How modern supply chain consulting can make an impact
Interview with Hans Huber and Fabian Fleissner: What drives manufacturing companies today – and how modern supply chain consulting can make an impact.
Hans Huber and Fabian Fleissner at the STREMLER AG headquarters in Lindau, standing in front of a central flipchart sketch by company founder Alphonse Stremler.
What does effective supply chain consulting look like to you?
Hans: Effective consulting must deliver results. It must not stop at the concept stage, but must generate visible change in the supply chain – with noticeable improvements in KPIs.
Fabian: ...combined with genuine industry expertise. In other words, consultants who have worked in various industries for many years – paired with smart technologies. This is the only way to achieve full transparency along the value chain and a resilient supply chain.
Hans: And it's important to work out very precisely at the outset what the central issue is: Where are the biggest bottlenecks, where is the greatest potential? Once these are clear, they must be addressed first before rolling out other issues.
Fabian: I couldn't agree more.
What is efficient production and supply chain planning – beyond Excel and gut feeling?
Fabian: For me, efficient means data-driven. You have to make things tangible and visual—dashboards are essential for this. And you have to define what "efficiency" means with : there are many KPIs, but it's crucial to measure the right ones.
Hans: At the same time, you have to identify the key levers – start where you can achieve the greatest leverage with comparatively little effort. That's efficiency: making changes where they have the greatest impact.
When is a project efficient – when can you expect results from working with STREMLER?
Hans: Typically, the first few weeks are spent focusing on analysis and, at the same time, on quick wins or "low-hanging fruit." After about three months, the first effects should be visibly implemented. A typical return on investment is then achieved after about six months.
In your experience, where are the most effective levers—organizational, digital, or human?
Fabian: The three classic flows in a supply chain are the product flow, the information flow, and the financial flow. These three elements must operate in harmony for an organisation to align itself effectively. In day-to-day operations, this alignment happens primarily through clear communication and the provision of accurate data and facts. When this is achieved, the positive effects are substantial — from greater transparency and improved planning to more stable and reliable processes.
Hans: In addition, digitalization, people, and systems must work together. Those involved must understand why change makes sense. Supply chain optimization is always also change management: What advantages does digitalization bring to employees—faster processes, less effort, better quality?
Fabian: And conversely, even the best systems have little impact if processes and the organisation do not evolve alongside them. This necessary harmony — between data, systems, and processes — is what enables an organisation to perform effectively.
What are the current issues facing manufacturing companies? What challenges do you see at the moment?
Hans: I believe that digitalization in production continues to be a huge issue. Many companies don't know exactly what to do with it and where they should start. Existing production environments often contain older systems that cannot simply be replaced for reasons of investment protection. This quickly raises the question: Where should we even start – and what do we want to achieve? To find the answer, it often helps to take a step back and ask: Where do we stand in relation to the competition? What can we achieve for the company? And what does that mean for production and the supply chain?
Fabian: When we talk about globalization today, it becomes clear how complex supply chains have become in recent years. There are huge data streams that need to be managed. Many systems that have worked well for 20 or 30 years are now reaching their limits. And many companies are still heavily Excel-based, which has a negative impact on data quality, response speed, and planning stability. As a result, planners spend 80% of their time searching for causes and creating reports – and only 20% on real solutions. Actually, the ratio should be exactly the opposite.
Hans: In addition to globalization, there is also a clear countertrend toward localization. This was seen in the post-corona supply chain crisis, but also in topics such as Nexperia or sudden customs shocks. Companies are responding to this by pursuing different sourcing strategies in parallel. While this increases organizational complexity, it also brings greater reliability and robustness to delivery capabilities.
Fabian: That's why the term "supply chain resilience" is interpreted in very different ways. We keep seeing the classic sine curve: centralization – decentralization – global – local. In the end, the wheel isn't being reinvented. It's about aligning the organization so that it can respond quickly and flexibly to market conditions.
Hans: Other major issues are sustainability and the new supply chain laws. Both play a significant role. Then there is artificial intelligence: it is changing processes, for example in procurement, where decisions are increasingly being made automatically or at least with the support of AI. This must be taken into account in future organizational models.
Fabian: And European companies in particular are focusing intensively on the Supply Chain Protection Act. Issues such as data collection, ESG metrics, and the ecological footprint in logistics have been somewhat neglected in the past. Now, many regulations are already in force, and the transition phase offers only limited flexibility. Companies know that the point will come when they have to be fully compliant. This is definitely an issue that is very much on the minds of companies.
You mentioned AI earlier—what role does AI play in planning and control systems? What are the opportunities and limitations?
Hans: The opportunities lie in the fact that systems can learn independently and optimize their decisions using large amounts of data and over time. This often results in completely new optimization logic – beyond the purely arithmetic. However, interaction between humans and machines is also important: employees must be able to understand why AI makes certain suggestions. Transparency is key here. As for the limitations, AI is based on large, high-quality data sets. If these are lacking, AI reaches its limits. Then logical validation by humans is needed – the question: "Does what the system has planned even make sense?"
Fabian: To follow up on that: AI greatly helps to reverse the 80/20 logic – away from data search and analysis, toward finding solutions. Decisions can be made faster and often better because they are based on current, sometimes even real-time data.
Hans: Data quality plays a crucial role here – both in terms of master data, which should actually change slowly but is often not maintained properly, and in terms of historical data from machines, sensors, or telemetry. Often, the complete context is missing from the data. Then the algorithm cannot recognize certain correlations, even though they exist in reality.
Fabian: And a major challenge is to alleviate people's fears about AI. Many people immediately associate AI with job losses or external control. The key is to shape a positive mindset. Processes in production can certainly be highly automated, but the human factor will never disappear from planning. Production, supply, or demand planners should see AI as a support – not as competition, but as a tool that makes their work better, faster, and more precise.
Hans, you've been with STREMLER AG for over three months now, and Fabian is brand new. A question for both of you: Where are you from – and where are you going? And what does that have to do with STREMLER?
Fabian: When I saw the job posting and we started talking, it quickly became clear to me: this is the perfect symbiosis. The ideal next step. After 16 years in supply chain and operations through and through, I can now not only apply my knowledge in one company, but also help several companies at the same time to make their supply chains more efficient.
Hans: And I—with my "much greater experience of three months"—come from a long history at the interface between business and technology. Industrialization, Industry 4.0, and digitalization issues have always been part of my life in recent years. The opportunity to join STREMLER AG as part of the succession plan was a great chance for me to apply this knowledge in a meaningful context – namely, to support manufacturing companies in remaining competitive in the medium and long term. I find it an enormously exciting task to strengthen the manufacturing industry in Europe. I see this as a real task for the future.
Fabian: To add to my background: supply chain operations "through and through" – in very different roles, from headquarters to market organizations to distribution centers and the shop floor. This has given me a very good understanding of where operational pain points lie in everyday life. I bring expertise in planning, procurement, and logistics – from external logistics to inbound/outbound to intralogistics, warehouse management, and inventory optimization. That's why I can empathize with customers very well and deliver real added value.
Hans: And how were your first three days?
Fabian: Very positive. The atmosphere and dynamics in the team are really good, and you can tell right away that my colleagues know what they're talking about. At the moment, I'm soaking up as much information as possible about systems, processes, and structures—I'm still in observation mode. Over the next few weeks, I will then derive recommendations for action, implement initial quick wins, and further strengthen our efficiency and team structures, following a classic project plan. I hope that's what you had in mind.
Hans: Absolutely.
Hans Huber has been CEO of STREMLER AG for three months. Fabian Fleissner is Operations Manager and Senior Project Manager and new to the team. The interview was conducted by Stephanie Stremler.
