Global sourcing isn’t child’s play. But it can be great fun, even after 18 hours of flight, a half done presentation on the notebook and a heated argument on the subject of negotiation strategy. While the P3 consultants Tobias Geissinger, Malte Leers and Marc Czech go through their concept in the lounge of Mumbai’s international airport, the other travelers become grumpy. They want to sleep.

India’s engineering is highly regarded in Germany with its high wages. Marc Czech has to acquire 80 engineers for an international large-scale project. The customer, a company based in Hamburg, needs qualified cable constructers on short notice for the production of a passenger plane. In six weeks the production has to roll. The company completely handed over the project control to the P3 Ingenieurgesellschaft. Czech: “We got four hours until departure to Bangalore. We have to revise the calculation. Let’s take a deep breath … and then we finalize our offer!”

Coffee in paper cups and the same clothes since two days. That is what the reality of global acquisition can look like. The customer expects a precisely fitting link for his value-added-chain. The P3 consultants are able to take over this responsibility. They have the relevant experience with large-scale projects, analyze the specific customer demands with utmost precision and maintain a relation based on partnership with engineers from Czechia, Romania and India.

Just before check-in Marc Czech shuts down his notebook. The strategy stands. A few hours later he and Tobias Geissinger will negotiate hard with the Indians. One tricky point is the investment into work places – 50,000 US-dollar per computer and software license. But the Germans are interested in a long-term cooperation. The investments will be worthwhile. Malte Leers will get an idea of the infrastructure and the competences of the engineers at the same time. In the end the consultants agree: “Those guys really are the best.” The deal is perfect. It wasn’t child’s play. But it was fun.