German managers: One in five fear production downtimes

Lightning Survey Coronavirus

Projects must be postponed at additional cost – precautionary measures felt to be necessary

  • Every third person finds media reports excessive
  • Measures taken by governments or airlines deemed necessary
  • Just under one in five is afraid of production stoppages
  • 41 percent must postpone projects below additional costs
  • One in three loses money because they cannot supply customers
  • Companies start hoarding

Düsseldorf, 07.02.2020 – How is a supply chain supposed to function when people are afraid of contagion, logistics is cut off from one day to the next and decision-makers can no longer see each other? And are these fears justified or exaggerated? In order to shed light on this, the purchasing consultants of the Kloepfel Group have questioned 243 specialists and managers of the German industry and trade in an online quick survey. The random survey was carried out across all industries from 03.02.2020 to 06.02.2020.

Majority has a connection to China

For this question the participants were able to give several answers. For example, 81 percent said that they are supplied by important suppliers from China. Around one in three (35 percent) works there with important customers. One third (33 percent) produces directly in China. Four percent have no connection to the giant empire.

Every third person finds media reports excessive

At 63 percent, the majority of the managers and specialists surveyed said that they were happy to be informed via the media. Only just over one in three (37 percent) found the current reporting to be completely excessive.

Measures by governments or airlines necessary

58 percent consider the measures taken by governments and airlines to protect against infection to be useful. 42 percent, on the other hand, find the measures partly sensible and partly exaggerated. However, all respondents are basically of the opinion that precautions must continue to be taken. No one considered the means to combat the coronavirus unnecessary.

19 percent are afraid of production stoppages

The majority (42 percent) have not yet been affected by supplier failures. Although 28 percent report supplier failures, they can activate alternative suppliers in the short to medium term. 19 percent fear that supply shortages will cause them to shut down production. Meanwhile, 9 percent have supply shortages, but these will not lead to a production stoppage. Only just over 2 percent of participants are not affected by supplier failures in any way.

41 percent must postpone projects below additional costs

The vast majority of respondents (42 percent) report that they can continue to implement projects as planned. However, almost as many (41 percent) have to postpone projects, which, according to the survey, costs them a lot of money. 9 percent cannot keep to project plans and fear that this may even jeopardize their existence. A further 8 percent have to postpone a planned project, but this is no problem.

Purchasing consultancy for the economy registers numerous urgent enquiries – companies start hording

Marc Kloepfel, CEO of the purchasing specialists of the Kloepfel Group, states: “Initially we received many requests for face masks from our customers with locations in China. However, as the situation is not improving, we are receiving many rush orders for other product groups these days. The companies are beginning to hoard and are replenishing their stocks as a precaution. This affects not only the manufacturing industry but also very much the trade.