In 2025, 68.1 percent of Austrian goods exports went to other EU member states (Statistics Austria, foreign trade 2025). For a supplier this means: a tariff that its customer pays overseas reaches its own order book, even if the company never sells there itself. The customer orders less, and planning for the coming months becomes uncertain.
In this situation, investment proposals land on the table: a machine, software, an AI tool. The temptation is to postpone everything or to start everything at once. Before such a decision, I put three questions to owners and managing directors.
When does it pay off at lower utilisation?
The payback should be calculated with the utilisation of the weaker year, not with the plan.
Who does it?
The people who are now looking for new customers are often the same people who would introduce a project. An initiative that ties up sales time competes with the search for customers.
How does the company get out again?
If data and processes depend on one provider, switching costs money. Contracts with exit points and data that can be exported matter.
The sequence
I recommend committing in stages: a pilot on one line, an interim target and an agreed stop criterion. A profitable company builds its second pillar this way while the first still carries.
If you face such a decision, we can go through it in a free first conversation without obligation. More at business model consulting and AI consulting for mid-sized companies.
Source: Statistics Austria, final foreign trade results 2025, 15 October 2026.