Structural cost and result optimization is now at the top of the management agenda in the manufacturing industry for the first time. For two-thirds of the more than 420 CEOs of large internationally operating industrial companies surveyed as part of the fifth CxO Priorities Study, cost optimization is currently the absolute top issue. This is because a rapidly evolving global economy requires companies to confront it with adapted strategies in order to maintain competitiveness and growth.
Worldwide, companies are creating new jobs and expanding their workforce – unfortunately, not in Germany. Growth is mainly happening abroad, and to navigate through such a de-globalizing world, transnational structures are being established. Value creation and product development are increasingly shifting to growth markets, driven by the desire for shorter supply chains, attractive local conditions, and cost savings.
Companies need to become faster in order not to lose ground
The speed of market launches and the development of corresponding purchasing, production, and sales structures should also increase, with a tendency towards "China Speed". The interviewed companies aim to become around 20 percent faster in the entire innovation cycle in order to further enhance their competitiveness.
But how can they specifically proceed to remain successful in the increasingly complex structures and at the same time not lose their quality standards?