German Industry Increases Warehousing
Since 2020, German industry has responded to disruptions in international supply chains primarily by making increasing use of warehousing. This is the finding of an ifo Institute survey, according to which 68 percent of the companies surveyed have increased the size of their warehouses, 65 percent have sought additional suppliers, and 54 percent now monitor their supply chains better than before.
A full 38 percent of manufacturing companies are rearranging their list of existing suppliers. Only 13 percent are increasing their vertical range of manufacture, i.e., they are now producing vendor parts themselves.
Results differ according to the size of the companies: small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular are increasing their inventory levels (73 percent), while large companies are doing this somewhat less (64 percent). Large companies are primarily looking for new suppliers (72 percent), which only 55 percent of SMEs are doing. Large companies are also monitoring their supply chain more closely than small ones (59 versus 48 percent), and reallocating more between suppliers (43 versus 30 percent). When it comes to bringing manufacturing back in-house, on the other hand, there is hardly a difference between the two: 14 percent of large companies are doing this, as are 12 percent of SMEs.
