How can supply chains become more resilient, sustainable and digital? This question was the focus of the Logistics Conference 2025 at Hof University of Applied Sciences. Around 120 participants from science, business and practice took the opportunity to engage in an intensive exchange about current developments and future prospects in the field of supply chain management.
On Friday evening, a get-together on the roof terrace of the Einstein1 digital start-up center offered space for personal networking in a relaxed atmosphere. With summery temperatures, cool drinks and light snacks, initial discussions were held and contacts made – a successful start to a packed conference day.
Impetus for change
On Saturday morning, Prof. Dr. Friedwart Lender, Head of Procurement and Logistics Management at Hof University of Applied Sciences, opened the conference with clear words:
‘Supply chains are in a permanent state of change. Our goal must be to strengthen students, companies and research alike methodically in order to actively shape this change.”
Prof. Dr. Friedwart Lender
University President Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jürgen Lehmann also emphasized in his welcoming address the importance of the subject area for Germany as a business location and the role of the university as a driver of innovation in the region.
Global perspectives and sustainable strategies
Prof. Lender himself kicked off the event with a presentation on methodically shaping the future of supply chains. The value chains must be considered in systems from the raw material suppliers to the manufacturer to the customer. In addition, considerations of the circular economy in terms of circular design and its effects on the supply chain must be taken into account as early as the product design stage. This was followed by a highlight of the conference: Prof. Dr. Stefan Asenkerschbaumer, Managing Partner of Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Robert Bosch GmbH, shed light on the global challenges of supply chain management in an increasingly technological environment.
Disruptions in value chains are the new normal, reliability and predictability in supply and customer relationships are no longer a given.”
Prof. Dr. Stefan Asenkerschbaumer, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Robert Bosch GmbH
The availability of raw materials and the use of new technologies are therefore key design elements of a resilient supply chain, which must be managed by qualified employees and management levels.
Digitalization meets sustainability
Volker Albrecht, Managing Director of Siemens Digital Logistics GmbH, then showed how sustainable supply chain management can be combined with product lifecycle management – a topic with growing relevance for industry and society. Mr. Albrecht impressively demonstrated how to view the value chain as an overall system, from the initial ideas through to practical use, and how to align the degrees of freedom in product design with the supply chain and sustainability aspects.
Practical outlook and technological impulses
The afternoon was characterized by practical outlooks: Prof. Dr. Willi Darr gave a review of central developments in purchasing management and showed perspectives for the future. One of Prof. Darr’s concerns was to understand that residual risk remains with every decision in the value chain and, above all, in purchasing, and that it cannot be hedged even with the best information. In order to minimize this residual risk, companies need to take a closer look at their information supply chain and establish an end-to-end information supply chain. However, most companies are still a long way from achieving this.
Dr. Roland Fischer from Fraunhofer IIS then presented concrete application scenarios for artificial intelligence in logistics – an exciting look into the technological future of the industry. Generative AI models could provide support for text-oriented tasks. However, decisions in supply chain management depend on the training data of the deep learning models. And the people involved must be able to check the meaningfulness of the AI results. Without data and an understanding of AI, it cannot be used profitably.
Farewell to deserving professors
Prof. Dr. Friedwart Lender closed the event with a personal summary and heartfelt thanks to the participants. At the concluding get-together, there was not only further discussion – there were also some emotional words: the symposium marked the official retirement of both Prof. Dr. Lender and Prof. Dr. Darr from active university service.
