Auswirkungen der Coronapandemie auf die Kunden-Lieferanten-Beziehungen in der Schweizer Industrie – Eine empirische Untersuchung aus Sicht der Beschaffung

The COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged in China at the end of 2019, had significant repercussions on businesses, particularly in their supply chains, supplier management, and customer–supplier relationships. Despite these profound effects, limited research has been conducted on this subject. According to van Hoek (2020b), a key question to address is how customer–supplier relationships evolved during the pandemic. Therefore, this study aimed to address this gap and provide insights into both supply chain management and customer–supplier relationships that are applicable to both the current situation and future pandemics.

This study examined the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the qualitative aspects of customer–supplier relationships from the perspective of customer procurement. A comparison was conducted between the prepandemic and pandemic periods to identify changes in these relationships. The research was conducted through online, qualitative, semistructured, guided expert interviews in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, specifically within the machinery, electrical, and metal (MEM) industry. The findings were structured using the 2 × 2 quadrant supplier segmentation framework proposed by Kraljic (1983). Furthermore, participating experts were questioned about their positive and negative experiences and what they would have done differently in hindsight.

The results indicated that relationships with strategic and noncritical standard suppliers remained largely unchanged. Before the pandemic, face-to-face meetings were common, while during the pandemic, there was a shift toward online meetings, which were perceived as more intense. It became evident that strategic suppliers were challenging to replace, requiring customers to exercise patience when they were not readily accessible. With noncritical standard suppliers, the business transactions became more anonymous due to the pandemic. Furthermore, some customers reported experiencing both improved and deteriorated relationships with their noncritical standard suppliers during the pandemic. Some suppliers managed to gain significance by offering added value, while others were swiftly replaced with alternatives.