Insight

Welcome to the 2024 Janus Perspective, a unique feature that includes a wide cross section of global fastener business leaders. Named after the Roman God 'Janus' – who had the ability to look to the future and to the past, and was often depicted with having two faces – this feature brings together thought leaders from every facet of the industry, from around the world, to give us their retrospective on 2023, as well as prospects and challenges for 2024.

Martin Jauss, general manager

2023 was an intensive year, which, besides many challenges, reached new dimensions. Global challenges affect companies in all market segments, in all countries, and on all continents, and thus also us as an industry partner. 

First and foremost, with the war in Ukraine – with all its geopolitical uncertainties, inflation, and the energy crisis, through to a challenge across all markets, there was a continuing dynamic situation on the global procurement market. Although availability, the transport situation and delivery times largely eased – along with the immediate need to ‘extinguish fires’ decreasing, the situation was still very much in flux with prices remaining very high.

In addition, the extensive regulations from the EU and national legislation – such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) or the Supply Chain Duty of Care Act – placed, and are still placing, considerable strain on companies in the fastener supply chain and thus weakening the competitiveness of Europe as a whole. Other major issues of our time, such as the increasing shortage of skilled workers and labour, demographic change, climate change, and sustainability, are also some of the global challenges. 

In this market situation, the main focus of our global customers remains on reliable supply regardless of the fact where production takes place and what slight decoupling tendencies exist in the global markets – this has not changed. As the European market leader in the supply of small parts to industrial customers, our strategy is designed to continuously invest in innovative logistics solutions; the further development of our digital supply systems; in predictive procurement of goods; and further education and training of our employees at all European sites. 

A solid financial basis and a strong industry network, with long-term supplier partnerships, ensure that we are well positioned in terms of resilience and diversity to provide our customers with intelligent system and product solutions in a reliable and secure way – guaranteed by all colleagues shaping this network. 

In order to jointly move the ‘right lever’, close and trustful cooperation with our partners and customers is extremely important to me. I believe that the market environment remains fundamentally stable. The global development of slight decoupling and the resulting relocalisation of production are in-line with the business model we have been practicing for many years, which offers the same service in the respective markets of America, Asia and Europe. Therefore, we are able to absorb these market developments and support our customers without losing security of supply. A key factor for that is our purchasing department, which is centrally organised and responsible for the procurement and inquiries regarding new projects from all our European companies. In the global procurement markets, the multi-supplier strategy is an additional security factor. Proactive action, communication with the customers, comprehensive supplier monitoring, use of alternatives, and appropriate article stocking, ensure that customers in the global production facilities are comprehensively supplied, which is made possible above all by the commitment of all 1,800 employees in Germany and over 6,600 employees worldwide.

As a company of the Würth Group, Würth Industrie Service is expected to close 2023 as forecast. After the first half of 2023 was characterised by a very stable market demand, the second half of the year showed a decrease in industrial activity and thus resulted in less order intake. The rate of decline in production was significantly faster than anticipated. It is particularly striking that this trend is not uniform across the market segments, but rather fluctuates from company to company within the same segment in the manufacturing industry. 

Although availability, transport capacities and delivery times have eased, we are still facing a challenging price situation. Energy prices, labour costs, exchange rate fluctuations, capacity limits, etc, contribute to the fact that raw material price trends are not reflected in the end product. Looking ahead to 2024, the industrial environment will continue to be characterised by uncertainty. Despite these uncertainties, we at Würth Industrie Service are optimistic about the coming months. After all, process optimisation along a holistic C-Parts management is becoming much more important in times of necessary efficiency increase. In order to support industrial companies in Europe, we not only rely on the expertise of our employees, but especially on the necessary tools we have been using over 25 years with more than 20,000 customers. 

This is the reason why the focus of Würth Industrie Service will remain where it is today. Above all, we will continue to focus on our customers, their individual needs and requirements, and thus also on the reliability of supply, customer oriented systems and innovations. It is also important to develop our product portfolio beyond the standard. Over the past 15 years, there have also been clear movements that the process optimisation of small parts does not only include traditional fasteners. In fact, all production relevant parts, such as special and drawing parts or supplier related items, are permanently in focus. Furthermore, production related materials such as occupational
safety materials, tools, and chemical products, are becoming increasingly important for industrial companies in order to ensure security of supply in this segment, as well by providing optimal supply concepts for process optimisation. 

In the future, however, we will not only focus on traditional fasteners, assembly materials, and indirect materials, but will also develop completely new business areas and technologies – such as additive manufacturing technologies – together with our partners. This puts us in a good position to continue providing our customers with reliable and secure services in the future.