As cost-saving as meticulously planned supply chains are, they are also fragile. Manufacturers have reduced warehousing to a minimum and can thus quickly stumble in the event of minor deviations from delivery dates, even to the point of a complete standstill of production lines, as we can currently observe across all sectors in the German key industries such as car manufacturers or mechanical engineering. Often the absence of just one chip or a small circuit board is enough to bring the assembly lines to a standstill.
Information technology is also dependent on Asian, and here primarily Chinese, manufacturers, without whom nothing works. Here, distribution can counteract with its own warehousing. With more than 30 years of experience, INCOM has also countered many delivery problems with appropriate stocks of key manufacturers and suppliers and can thus remain able to deliver for several months if necessary.
Above all, the spare parts stocks are sufficiently filled so that all maintenance contracts and repair orders can be fulfilled at any time, even with loaned equipment if necessary, reports Managing Director Jan Brustkern. This means that INCOM can also repair systems that have already been discontinued by the manufacturer. This gives customers long-term planning security and they do not have to submit to the often fast-moving product cycles of the manufacturers.