Industry

Portrait of Markus Herber

The evolution of process and technology know-how in German industrial companies is impressive – it has produced many world market leaders and 'hidden champions'. My objective is to make this know-how accessible to our customers and optimally applicable for their business models.

Markus Herber

Markus Herber

Managing Director

Navigating safely through a volatile market environment

Flexible, resilient, and sustainable – these three key requirements must be met simultaneously by industrial companies today. The challenge: Modern, more flexible production processes are often associated with extensive investments and thus (in the short term) a competitive disadvantage. Which strategies can be used to master this balancing act?

Current situation in the industry

01

Defying global crises

Repeated supply chain disruptions, rising producer prices and volatile markets have become a new normal in recent years. Industrials, which are dependent on intermediate products, raw material prices and global value chains, are particularly affected by this. In addition, high price pressure is arising in many sectors due to cheaper production costs of foreign suppliers – the intensity of competition is increasing. What is more, the crises can hardly be predicted or planned for. Consequently, uncertainty in the German economy is high.

Our proposition: „We advise companies on how to focus on realistic scenarios in the face of high uncertainty and how to deal with raw material shortages, logistics bottlenecks and price increases – for example, by proactively adjusting contracts on the supplier and customer side. In this way, negative effects can be cushioned and sustainable competitiveness ensured.“

We advise companies on how to focus on realistic scenarios in the face of high uncertainty and how to deal with raw material shortages, logistics bottlenecks and price increases - for example, by proactively adjusting contracts on the supplier and customer side. In this way, negative effects can be cushioned and sustainable competitiveness secured.

Ralf Winzer

Ralf Winzer

Senior Partner & Member of the Board
02

Establishing ESG measures

The EU Commission released its “Green Deal” vision of creating a climate-neutral continent by 2050 in December 2019. The "Fit for 55" targets formulated in 2021, with a target year of 2030, focus on an even shorter time frame and thus more limited scope for action. This puts massive pressure on industrials particularly to invest more in energy- and resource-efficient processes. In addition, the focus is shifting to recycling, the use of combined heat and power generation, and renewable energy sources such as hydrogen. ESG requirements resulting from the introduction of the Lieferkettengesetz (Supply Chain Act), for example, in the form of additional risk analyses, increased risk management, new complaints procedures and required documentation, are adding to the pressure.

Our proposition: “The regulatory environment of many industrial companies is changing, and consumers and investors increasingly expect a critical reflection of the business models’ sustainability. We support companies with a comprehensive analysis in determining their current position and in deriving and prioritizing the need for action. Together with the management, we define a holistic ESG program and help with the implementation of concrete measures. Overall, the aim is to establish resilient value creation in times of climate change.”

The regulatory environment of many industrial companies is changing and consumers and investors increasingly expect a critical examination of the sustainability of business models. We support companies with a comprehensive analysis in determining the current situation and in deriving and prioritizing the need for action. Together with the management, we define a holistic ESG program and help with the implementation of concrete measures... Overall, the aim is to establish resilient value creation in times of climate change.

Mark André Nix

Mark André Nix

Senior Director
03

Driving digitization forward

What will the production process of the future look like? Above all, the target of complete networking and comprehensive digitization of companies enables new opportunities to respond more quickly to market and product requirements – from production planning to logistics and supply chain management to the maintenance of automated machines and customer orders. Increasingly, digitization will become a market standard in production and thus a key competitive factor that companies must meet to remain competitive.

Our proposition: „We make the extensive challenges of digitization tangible by advising our clients at every stage of their digital maturity. Starting with the development of a holistic data and digitization strategy to the definition and implementation of individual digitization measures such as increasing efficiency by using business intelligence and hyper automation approaches. Our in-depth business expertise always ensures a targeted focus on results and effectiveness. “

We make the extensive challenges of digitization tangible by advising our clients at every stage of their digital maturity. Starting with the development of a holistic data and digitization strategy to the definition and implementation of individual digitization measures such as increasing efficiency through the use of business intelligence and hyperautomation approaches. Our in-depth business expertise always ensures a targeted focus on results and effectiveness.

Markus Herber

Markus Herber

Managing Director

Success Stories

Challenges & solutions

A look at the details – what we offer for industrials:

Expert Interview

Where are German industrials headed, Markus Herber?

How have German industrial companies fared in recent years?

Medium-sized industrial companies have overcome the challenges that have arisen in recent years with varying degrees of success. The spectrum of challenges ranges from disrupted supply chains and rising energy costs to growing competition from abroad offering low production costs on the global market. Of course, there is no one-size-fits-all solution, but the overarching message is that greater flexibility in the use of cost-intensive resources is essential. In many areas, companies should position themselves in such a way that they can react more quickly and effectively to fluctuations in capacity utilization and prices. For example, the current shortage of materials will continue for quite some time. We are taking a very close look at all the risks and possible solutions – from an optimized supply chain and the right stockpiling to more flexible, highly automated production processes and management functions.

Beyond that, are there general "levers" that affect many companies?

The pressure to cut costs, which has already been much discussed in recent years, is still on the agenda: Many German companies are suffering from excessively high production costs and thus face more difficult conditions on the global market. Indirectly, specifically in Germany we face the issue of delayed digitization. Automated production and administrative processes require a comprehensive, data-based information infrastructure. In concrete terms, this means that real-time data can be used to provide an overview of the entire value chain and all processes, to evaluate and streamline them through (partial) automation. This is precisely where many companies have some catching up to do, and one of the areas in which we provide targeted advice is in the development of their digital agenda.

How can the financial situation of German industrial companies be described?

Often, the liquidity situation of companies is the decisive factor for reaching out to our expert teams. It usually becomes apparent that challenges have existed for some time, are increasingly influencing competitiveness and limiting room for action. To enable forward-looking transformation processes driving permanent improvement of the competitive situation, we recommend regular assessments of the situation in the planned areas of development with as little bias as possible. Only in this way can a presumably distant pressure to act be used as an opportunity to launch sustainable transformation projects.

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