For a country poor an dependent on resources the increase of resource efficiency is the key to success of our economy in the global competition.

Costs can be reduced by frugal and intelligent resource management in terms of ecological economic activities. Thereby costs for the materials are the biggest factors by in the manufacturing sector with over 45% (source: Statistisches Bundesamt). The proportion of personal costs with about 17% is much lower. During the manufacturing of wrought materials and metal plates for example, material losses of approximately 50% are not uncommon (chips, punched sections). Even though focusing on sort-specific detection of metal waste, on average, 85% of the purchased material value gets lost (source: Informationszentrum für betrieblichen Umweltschutz).

Resource and material flow management focuses on the ecological and economic impact of mass and material flows. Main objectives are resource- and material efficiency and the development of sustainable cycles. In many companies the material costs are not analysed in detail. Therefore in the light of this cost pool in many enterprises there is to expect a huge saving potential in the sector of material costs.