Forging new connections: Added value reaches its true potential in a network
Industrial strength does not come from the excellence of individual firms alone; it arises from an ability to bring together technological, economic, and scientific actors through intelligent networks.
Studies show that industrial value creation reaches its peak impact in a cluster.
These value-added networks generate multiples of their direct economic output, especially in Europe. That means collaboration is not an efficiency killer, but rather a multiplier.
Germany in particular benefits from dense supplier networks and innovation clusters within the European Union. A substantial part of indirect value creation originates in European partner countries. Such integration enhances stability, innovative capacity, and economic depth. At the same time, German industry has been especially successful in building up networks and collaborations outside of the eurozone, as well.
Strength through collaboration means purposely cultivating and continuing to develop these networks. That is why industrial policy, innovation subsidies, and government regulation should always take a holistic view of the entire value-creation mosaic.
The BDI advocates for implementing these goals together:
- We, the BDI, highlight the extent to which German industry is integrated into the web of European value creation — and why this underpins our resilience and competitiveness.
- We, the BDI, call for upholding the cross-border movement of goods even in times of crisis, since Europe’s networked value chains are a central pillar of our prosperity.
- We, the BDI, caution that over-ambitious EU regulation can push companies out of value chains, thereby complicating supply security and diversification; rules must remain manageable for networks to remain stable.
- We, the BDI, demonstrate the value-creation potential of a circular economy.
- We, the BDI, emphasize that value creation demands big-picture thinking — from research and development to production and marketing — and that it requires collaboration along the entire value chain.
Gestaltungskraft
Germany finds itself in the midst of deep technological, economic, and geopolitical changes. Old rules are giving way to a new geo-economic order.
Far from being some abstract future scenario, this realignment is already impacting industrial decision-making today. We are reevaluating global supply chains, exposing technological dependencies, and factoring geopolitical risk into our economic calculations.
Handlungsfähigkeit
The future of Europe depends on our ability to advance the causes of innovation, defense, and democracy — together and resolutely through close industrial cooperation — by furthering integration in Europe and strengthening the European Single Market.
Dauerwandel
Transformation has become an all-of-society effort that can secure and grow our prosperity. Industry has a duty to tackle this task and drive it forward.
Change is no longer a one-off project; it is the new normal. Climate change, demographic trends, digitalization, and national-security requirements are fundamentally changing our markets and the means of production. This makes innovation a central source of future economic vitality.
Leadership
The question is not whether German industry is in the lead, but how it leads the way in this new order — for Germany and Europe.
Responsible leadership is a function of skill and impact. German industry demonstrates both in its technological excellence, deep industrial value chains, and international connections.
Fundament
Credible claims to leadership rest on economic strength. It preserves our capacity to act by securing sovereignty and resilience in a changed world.
A strong economy is a requirement for political freedom of action. It unlocks investment opportunities, enables technological development, and improves our ability to respond to crises. Without industrial substance, strategic autonomy remains an illusion
Systemkompetenz
Value creation today is a dynamic, interconnected fabric of closely integrated businesses, technologies, markets, and societal expectations. The reality of industrial production has fundamentally shifted. Products no longer emerge in isolated value chains but in complex networks of suppliers, platforms, services, and digital infrastructures.
Verbundkraft
Innovation and transformation emerge at the intersection of industry, commerce, and technology.
Many of the most impactful innovations of our time occurred at such intersections: of energy and industry, of digitalization and health, of mobility and infrastructure.
Verlässlichkeit
Germany and Europe boast a stable legal environment that enables reliable collaboration, a decisive locational advantage in the context of global competition. Legal certainty, dependability, and institutional stability are central prerequisites for long-term industrial collaboration. Germany and Europe provide an environment that builds trust between companies, investors, and governments.
Zusammenhalt
The international environment is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. A shifting balance of global power, hybrid threats, and the deliberate creation of economic dependencies are fundamentally altering the contours of what it means to be a global economic destination.
