Photo: GCPeters
In supply chain management, cybersecurity, resilience, and transparency are moving to the top of the agenda. Software specialist Ralf Düster explains which trends he believes will be important in 2025. The persistent shortage of skilled workers remains a major issue – sustainability and social responsibility are suffering as a result.
Economic stagnation in countries like Germany, says Düster, means that logistics providers also have to focus more intensively on cost reduction. Managing Director Ralf Düster's theories are based on expert discussions with specialists from business and research, as well as on data from Setlog customers who use the OSCA SCM software. In the fast-moving consumer goods sector alone, this includes around 100 brands, according to the company, such as Tom Tailor, KiK, Marc O'Polo, Wenko, and Drive DeVilbiss.
Building resilience
The crux of the matter is that isolating supply chains and maintaining ERP silos is not a solution in today's globalized world. Supply chains are inevitably becoming increasingly digitized and interconnected. This makes cybercriminals a growing problem for businesses. Data breaches, ransomware attacks, and supply chain vulnerabilities are prompting companies to improve their cybersecurity measures. This includes stronger encryption, investments in AI-powered threat detection, and new strategies for assessing the cybersecurity capabilities of suppliers and partners. Prudent companies are not only focused on direct attacks but also on threats originating from their technology providers and suppliers. Market researchers at Gartner predict that by the end of 2025, approximately 45 percent of companies worldwide will have been affected by cyberattacks. This represents a threefold increase compared to the situation in 2021. Leading companies are not only investing in technologies to protect themselves against cyberattacks, they are also regularly training their employees on this topic and having security audits carried out.
R. Düster
Political crises, new governments, extreme weather events, and pandemics have shifted the priorities of sourcing experts, production managers, and supply chain managers. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, when even in industrialized countries certain products were temporarily unavailable, product availability and resilience have become extremely important. (...) Tools for real-time monitoring, risk management, and scenario planning facilitate this work. Diversification within the supply chain leads to greater resilience. Therefore, leading companies are building a broad portfolio of suppliers and diverse transport routes for sensitive materials, products, and components to ensure robust supply chain management.
Collaboration is a top priority
Transparency is the prerequisite for resilient and diversified supply chains. When it is in place, those responsible can more quickly identify which part of the chain is affected by an external event. Due to the high volatility in the economy, many companies are reviewing existing contracts. Flexibility plays a central role in realigning these contracts. To improve planning, trusting collaboration between all partners along the supply chain is essential. This often requires new communication platforms. Modern IT tools enable data sharing, the pooling of resources, and rapid decision-making in the face of dynamic demand fluctuations.
the ten most important theses as a PDF at SETLOG_SCM_Trends_2025_DE_122024
Setlog was founded in 2001 and is now one of the leading providers of SCM software, with over 40,000 users in 92 countries. The software company employs 60 people at its locations in Bochum (headquarters), Cologne, and New York.
