The winners in the competition for the Supply Chain Awards 2025 have been announced. The winner of the Supply Chain Management Award 2025 is Audi. The Supply Chain Management Award was awarded for the 20th time this year by LOGISTIK HEUTE as well as Strategy& and PwC. The Smart Solution Award – awarded for the eighth time this year – went to IFCO. The awards were presented on 11 November in Frankfurt am Main in front of around 100 participants during a ceremonial awards ceremony.
The final day of the Supply Chain Awards 2025 was themed “Empowering Tomorrow: AI-Driven Supply Chains for a Smarter, Faster and More Resilient Future”. Attendees were greeted with interesting keynotes, an engaging panel discussion, workshop sessions on supply chain management, numerous networking opportunities, and the finalists’ pitches, in which the audience could evaluate the presentations of the four companies. As in previous years, the participants’ votes were included in the jury’s assessment.
The Supply Chain Management Award recognizes outstanding SCM concepts that have been developed, implemented and are pioneering for other companies. The aim is to optimize the supply chain, reduce costs, increase transparency or improve collaboration among teams. The Smart Solution Award is awarded for particularly innovative concepts that are still in an early stage of implementation. With this prize, solutions are recognised that have the potential to fundamentally transform traditional value chains in the future.
After an audit, the jury, consisting of supply-chain practitioners, scientists, consultants and representatives of trade media, had to decide between these finalists: The final of the Supply Chain Management Award was contested by Audi, Dr. Oetker, Rutronik and the Vehicle Lifetime Solutions (VLS) division of the Schaeffler Group. In the final round of the Smart Solution Award, CeiliX, IFCO, Merck and paretos competed.
Supply Chain Management Award 2025: Winner Audi
At the heart of Audi's entry, as the winner of the Supply Chain Management Award 2025: the program “Act4Impact”. This is an initiative
to systematically anchor sustainability in procurement and in the global supplier network. The aim is to effectively implement environmental, social and governance requirements along the supply chain, to identify risks and opportunities early, and to enable collaborative improvements. The approach is modular and scalable.
Three fields of action form the core: first, qualification of suppliers and buyers through training and practical guides; second, exchange and visibility of concrete projects on topics such as circular economy, decarbonization, water, biodiversity and human rights; third, empowerment through access to knowledge, tools and support, for example through playbooks, formats for competency development and mentoring. In addition, Audi uses a binding framework of conduct requirements for business partners, a procurement-mandated sustainability assessment approach for suppliers, and a complaint and early warning system.
The created process strengthens compliance capability and resilience, increases transparency and predictability and fosters collaboration and innovation in the network. Act4Impact is integrated into the procurement processes and designed as a blueprint for brands and regions within the group.
Juror Stefan Schrauf, Global Supply Chain and EMEA Operations Lead, PwC Management Consulting, explained the judges' decision: “Audi anchors sustainability on an equal footing with classic goals such as cost, quality and service in its supply chain strategy and activates the entire value chain—with consistent, bold implementation across more than 12,000 direct suppliers. From the clear strategic framework to execution with concrete tools and partnerships, Audi demonstrates an exemplary end-to-end supply chain transformation with a tangible positive impact.”
Michael Faust, Head of Sustainability in the Supply Chain, Audi AG: “We are extremely pleased about the award of the Supply Chain Management Award 2025 for our Audi Act4Impact program. This prize not only acknowledges our innovative capability in the area of the supply chain, but also our deep commitment to sustainability, transparency and societal responsibility.” With Act4Impact we have, so Faust, “established a holistic transformation program that unites ecological, social and economic goals along the supply chain. In collaborative partnership
with our suppliers, we are setting new standards for responsible supply chain management in the automotive industry. This award is a recognition of our team's commitment worldwide and a strong signal to our partners: sustainability is not a side objective, but an integral part of our value creation. We thank the jury for the recognition and see the prize as an obligation to continue shaping our supply chains to be resilient, sustainable and future-proof.”
The laudation for the winner was delivered by Max Meister, managing director of the technical retailer Ludwig Meister, who had won the Supply Chain Management Award in the previous year.
Smart Solution Award 2025: IFCO
IFCO provides reusable packaging solutions for fresh products and operates an extensive pool of over 400 million reusable packaging containers (RPCs) in more than 50 countries. With its SmartCycle pooling model, IFCO ensures that RPCs are collected, cleaned, inspected and returned to the cycle after use.
With its innovative “Tracking as a Service” (TaaS) solution, IFCO prevailed in the final round for the Smart Solution Award 2025. The solution is based on an IoT mesh network that combines Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices with GPS-enabled devices, enabling seamless traceability. The devices provide real-time data on key parameters such as location and temperature and boast a robust battery life of more than seven years.
The TaaS solution is seamlessly integrated into a cloud-based analytics platform that offers customizable notifications, intuitive dashboards and API integration. This gives users easy access to all relevant data and enables them to make informed decisions to monitor and manage their goods efficiently along complex supply chains.
In global supply chains, lost assets, inefficient returns and lack of transparency lead to higher costs, losses and disruptions in the process – which increases the demand for intelligent, connected solutions. Here IFCO's TaaS solution addresses this: it prevents asset losses, creates transparency in the supply chain, sustainably reduces process costs and simultaneously reduces waste, transport
and CO₂ emissions.
As a plug-and-play tracking system, the solution requires only minimal setup and no elaborate infrastructure, making it ideal for rapid deployment. It is scalable, efficient and tailored to reusable packaging, but can be applied to many other use cases and industries.
Juror Stefan Schrauf of PwC Management Consulting: “IFCO’s ‘Tracking as a Service’ impresses with radical simplicity, low complexity and exceptionally affordable hardware with long lifespans. The solution is already being scaled at IFCO itself and for other customers, addressing the needs of circular supply chains as well as the reduction of food waste. An innovative approach that truly solves a long-standing problem of supply chain transparency—heartfelt congratulations to the winning team!”
Dr. Sebastian Grams, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) at IFCO: “We are very pleased about the award of the Smart Solution Award 2025. This recognition underscores IFCO's commitment to advancing digital innovations in supply chain management. With our new Tracking-as-a-Service solution, we connect circular logistics with state-of-the-art IoT technology to make supply chains more transparent, efficient and sustainable. The award confirms the impact of our digital transformation—and motivates us to continue developing intelligent and scalable solutions for our customers worldwide.”
The laudation for the winner was delivered by Theresa Gröninger, Head of Business Development & Marketing at Cellumation, the winner of the Smart Solution Award 2024.
“The final day of the Supply Chain Awards this year was held under the motto ‘Empowering Tomorrow: AI-Driven Supply Chains for a Smarter, Faster and More Resilient Future’ and provided the community with a platform for intensive professional exchange,” said juror Matthias Pieringer, Editor-in-Chief of LOGISTIK HEUTE. “The Supply Chain Awards will be awarded again in 2026. We are already looking forward to numerous innovative submissions and to offering the community once again a meeting place for informed discussions and forward-looking solution concepts.”
The Supply Chain Awards 2026 will be presented on 10 November 2026 in Frankfurt. For more information about the awards, visit: https://supply-chain-awards.com
