Clear to cloudy

Speaking of gas - are you still tracking the levels of our gas storage facilities? I think most people have lost focus of this topic by now. The winter is as good as over and the storage facilities are about 70 percent full - about 30 percent more than the average of the last few years. So gas supply works even without Nordstream pipelines. Especially for plants that have tried to brace themselves against an imposed shutdown of production, the question may be whether they have wasted their resources. Well, even a famous transatlantic steamer would never have had to hit an iceberg and then everyone would have congratulated the captain on the fast crossing. The historical example shows that the right priorities, prudence and resources are necessary to cope with complex situations. It may be that much of the commodity markets last fall was hysteria and scaremongering. But a harsher winter - as was common until a few decades ago - would almost certainly have triggered a gas shortage. Even whether liquid gas could be supplied and fed in sufficient quantities could not be guaranteed for a long time.

And no one can predict whether the issue of a gas shortage will actually be shelved by next winter or whether it may even become more acute than this year. That is why it remains important to strengthen one's own company and reduce dependencies. After all, continuity and long-term, predictable prospects seem like a luxury from a distant past in many industries these days. As in 1912 on the transatlantic route, it may not always be the best strategy to aim for the destination at full steam and by the shortest route. Upgrading can sometimes also be done very effectively in small steps. In this regard, a new calculation tool offers new opportunities for job coaters. Here, a small visionary team has developed a tool to make the preparation of quotations more efficient and, above all, more reliable in terms of cost recovery (in mo 3/2023 from page 22). After all, correct costing can save companies, especially in difficult times.

A well-known German automaker is on its way to e-mobility and now faces the challenge of implementing massive modernization measures in the brownfield (in mo 3/2023 from page 12).

Testing and establishing hydrogen as an energy source should be higher on the list of priorities for many companies, because there is a chicken-and-egg problem here. Hydrogen testing projects require hydrogen. And making more hydrogen available requires more hydrogen testing projects. In this context, it is good news that a renowned German automaker is devoting itself intensively to testing hydrogen in production and now also in the paint shop (in mo 3/2023 from page 16). It is very encouraging that the mood in companies is currently brightening despite a number of indicators pointing in the opposite direction. Even if this is a ray of hope, it remains important to find new perspectives and approaches in response to the disruptive changes of our time - because the world and also the economy will probably no longer be such a reliably running clockwork as they used to be in the foreseeable future.

CB