Business Guide

Cyberattacks on data and network security are a serious threat to companies worldwide, including small and medium-sized enterprises. IT security expert Johannes Mattes and Alexander Gronwald, a specialist in digital transformation, explain the vulnerabilities that attackers abuse, and which defense strategies companies can use for protection. They also discuss why employee training plays a major role when it comes to cybersecurity.

From January 1st 2023, the German Supply Chain Act holds companies with more than 3,000 employees in Germany liable to comply with extensive due diligence obligations towards people and the environment in their supply chain. One year later, the law will also take effect for organizations with more than 1,000 employees. In the following interview, Judith Jung, specialist group representative at the German Association of Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (BME) and project manager at the Competence Center for Innovative Procurement (KOINNO), and Carsten Knauer, head of the BME Logistics Section, discuss why small and medium-sized companies are also affected and what they can do to prepare.

For companies, inventory management is strategically important and challenging at the same time: In order to avoid surplus goods or bottlenecks, demand must be predicted as accurately as possible. Incorrect planning can lead to considerable economic disadvantages. In order to manage and optimize inventories in line with demand, a high degree of transparency is required in all supply chain processes. In addition to the basics of inventory management, we will introduce you to methods and tools that can be used to increase transparency and thus achieve inventory optimization.

Strategic commodity group management not only enables the optimization of procurement costs, it also facilitates supply chain strategies and supplier relations. In addition, commodity group classification supports the assessment of risks as required by the Supply Chain Act which comes into force in January 2023. We explain how companies can take advantage of the many benefits of strategic commodity group management.

Many companies are currently struggling with high cost pressures on the supply chain caused by supply constraints, increased freight and storage costs, sharply rising energy prices and persistent inflation. What is needed at this point are efficient processes that can reduce costs, save time and increase productivity. Discussing examples from practice, we explain how companies can work much more efficiently with technologies specifically tailored to the supply chain.

Companies are currently confronted with a multitude of risk events that directly or indirectly impact procurement, production and supply security. Most of these incidents are beyond direct control – yet there are ways to identify risks, adjust processes and optimize systems. The basis for this is supply chain analytics – the targeted evaluation of the data stream that accompanies goods along the supply chain. Our new blog post explains the basics of supply chain analytics.

Conscious consumers and legal requirements such as ESG reporting are increasingly calling on companies to decarbonize the entire value chain. However, many businesses have so far only monitored their SCOPE-1 and SCOPE-2 emissions: direct CO2 emissions within their own company and indirect emissions from energy suppliers. Meanwhile, the SCOPE-3 emissions of the supply chain are still insufficiently recorded. We present a number of examples to show where companies can start and what measures they can take.

Whether supply chain legislation, climate goals or bottlenecks in supply: When it comes to their supply chain management (SCM), companies increasingly require control, transparency and agility. Without a digital infrastructure, however, the complex processes involving a large number of stakeholders cannot be adequately monitored. Unfortunately, small and medium-sized companies in particular often lack the internal structures and sufficient capacities to achieve just that. We explain how cloud computing makes the supply chain more resilient and future-ready.

In the event of a disruption, an overdependence on individual suppliers or geographical regions can lead to serious bottlenecks in procurement and production. Increased diversification is one way to cushion supply chain disruptions and improve security. We explain strategies that companies can use in order to unleash the full potential of a well-diversified supplier portfolio.

Fast delivery, cost-efficient shipping, and customer-friendly returns – these are all factors that play an important role for customers of online stores and platforms, also for cross-border purchases. By now, already 200 million of the total of 268 million online shoppers in Europe have ordered abroad at least once. Therefore, efficient cross-border logistics are important for e-commerce retailers and present a major challenge. In the last part of our "Sales Market Europe" series, you will receive tips on which aspects are relevant for efficient fulfillment.