Digitalization has become an indispensable part of our everyday life. It is becoming increasingly important for consumers and companies alike and is equally driving the demands of all to the extreme.In addition to the gigantic opportunities and market potential that digitization offers, it also presents companies with perhaps the greatest challenge since its inception. Be it with regards to services or products: innovation is required! But so are fast adaptation and intuitive operability.What do our digitalization experts observe at enomyc? What are the three biggest pitfalls that are encountered during the digitalization process? How can companies recognize them in time, and how can they avoid them?

With concepts like "just-in-time production", Toyota and its legendary Toyota Production System (TPS) have had a lasting impact on countless companies around the world. When it was introduced in the early 1990s, the Japanese manufacturing system established new standards and benchmarks for the automotive sector and other manufacturing industries. But today we know this legendary production system has to be closely woven into a company's DNA – its strategy, corporate and even national cultures. This takes time – something crisis-hit companies usually don’t have. Luckily, there’s ePS4x from enomyc.

Philippe Piscol, Managing Partner at enomyc, has successfully been driving the field of distressed M&A for 8 years with great energy. What has he come to expect: Will the number of insolvencies continue to rise? Will the complexity of cases increase? Is it worth investing now? The interview also deals with the main topics involved in distressed M&A: How do you achieve a smooth sales process? What is important in the network and last but not least, what is it that attracts him personally to distressed M&A?

The mighty Association of German Industry (BDI) recently said the country’s "export-oriented economy must prepare itself for difficult times” in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. In view of such gloomy forecasts, it’s always heartening to hear about companies that are flourishing in the crisis and making use of unexpected opportunities – serving customers that had been out of touch for a long time in considerable volumes. These companies should now strengthen these rekindled customer relationships with some new sales power.

Even before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic crisis, the German furniture trade was confronted with subdued economic prospects and declining overall sales. In February 2019 – incidentally, after a prolonged phase of moderate growth – the sector focus on furniture reported on the “downward trend in the furniture market.” According to this report, the German furniture market recorded a decrease of 1.3 percent in 2018. Sales fell to 19.9 billion euros.A good year later the surprise came: 20.55 billion euros in sales in 2019, according to the home in March 2020, but in the same month the lockdown forced stationary trade to a standstill, while online sales skyrocketed.

Manufacturing companies can also act as solution providers through digitization. RASTAL has done well in proving this with its Smartglass® concept. How can products be digitized in a tangible way and innovations be successfully implemented?We met RASTAL’s managing partner Raymond Sahm and the strategy expert Dr. Stefan Frings of enomyc for an interview: what did it take to develop a good idea and to transform it into a functioning product with a profitable business model?

The fate of our global supply chains has even occupied the tabloid press in recent weeks. As the coronavirus spread, it worried about empty supermarkets shelves, idle car factories, an entire economy on the verge of ruin. When an issue makes the leap from consultants’ presentations to, say, Germany’s Bild newspaper, the situation must be dramatic. But we shouldn’t tumble headlong into doing something – anything – to put things straight. The crisis has created different supply-chain problems for different industries, so we need different and sector-specific solutions.

The fate of our global supply chains has even occupied the tabloid press in recent weeks. As the coronavirus spread, it worried about empty supermarkets shelves, idle car factories, an entire economy on the verge of ruin. When an issue makes the leap from consultants’ presentations to, say, Germany’s Bild newspaper, the situation must be dramatic. But we shouldn’t tumble headlong into doing something – anything – to put things straight. The crisis has created different supply-chain problems for different industries, so we need different and sector-specific solutions.

The second part of our series of topics will therefore be devoted to service-based business models in times of crisis. What makes service-based business models particularly successful in times of crisis? Why is digitization an important driver for new service products, and how can services be developed in a customer- and value-oriented way?