Supply Chain Strategien am Beispiel der chemischen Industrie

Abstract

By reducing inventories and leveraging international sourcing markets global supply chains have become increasingly efficient in the recent years. However, this strong focus on efficiency has also led to greater vulnerability to disruptions, which became particularly evident during the COVID-19-pandemic. At the same time, the chemical industry is especially affected due to its complex value chains, regulatory requirements and its role as a supplier for numerous downstream sectors. This raises the central question of this paper: How can medium-sized companies in the chemical industry in Central Europe develop a suitable supply chain strategy? This thesis is structured into five main chapters. The first chapter outlines the introduction, the research problem and objectives. The second chapter provides the theoretical foundation by analyzing different supply chain strategies, showing that the approaches vary depending on product characteristics and the level of uncertainty. The third chapter identifies current requirements for modern supply chains. In addition, expert interviews with representatives of medium-sized chemical companies in the DACH region were conducted. The aim was to validate the theoretically derived requirements and to supplement them with industry-specific aspects. The interviews also provided the basis for weighing the criteria used in the evaluation. Chapter four applies these insights in a utility value analysis to evaluate the suitability of different supply chain strategies for the chemical industry. Finally, the results are discussed, a recommendation is presented, and the thesis concludes with a summary and outlook. The findings highlight that the selection of a supply chain strategy must always consider industry-specific, company-specific and product-specific conditions. Based on the utility analysis, this paper recommends the use of the Agile Supply Chain for medium-sized chemical companies in Central Europe, as it combines high adaptability with strong customer orientation and increased resilience, thus ensuring competitiveness under volatile conditions. At the same time, it is emphasized that strategic orientation should be reviewed regularly and, if necessary, complemented by operational elements from other approaches to ensure ongoing alignment with changing external requirements.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	German (Austria)
Supervisor	Gerald Johannes Aschauer (Supervisor)