Supply chain remains the industry's problem child

"The results of our study show that the consequences of the global crises continue to affect companies. Fragile supply chains and high costs continue to put companies under massive pressure. The corona pandemic, for example, was a long time ago," says Christian Ullrich, Supply Chain Network Management expert at Staufen.

For example, 68% of the companies surveyed admit to suffering from bottlenecks in the supply chain, almost half (45%) also complain about quality problems with their suppliers and 39% of the study participants are struggling with a sharp rise in transportation costs. Alarmingly, only 13% of the companies surveyed described their supply chains as "very stable". The majority (69%) consider them to be "rather stable", while almost one in five companies (18%) consider their own situation to be unstable.

The vulnerability of companies is also reflected in the answers to the question of how resilient they consider their own organization to be overall. Only 20 percent of respondents consider their company to be "very resilient". Staufen consultant Ullrich explains: "Resilience is not a luxury, but a necessity. Especially against the backdrop of increasingly volatile conditions, the aim should be to significantly increase the proportion of truly resilient companies and invest in their own adaptability." He advises diversified supply chains and flexible production systems, embedded in a corporate culture geared towards operational excellence.

The focus should be on investments

Ullrich adds: "It's not just about cutting costs, but about building resilient and flexible structures. This requires investment in technology, but also in expertise and partnerships, which can pay off many times over and should therefore become more of a strategic focus. This is an opportunity that many companies have not yet recognized."

For the study, management consultants Staufen surveyed 209 industrial companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.