2021 – our year in review

A shortage of raw materials and delivery bottlenecks are putting companies under pressure. Supply chains are facing severe disruptions around the world. The images of container ships stuck in record-breaking queues outside the world's major ports epitomise the situation and will stay in our memory for a long time.

Like many other companies, Herchenbach was particularly impacted by these underlying conditions this year. Our lightweight building profiles, the core of our products, are made of aluminium. So supply bottlenecks on the commodities market and the huge price increases for aluminium were a major challenge for us.

Nevertheless, thanks to close and trusting contacts with our long-standing suppliers, we were able to continue reliably stocking high-quality material. At the same time, we are constantly sounding out the market for new developments and purchasing channels. This means our customers can carry on receiving our lightweight buildings quickly and easily in the accustomed high quality.

One way our customers have met the challenges in their industry and secured their supply chains has been to construct lightweight buildings. In order to bring this additional warehouse space to the market, we have continuously added dedicated staff to our team. And we continue to grow steadily.

As Herchenbach set the course for digitalisation and process optimisation very early on, we also managed to maintain close contact with our customers, business partners and between employees when working from home became necessary. Our customers can thus count on the usual in-depth consulting services regardless of external circumstances.

Here at Herchenbach, we are passionate lightweight building providers. Our customers are not just impressed by our low-priced lightweight buildings. We go the extra mile with our comprehensive ‘full service package’, which enables customers to design their low-priced building flexibly and easily. Our products and optimised processes focused on customers’ needs are presented in our new company video. 

"Expect the unexpected – The imperative for a new normal in supply chain design" – that was the title of Herchenbach’s first logistics study, published this year. For this study, the Herchenbach Supply Chain Institute surveyed long-standing decision-makers from the logistics industry. Five success factors were identified against the backdrop of the pandemic and disrupted supply chains. Companies that were able to rely on robust and resilient supply chains cited these measures as particularly effective.

For example, companies with very good crisis management favoured modular storage structures available at short notice (67% high effectiveness) and contractually agreed storage capacities (56% high effectiveness). We were delighted by the response to the study, including in the national media. You can read the study results again at the following link:  lp.herchenbach-industrial.com/en/logistics-study-expect-the-unexpected.

We have further expanded the blog section on our homepage. This is where our partners and customers can find not just news about our products, but also background information on issues affecting the logistics industry. We also introduce employees from our departments who bring passion and expertise to their work on the perfect building. If you want to take a look at our blog, you can find the latest articles here: herchenbach-industrial.com/en/company/blog.

We continued to face enormous challenges over the past 12 months following the first year of the pandemic. But we never lost sight of our successful growth strategy. The success of our products, the approval of our customers and the positive contacts with our business partners have been very encouraging.

So we look back with gratitude on the successes of 2021 and look forward to the challenges that the new year may bring. We will continue to work together to design the perfect building solution for our customers' needs.

We wish you, our customers and business partners, a peaceful, happy Christmas with your loved ones. As the new year approaches, we hope you have time to breathe and gather strength for a great 2022: challenging, exciting, successful – and above all healthy.