Expect the unexpected

Logistics is at a turning point. Current events, such as the average of the "Ever Given" in the Suez Canal or the ongoing COVID 19 pandemic, are putting the global economy in a state of shock. The economic consequences of the global management of these crises will be felt for many years. By this abrupt cut, companies were and are challenged to secure their ability to act and to test their resilience.

After this initial reaction, however, companies should adjust to this new normal and the altered conditions that come with it. After all, situations like this are also a catalyst that accelerate existing developments and open up many new opportunities thereby. Whether companies are among the winners or losers of these crises is mostly in their own hands.

As one of the leading manufacturers of warehouse and logistics solutions in Europe, we are experiencing this disruption of the supply chain first hand on the supplier and as well as the customer side. We are experiencing an increasingly complex environment in which the ability and willingness to change is becoming the decisive competitive factor between economic systems and their individual actors. But what will this new normal look like?

With this study, we would like to provide you with concrete recommendations for action and new food for thought to increase your structural supply chain resilience. As a basis for the hypotheses and statements made is a quantitative survey of decision-makers with many years of practical experience in supply chain management. Furthermore, in-depth interviews were conducted with selected study participants.

* Hero Shot: "Container Ship" by NOAA's National Ocean Service. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.