Publications

 

September 2021 Corona-aid in SMEs - can the funds received be repaid? 

Our latest study raises major doubts about this and shows: 

➩ The planning premises when applying for loans were often too optimistic from today's perspective 

➩ The special situation still masks the actual crisis of many SMEs 

➩ One in four SMEs is in danger of going out of business 

➩ The strategy is lacking: Fresh funds are essentially used to finance losses 

So the signs are bad if the state does not intervene in time and there is no rethinking among companies. Without a clear crisis strategy, many SMEs will not be able to repay the funds they have received. The result will be a wave of consolidation at the expense of small companies, because many will not be able to manage the necessary transformation on their own. 

Below are the key findings as an excerpt from our study, in which we surveyed SMEs that had taken advantage of KfW funds and used a scenario calculation to adjust the companies' plans to the associations' individual industry expectations. 

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Mai 2021 Study on the upheaval in the German mechanical engineering industrie - service business plays a decisive role for future competitivness 

What was clearly noticeable at the digital Hanover Trade Fair in April is substantiated by the management consultancy bachert&partner with its current study: the German mechanical engineering industry, a traditional sector, is undergoing radical change. The whitepaper accompanying the study presents a detailed market analysis and, on this basis, provides four strategic recommendations for action for mechanical engineering companies. One of the most important but mostly underestimated areas of value creation is the service business. 

Until 2018, the German mechanical engineering sector, which is dominated by medium-sized companies, was still posting record sales. Since then, a clear downward trend, with the Covid 19 pandemic acting as a fire accelerator. Although the VDMA revised its production growth forecast for 2021 upward from four to seven percent in the course of the Hannover Messe, a detailed look at the German market reveals that the economic situation will remain tense for a large proportion of companies in the coming years. 

Securing competitiveness for the future 

Depending on company size and industry segment, existential influences affect the competitiveness of German mechanical engineering companies. Those who do not recognize their situation early on and take proactive measures quickly find themselves with their backs to the wall. In its white paper, bachert&partner outlines four concrete recommendations for action - focus, invest, downsize and transform - for companies with different starting points and identifies the service business as a decisive factor for sustainable corporate success. The results of the study "Mechanical Engineering: Strategies in the 'Post-Corona Age'" by bachert&partner show why this is so. 

"Mechanical Engineering: Strategies in the Post-Corona Age" as PDF 

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