Resilient Supply Chains: Insights from Aviation for Industry

The number of disruption events across global supply chains increased by 38 percent in 2025 compared with the previous year. In aviation, responding rapidly to a wide range of disruptions is part of everyday business. A new whitepaper from Lufthansa Industry Solutions (LHIND) explains which principles can be transferred to industrial supply chains. Examples from the automotive industry show how digital solutions proven in aviation can help identify risks earlier, assess impacts faster, and safeguard delivery capability.

Norderstedt, October 14, 2026 – Flight schedules, crews, maintenance, cargo, and airport capacities are closely interconnected. Even minor disruptions within this system can quickly become costly. Airlines therefore monitor risks continuously, prepare scenarios and alternatives, and make decisions based on current data. At Lufthansa, for example, a 24/7 Control Tower consolidates operational data, alerts, and possible responses into a single integrated overview.

The LHIND whitepaper “Insights from Aviation: How to Build Resilient Supply Chains” shows how this approach can be transferred to industry. To do so, companies must connect data from procurement, logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, and quality assurance. This allows them to identify not only a delayed shipment, but also its consequences. Which production processes are affected? Which inventories can be rerouted? Which alternative route or additional supplier is available?

Resilience as a Strategic Success Factor

“Resilience requires an end-to-end overview, from the source of raw materials to the finished vehicle”

Felix Mohlfeld
Head of Automotive Logistics & Manufacturing Solutions at LHIND

The automotive industry must also realign its supply chains to strike a better balance between efficiency and resilience. “Resilience requires an end-to-end overview, from the source of raw materials to the finished vehicle,” says Felix Mohlfeld, Head of Automotive Logistics & Manufacturing Solutions at LHIND. “Long, multi-tier supply networks such as those in the automotive industry are particularly vulnerable,” Mohlfeld continues. When transparency is lacking, disruptions are often detected only after valuable time has already been lost. This is typically followed by special shipments, replanning efforts, and, in the worst case, production downtime.

“The question is no longer whether disruptions will occur, but how quickly an organization can detect, assess, and respond to them,” adds Didem Uzun from Business Development Americas at LHIND. “Supply chain resilience has evolved from an operational topic into a strategic success factor,” Uzun says.

“Supply chain resilience has evolved from an operational topic into a strategic success factor”

Didem Uzun
Business Development Americas at LHIND

Five Building Blocks for Greater Resilience

In the new whitepaper, LHIND experts explain how end-to-end visibility, digital twins, agentic AI, sensor-based quality monitoring, and predictive maintenance work together. Together, these technologies form a control loop that has proven successful in aviation for decades: detect risks early, understand potential impacts, evaluate options, and act quickly. Digital twins and AI can evaluate alternatives and prepare possible courses of action. However, business-critical decisions remain with humans.

No Departure from the Just-in-Time Principle

The whitepaper describes what this looks like in practice using examples from Mercedes-Benz Vans and the DRÄXLMAIER Group. At the Mercedes-Benz Vans Plant in Düsseldorf, an AI agent for outbound logistics is currently being developed. At DRÄXLMAIER, predefined contingency scenarios help the company remain operational even in the event of cyberattacks or system failures. Resilience therefore does not necessarily mean holding more inventory or abandoning the just-in-time principle. What matters are greater transparency, improved planning capabilities, and a larger response window for making well-informed decisions.