Of course, such solutions do not lend themselves to all businesses. In general, however, it helps to deal consistently and with foresight with the changing effects of the crisis. According to the experience of many companies, it is worthwhile to have the following points in mind at an early stage:
Permanently review your business model, your strategy, your product range and your customer and supplier structure. New business ideas, the further development of your products, a mix of existing and new customers and the term of your supply contracts are relevant here.
Protect yourself against supply bottlenecks or payment defaults. Regularly check the creditworthiness of your contractual partners along your value chain. Ask your Chamber of Industry and Commerce for lists of debtors in which companies in default or threatened with insolvency are listed ex officio.
Implement an early warning system for your own company. Ensure a clear division of responsibilities in your company: Who is responsible for what, who reports to whom and how often? To always know the state of affairs, you need regular updates on business developments.
Watch out for warning signs: Is a previously reliable customer paying his bills at the last minute? Caution is particularly important in the event of sudden changes in payment behavior.
You should also keep an eye out for anything unusual with your suppliers: Does your supplier change his payment terms without notice, does he deliver late or only in inferior quality? Start looking for alternative suppliers in an early time.
(text source: DIHK 04/2021)
In the view of the VDI, recycling must be considered from the outset in the design of plastic products - in the sense of circular value creation. The International Plastics Trade Fair K 2019 in Düsseldorf, which starts today, is also characterised by the circular economy, in which the topic of recycling is embedded.
According to the VDI, the most important thing in the development of new plastic products is recycling-friendly design. As early as the design stage of products containing plastics, developers and manufacturers must take into account the fact, that they can be dismantled as purely as possible after use in order to recycle them efficiently.
Thinking about recycling starts with the design.
According to the Closed Substance Cycle Waste Management Act, products must be suitable for proper, harmless and high-quality recycling as well as for environmentally friendly disposal. To achieve this, the following questions should be clarified early in the design process:
- Can a recyclable thermoplastic be used?
- Can plastics be used for the planned product in a single type? Can plastics
used for the planned product be sorted by type?
Optimal recycling because of sorted plastics.
If plastic products are made from sorted plastics, they can be recycled better and more efficiently at the end of the product life cycle. Contaminated polymers, on the other hand, cannot be recycled economically in this form. The alternative for them is chemical recycling, means returning them to their original monomers.
In the opinion of the VDI, the costs of a product's life cycle must also become a decisive purchasing criterion for consumers in the private sector in the future. Only in this way can an economical use of resources be achieved.
(text source: VDI 16.10.2019)
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