Autor: Henning Schöpper

The COVID-19 crisis had an unmistakable impact on the procurement situation in global supply chains, to which companies had to adapt quickly. The effects make it clear that to reduce risks, companies must address the structure and transparency of supply chains. The following article examines what knowledge the actors have and how digitalization can lead to further improvement. The results show that companies currently have little supply chain knowledge beyond their direct suppliers, but are increasingly able to obtain the supply chain data they require. At the same time, the results indicate that there is still potential to increase transparency and the use of data.

The advancing technological change, the globalization of markets as well as increasing customer requirements have led to a significant increase in complexity in manufacturing companies and their supply chains. Companies and entire value chains are countering this development with product modularization strategies. In this context, however, the investigation of the influences of product modularization on the supply chain receives little attention. This can lead to unused potentials and additional risks, such as the loss of core competencies. Therefore, this article deals with necessary processes and success factors that result from a joint consideration of product modularization along the supply chain. On the basis of a systematic analysis of scientific literature and guideline-supported expert interviews, a process model with different phases and steps was developed and currently necessary success factors were identified.

Digitization has a considerable impact on companies and their business environment. With extensive digital pilot projects and digitization programs, large corporations show that they are increasingly internalizing the digital transformation. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), on the other hand, often have a need to catch up. In addition to the technical aspects of digital transformation, the human factor is playing an increasingly important role. With the help of a cross-sectional analysis of German SMEs, findings on digitization competence were derived and analyzed across industries. The term work 4.0 was divided into the dimensions of qualification, organization and leadership and these were considered as influencing factors. In individual industries, there are clear deficits in the area of digitization competence. It shows that these competences depend to a large extent on the dimensions of the work 4.0.