The survey, a second, sees the proportion of companies whose operations are affected risse from 60 to 84% within two weeks. Almost every second company affected (45%) suffers from "serious" or "noticeable" disruptions along the supply chains. Only 5% have been spared, the report adds. “With the spread of the virus, the problems in the companies also logically increase. Parts and components that were ordered in Asia a few weeks ago did not arrive at the local plants. In addition, there are failures of European and German suppliers. This leads to noticeable production burdens and production downtimes,”says VDMA chief economist Dr Ralph Wiechers.
According to the latest survey, supply chain disruptions are particularly prevalent in Italy (75% of those affected), Germany (55%), China (51%), France (36%) and the USA (25%). “However, the situation in China and South Korea seems to be easing slightly. In addition, many mechanical engineering companies report a significant increase in orders from their Chinese customers,”explains Wiechers. Downsizing - even of parts of the regular workforce - is already an issue for 12% of companies.”
Almost 96% of companies expect sales to decline in 2020, which they will no longer be able to compensate for in the course of the year. A good 60% of these put these declines at 10 to 30%. In order to intercept these, three quarters of the machine builders surveyed have already made capacity adjustments, mainly via the working time account, but also in the form of hiring freezes and short time working.
Almost three quarters of companies are considering cutting their investment plans for 2020, due to uncertain business prospects and liquidity shortages, half in the range of 10 to 30% and around a quarter in the scope of more than 50 %.
