1 Introduction

Almost everyone has heard or read about the successful drug retailer dm-drogerie markt GmbH & Co. KG (dm-drogerie) that opens more and more stores in Germany and abroad and that operates in highly competitive markets. The aim of the following case study is to present this ambitious company and show how it is performing against its key competitors.

The case study starts with a short description of dm-drogerie's corporate history including general facts about its business development, its product and service range as well as the development of its revenues in recent years.

This is followed by a SWOT analysis trying to provide an overview of dm-drogerie's economical strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for the future
The result of this project was the company's "Process Management Information System" (PROMI). It consists of three points that determine the supplier's supply chain profile: flow of goods, cash flow and co-operation. The flow of money measures the suppliers' adherence to quantity stipulations and delivery dates as well as their range while the cash flow measures the suppliers' payment behavior and the quality of their invoices. The quality of the business co-operation can also be rated by the suppliers. Another competitive advantage of dm-drogerie is its so-called "dm-Extranet". The company tries to organize its business communication as transparently and efficiently as possible. Therefore dm-drogerie introduced "dm-Extranet" in 2001. Suppliers and business partners are directly linked to dm-drogerie via internet. By this suppliers can check daily figures of sales of their products in each of dm-drogerie's chain store as well as the respect of dates of delivery. "dm-Extranet" enables suppliers to analyze the success of their products and to locate changing customer behavior. Sales data are determined in each chain store by the use of payback cards.

Strong Private Brands dm-drogerie has 22 private brands which contribute a lot to the company's success. Most of them are