Industry plays a key role in defence supply security

8. juli 2026 | Lemvigh-Müller A/S

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Modern defence is not only about weapons and advanced technology. It is also about stable deliveries, critical components, operation, maintenance and the ability to reduce complexity in an organisation with many procurement units. That is why Lemvigh-Müller sees itself playing a growing role as a strategic partner for the Danish Defence and the Danish defence industry.

As Denmark and the rest of Europe increase defence spending, media attention is often focused on fighter aircraft, missiles, drones and advanced technologies. But behind the visible investments lies a much more practical prerequisite: that the necessary components, materials and technical products are actually available when they are needed.

This is where Lemvigh-Müller, Denmark’s largest wholesaler of steel and technical products, sees its role. Not only as a traditional wholesaler, but as a strategic partner that can support the Danish Defence and the defence industry with steel, technical components, robust logistics, technical know-how, procurement, documentation and supply security through scalable solutions.

“Modern defence is not only about weapons, but to a large extent also about security of supply. Today, a robust supply chain is just as critical as the technology itself,” says Pernille Wichmann, Vice President Industry at Lemvigh-Müller.

From wholesaler to strategic partner

Lemvigh-Müller is organised across several commercial business areas, and Pernille Wichmann is responsible for the industry business. This includes sales of steel and more than 660,000 technical components to a wide range of industrial customers – from machine builders and manufacturing companies to renewable energy, transport, food, pharma and public-sector customers.

Lemvigh-Müller has also supplied technical products and steel to the Danish Defence for many years. But the nature of the task has changed.

“The Danish Defence is now in a situation where it has the opportunity to spend money and needs to procure a wide range of products across a broad product portfolio. That is a large and complex task,” says Pernille Wichmann.

As a result, the collaboration is increasingly about consolidating procurement, creating overview and ensuring that deliveries are aligned with the Danish Defence’s operations and organisation.

Complexity requires partnership

The Danish Defence is not a simple customer. Procurement takes place both centrally and locally, and individual barracks, workshops and units have different needs. At the same time, there are high requirements for delivery reliability, documentation, compliance and knowledge of the Danish Defence’s own systems.

“Procurement in the Danish Defence is complex. This means that they are looking for partnerships that can deliver on that complexity. And that is what we can do,” says Pernille Wichmann.

For Lemvigh-Müller, this means that the company must not only have access to products and suppliers, but also understand how the Danish Defence procures. Pernille Wichmann points, among other things, to the Danish Defence’s NATO Stock Number system, digital procurement solutions and the many local units as factors that require specific insight.

Lemvigh-Müller has therefore built a customer team dedicated to the Danish Defence across the organisation. It includes sales, logistics, market, procurement, finance and IT, enabling the company to manage supplier contact, ensure digital trade and support practical needs across Danish Defence units.

Critical components must be available

Security of supply is the foundation of a modern defence in the new geopolitical reality. For the Danish Defence, lack of access to even relatively small components can have major consequences if it affects operations, repairs or readiness.

“Security of supply is a competitive parameter. At Lemvigh-Müller, we can use our stable supplier chains to support the defence industry with, among other things, national logistics and warehouse capacity, high delivery reliability and response time, and scalable deliveries for critical needs,” Pernille Wichmann emphasises.

At the same time, it is not only about price. Lemvigh-Müller works according to a total cost of ownership principle, where the aim is to reduce the customer’s overall costs. For the Danish Defence, this can be achieved by consolidating procurement, reducing the number of supplier relationships, reducing administrative processes and ensuring better documentation.

“The Danish Defence should not have to spend time on transactions, negotiations and deliveries with thousands of individual suppliers, but can consolidate this through us as a strategic partner,” says Pernille Wichmann.

She would like to see a larger share of future Danish Defence deliveries come from Danish industrial companies where possible, and where the companies are able to meet the necessary requirements.

“Lemvigh-Müller can act as an entry point to the Danish Defence for Danish companies, while also drawing on a broad network of European suppliers. We want to play a central role in delivering on the complexity of having a strong supplier network,” says Pernille Wichmann.