Autor: Angela Jäger

In the German manufacturing industry, there is actually one backshoring company on every three offshoring companies. The most important reasons for backshoring are losses in flexibility and delivery capability as well as quality problems. Results of a large firm-level survey in the German manufacturing industry show a clear, positive correlation between the use of technologies for the digital integration of production processes (Industry 4.0) and the backshoring propensity of German companies. This paves the way for local value chains in close proximity to important customers.

More than a fourth of German companies regard flexibility as their main competitive edge. Companies set great store by delivering customized solutions to the customer or to be able to deliver swiftly and on time. Thus the diffusion of organisational concepts which are suited to support adaptability of companies and to realise flexibility advan-tages is increasingly getting into the focus of attention. However, German industry has not yet fully exploited the potential these enablers might have on companies’ flexibility. The development of customized organisational concepts for improving the flexibility might help to further increase companies’ competitive edge.