Studies, white papers and industry papers

GROW. PERFORM. TRANSFORM to peak performance

In today’s competitive environment, continuous learning and training have become essential for personal and professional development. Our white paper examines the importance of developing skills and how training programs can help people reach their full potential while helping the company remain ready for the future.

BOOSTING ROBUSTNESS, RESILIENCE AND RESPONSIVENESS

What does the stable supply chain network of tomorrow look like? Those who come out on top will be supply chain networks that at their core have three capabilities: Robustness, responsiveness and resilience.

All reconfiguration measures are geared towards strengthening these three capabilities. Companies then benefit from the fact that a robust network has suitable measures in place to protect them against events with a lower severity and enables continuous operation. The more responsive the network is, the quicker the company is capable of making suitable adjustments and to continue with the performance. 

HOW COMPANIES ARE REALIZING THE BENEFITS OF DIGITIZATION

For companies, the focus of most digitization measures is on performance. Modern digital technologies for process automation help achieve this goal.

Increasing efficiency, achieving greater transparency and reducing costs – according to the Industry 4.0 Index surveyed by Staufen AG, the majority of companies primarily pursue these three goals with digitization. The means to achieve this are modern technologies that focus on simple implementation and application.

Studies show that only about 10 percent of companies are able to profitably grow over a longer period of time.1 One of the reasons for this is the increase in complexity due to the penetration of new markets, in addition to the constant drive for product innovation and development of new customer potential. As a result, companies often focus on their internal processes and establish administrative structures, on the one hand to organize this complexity in the corporate environment, and on the other hand to “put things in order” internally. This order often turns into bureaucracy – and bureaucracy can be crippling. Companies as a result gradually lose their original founder’s mentality that originally led them to success. Establishing organizational structures sometimes has exactly the opposite effect of what was originally intended: Internal structures can no longer cope with external complexity and are not primarily oriented towards the value creation process; they develop their own logic (“silo thinking”) and complexity.

Measures for optimization are mostly concentrated on internal processes. In contrast, the company’s own value-added network of increasingly numerous partners is far too rarely in focus. This is a mistake, because in crisis situations it becomes clear that numerous companies have to reconfigure their supply chain. We think holistically: classic supply chain management becomes supply chain network management.

In times of fast and even disruptive change, an organization’s ability to adapt is an absolute success factor. Strategies, structures and processes form the basis for managing change. But without effective leadership and a corporate culture that embraces a pioneering spirit and individual responsibility, nobody can look to the future with confidence. Along with the development and qualification of employees, leadership and culture form the inner program with which an organization can face change.

Those who create a shared vision, build a trustful team spirit, establish communication channels and know the employees including their strengths and weaknesses, will handle tomorrow s challenges well.

Digitalization and globalization are intensifying competition and putting medium-sized and manufacturing companies in particular under great pressure. In addition, new competitors are entering the market and causing difficulties for even established players. Many companies are trying to attract existing customers and new customers through an ever-expanding product range. Furthermore, possibilities for individualization and customization create an almost “infinite variety” of offers. But also the internal drive of development engineers to create ever better, more efficient technical solutions leads to new variants on the component side. As a result, complexity is increasing throughout the company, which is reflected in ever complex processes along the entire value chain. The supposed advantages on the market side – in particular increased sales – are increasingly being eroded by rising production costs.

Looking back from today’s perspective, the banking crisis of 2008/2009 was harmless. What’s more: After that crisis, the only way for the German economy was up. Yet, towards the end of the boom phase, we were already seeing an increase in crisis symptoms. The huge emerging trends digitalization, e-mobility and sustainability
were setting the stage in many market segments for impending up heaval – a risk cocktail was being whipped up.

The mechanical and plant engineering industry in Germany is facing major changes. The focus is no longer on the product as a masterpiece of German engineering, but on complete product/service packages. What is needed are solution providers who know their customers’ needs and processes inside out and offer them tailor-made solutions.

It has been a few years since the first projects to introduce Shop Floor Management were implemented, and over the course of these years we have executed numerous success-ful implementation projects with our customers and BestPractice partners. As a result of introducing Shop Floor Management, many managers have come a long way. Daily Shop Floor Management is now being actively implemented by these managers, who lead in accordance with the defined tools: they ask open-ended questions, enable employees and offer them support.