Germany offers a range of qualifications in e-commerce and digitization that are some of the highest ranking in Europe, according to the association. By now, working with digital tools is becoming widespread in the industry. But linking robotics and sensor technologies with new digital business models is not as widespread: According to the bevh , this is not taught enough in training and education. But it should be, because e-commerce will also take place between machines in the future. At the moment, China is a leader when it comes to “brave designs” of digital value-creation processes. But the association encouragingly notes that there is not yet a clear digital champion in the industry.

Thyssenkrupp Materials Services shows one way of getting into this field with their new online portal for B2B e-commerce. It provides access to the complete standard range of approximately 17,000 products. According to the provider, the portal is also connected to AI, which is constantly analyzing order items to determine the ideal paths for transport and delivery.