Corona pandemic damages supply chains in mechanical engineering - Germany's engineering body VDMA

According to the report from Germany's engineering body VDMA, the mechanical engineering industry is feeling the consequences of the corona pandemic with increasing force. A second current survey by the VDMA, which was answered by 965 member companies, clearly shows this.

The proportion of companies whose operations are affected rose from 60 to 84 percent within two weeks. Almost one in two affected companies (45 percent) suffers from "serious" or "noticeable" disruptions along the supply chain. Only 5 percent have been spared so far. "Logically, as the virus spreads, the problems in the factories increase as well. Parts and components that were ordered in Asia a few weeks ago have not arrived at the local plants. In addition, there are failures of European, also German suppliers. This leads to noticeable production burdens and also production losses", says VDMA chief economist Dr. Ralph Wiechers.

According to the latest survey, disruptions in supply chains are particularly prevalent in Italy (75 percent of those affected), Germany (55 percent), China (51 percent), France (36 percent) and the USA (25 percent). "However, the situation in China and South Korea seems to be easing slightly. In addition, many engineering companies are reporting a significant increase in orders from their Chinese customers," explains Wiechers.