Business Review

Holger Feldhege, COO, explains how his teams secured the supply and service chains to maintain delivery schedules for our customers. By taking swift actions early in 2020, availability of supplies and spare parts was ensured. The teams managed to find solutions by leveraging the global production network.

Samuel Schär, Chief Services and Sales Officer for Bühler Group, explains how the Services & Sales organization ensured the seamless operation of our customers’ assets throughout the challenges of the pandemic thanks to our local set-up, supported by a global service organization.

Still being in the midst of the pandemic, we do not expect a fast recovery of markets and a quick return to normal. In fact, we see a “new normal” arising with far more digital applications, virtual communication, and remote solutions. In our view, the pandemic not only sped up digitalization but also the trends towards a bipolar world with the two centers of power being China and the United States.  

The new Asian agreement Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) which reflects a third of global trade is a strong step into this direction. Other important trends which affect our business is the increasing demand of sustainable solutions, be it by CO2 reduced emissions, nutritious and healthy food, or clean mobility.

We are convinced that Bühler is very well positioned even in this volatile market environment. To gain even more flexibility and agility, we are continuing to work on our business excellence, among others by starting the migration of our ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems onto SAP S/4HANA within the next years. For 2021, we expect our business volume and profitability to stay stable. We are now laying ground to return to profitable growth.