lists.

Advantage 7: Quotation generation directly from the price list with CBD filling

Customers expect regular quotations with transparent CBD documents. Digital systems make it possible to create quotes directly from the price list and fill the CBDs automatically. Manual entries are no longer necessary and sales management is accelerated.

Advantage 8: LTA calculations with automatic exclusion logic

A common mistake in automotive supplier sales is the incorrect price reduction of materials that are actually excluded - e.g. mandated materials, logistics costs or raw materials. Digital systems recognize these components on the basis of predefined (customer-specific) price templates and carry out LTA/LTC reductions correctly and effortlessly.

Advantage 9: Automated index changes in the price list

Index changes for raw materials and currencies are complex and need to be adjusted regularly. Digital systems update the indices centrally and automatically transfer changes to all relevant part numbers - without manual effort.

Advantage 10: Standardized price lists (compliance)

Standardized price lists are a must for compliant work. Individually created price lists are prone to errors and do not follow company standards. Digital systems ensure that all price lists comply with company guidelines and that the sales teams work correctly.

Advantage 11: Seamless price history and traceability

Manually managing price and quotation histories over 10-year periods is almost impossible in Excel. Digital systems store all price changes transparently and seamlessly. Even if employees change , all data remains secure and traceable.

Advantage 12: Integration of the price list into sales planning for real-time updates

A fully integrated price list enables real-time updates in sales planning. Manual data transfers are no longer necessary and companies benefit from up-to-date, precise data for well-founded business decisions.

Conclusion

Switching from Excel to digital solutions in price management is no longer an option, but a must if companies want to remain profitable and competitive. Automation saves time, avoids errors and enables efficient, accurate and transparent pricing. In an industry where speed and accuracy are key to success, digital solutions offer a clear competitive advantage. Important to know, the absolute No. 1 in price management for automotive suppliers is Digital Automotive.

Are you curious about how automation works in the leading solution for sales planning and sales management? Make an appointment for a live demo with Digital Automotive today!