In the opinion of Würth boss Robert Friedmann, the short-term planning of many companies and an overreaction in the first lockdown in 2020 are jointly responsible for the currently serious supply chain problems.

His group got through the crisis better because the management behaved differently in spring 2020 than many others, he said in a video call with the FAZ

Gustav Theile

Editor in business.

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At that time, the company, which is known as a screw dealer and earned its money with assembly and fastening technology, adjusted its capacities, but did not proceed with an ax.

“We knew that this lockdown would not last forever.” This is why the supply chain problems are now fewer for Würth than for others.

"From our point of view, the shifts in the supply chains are due to the fact that many companies have overreacted."

"We have the longer breath"

Because Würth is not listed on the stock exchange, they had an advantage. “The Würth family is about long-term success. We have more stamina. That paid off. ”Many of the people involved would have already experienced the financial market crisis in 2008 and learned from it to adjust capacities less sharply. According to the company, it also benefits from the fact that it is increasingly relying on its own production. This guarantees a "certain independence from global supply chains". 80 percent of Würth goods originate in Europe.

The reason for the discussion was the announcement of the preliminary consolidated financial statements for the past year.

The company from Künzelsau in the northeast of Baden-Württemberg set record values.

In 2021, sales rose by 18.5 percent compared to the previous year, by almost a fifth to 17.1 billion euros, and the operating result was 1.2 billion euros.

According to the company, both are record highs.

The group also recorded slight growth in sales in 2020.

For the current year he expects growth in the upper single-digit percentage range, maybe even double-digit.

Criticism of EU customs plans

Friedmann admitted that part of the sales growth was due to inflation.

He named 4 to 5 percent as the order of magnitude.

The purchase prices have risen faster than the sales prices.

“We notice that in the gross margin.

We were unable to pass on the prices sufficiently, ”he said despite the record operating profit.

Freight costs in particular have risen sharply, said Würth in a presentation. The container prices for some routes have more than quadrupled since the beginning of the pandemic.

"We have freight costs that none of us have ever seen in our professional career," said Friedmann.

In his opinion, the freight companies have a lot of market power and have therefore been able to raise prices.

The Danish giant Maersk was able to increase its return from 9 to 30 percent.

Friedmann also criticized the EU's plans to impose punitive tariffs on screws from China in order to combat dumping prices. “State protectionism always leads to imbalances. The damage caused by the punitive tariff is greater than the benefit. Then there will be counter-reactions. ”But because Würth manufactures many of the screws in Europe, the plans hardly affected the company. The segment affected by the dumping prices hardly plays a role for Würth anyway.

The company hired a lot of new people over the past year.

The number of employees grew by around 4,000 to a total of more than 83,000, 25,000 of them in Germany.

According to Friedmann, the increased use of home offices is helping Würth to recruit new employees.

The small town of Künzelsau is located in the Hohenlohe district, in which a comparatively large number of large companies have their headquarters, but which is more rural in character.