Production is growing, but cash is tight. Why are industrial companies facing a growing liquidity challenge?

Polish industry is showing signs of recovery, but for many companies this does not automatically mean greater financial security. According to Statistics Poland data on sold industrial production, in April 2026 it was 3.1% higher than a year earlier. At the same time, debt data shows the other side of the same story: companies are producing, fulfilling orders and issuing invoices, but they are increasingly struggling to pay their own liabilities on time.

According to BIG InfoMonitor and BIK data, described in a report on how Polish industry generated a record PLN 8.6 billion in overdue debt, overdue debt in manufacturing exceeded PLN 8.6 billion at the end of March 2026. This was an increase of almost PLN 1.6 billion year on year. More than 26,000 industrial companies had problems paying their liabilities on time, and the average overdue debt per indebted company was around PLN 328,000.

This is an important signal for business owners, because it shows that operational activity alone is not enough. A company may have orders, employees, production and sales invoices, and still feel increasing pressure on liquidity.

Why does higher production not always mean more cash?

In manufacturing companies, the problem often does not start with a lack of customers. It starts with the time gap between costs and revenue.

Materials need to be purchased in advance. Wages, energy, transport, leasing and subcontractors require ongoing payments. The order has to be completed before the customer pays the invoice. If the payment term is 30, 45 or 60 days, the company finances the contract from its own funds for several weeks.

With a small order, this tension may be limited. With a larger contract or several orders carried out at the same time, it becomes much more noticeable. In practice, sales growth may then mean not greater comfort, but a greater need for working capital.

This is why a company can grow and, at the same time, feel a growing shortage of cash. On the revenue side, everything may look good, but in cash flow there is a gap: costs are incurred today, while inflows will only arrive in a few weeks.

Industry is particularly sensitive to liquidity gaps

In production, money often leaves the company before revenue from the invoice arrives. This is especially true for companies that deliver larger B2B contracts, buy materials in advance, operate on low margins or work with large customers that impose longer payment terms.

In this situation, even a profitable contract can put pressure on liquidity. On paper, it looks good: the company has a customer, an order and expected revenue. In practice, however, it has to pay people, raw materials, transport and ongoing costs before it receives money from the contractor.

If there are several such projects, the pressure increases. The company starts deciding which payments should be settled first, which can be postponed and which depend on the inflow from a specific invoice. This is the moment when liquidity stops being just a financial indicator and begins to affect everyday operational decisions.

Late payments put pressure on the entire supply chain

Liquidity problems in industry rarely stop at one company. If a manufacturer does not receive money from its customer, it may delay payment to a material supplier, transport company or subcontractor. That company, in turn, may then struggle with its own liabilities.

According to the Polish edition of the European Payment Report 2025 by Intrum, 11.5% of Polish companies’ revenue comes from overdue payments. This means that a significant part of the money that should be working inside companies arrives later than planned.

These funds usually do not disappear completely. The problem is that they arrive too late. In business, the timing of an inflow can be just as important as the amount itself. A company may have issued an invoice, but if the money arrives only next month, it will not cover today’s production costs.

What should be a warning sign?

The first signal is a situation in which a company regularly waits for one or several invoices to be paid in order to cover current liabilities. The second is accepting larger orders without first calculating how much cash will be needed to deliver them. The third is a growing number of overdue invoices or the need to delay payments to the company’s own suppliers.

It is also worth paying attention to a less obvious moment: the company may not yet have overdue debt, but it is already losing flexibility. Every late payment from a customer then requires manual firefighting, moving payment dates or looking for financing under time pressure.

This is particularly risky in industry, where stopping one element of the process can affect the entire schedule. Lack of funds for materials, delayed payment to a subcontractor or postponed transport can make it harder to complete the next stage of the order.

How can companies reduce the risk of losing liquidity?

The most important step is earlier cash flow planning. A company should know not only how much it will sell, but also when it will actually receive money and what costs it must cover beforehand. This is especially important with larger contracts, seasonal increases in orders and cooperation with customers that pay on longer terms.

Ongoing monitoring of receivables and liabilities also helps. If data about invoices, payment terms, costs and transfer statuses is scattered, the company often sees the problem only when there is not enough cash for the next payments. The earlier a cash flow gap is visible, the easier it is to decide calmly whether it is enough to adjust the payment schedule, negotiate terms with the contractor or use financing.

This is where financial control tools such as PaveNow CFO Suite can help. Structured data about invoices, costs, payments and cash flow makes it easier to assess whether the company has enough buffer to deliver the next orders.

When can financing help?

Financing should not be treated only as a reaction when the company already has overdue liabilities. In many cases, it is better to see it as a tool for securing liquidity before starting a larger project.

If a company knows that it has to buy materials, pay subcontractors or cover the costs of fulfilling an order before the customer pays the invoice, it may consider contract financing. This type of solution helps close the gap between the cost of delivering the order and the later inflow from the contractor.

The key is to match financing to the specific situation. The needs of a company that is just accepting a larger contract are different from those of a company that has already issued an invoice, and different again from those of a business that wants to improve its broader payment cycle. That is why, before making a decision, it is worth calculating not only the cost of financing, but also the cost of not having cash: delayed deliveries, lost orders, downtime or the need to postpone the company’s own liabilities.

Liquidity should be planned before overdue payments appear

Data on industrial debt shows that production growth does not automatically solve companies’ financial problems. On the contrary - if a company grows without cash flow control, a larger number of orders can increase pressure on cash.

That is why liquidity should be treated as part of the operating process, not as an emergency reaction. Before accepting a larger contract, the company needs to know what costs will appear along the way, when inflows will arrive and whether it has enough buffer to deliver the order calmly.

In manufacturing companies, this is particularly important. Orders are necessary for growth, but orders themselves do not finance current payments. Cash does - available when the company actually needs it.

Want to gain better control over your company’s liquidity?

With PaveNow, you can organize day-to-day financial control, monitor cash flow and react faster when a larger contract requires cash before the customer’s payment arrives.

Check PaveNow CFO Suite if you want to see invoices, costs, payments and cash flow in one place.

And if you need funds to deliver a larger order, see business financing and check which solution best fits your company’s situation.