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The European automation industry puts great hopes into the overall trend of small scale local production, which will be enabled via digitalization and latest automation technology. This should keep production facilities in Europe and may even result in an increasing share of manufacturing as share of the GDP. For the European industry, it is necessary to increase the share of automation, increase time-to-customer, and increase flexibility. Otherwise, it won't be competitive to low-wage country mass production. Transparency, big data analytics, mass customization, remote operations, remote maintenance, etc. are a few buzzwords in this discussion. All this is then summarized by the term Industrie 4.0, which is increasingly used in an inflationary manner.
The ZVEI, the association of the German electronics industry, quoted studies showing that Industrie 4.0 can contribute up to 2 percent growth to the BIP in Germany. While the potential is certainly high, ARC sees this number as greatly exaggerated.
Looking more into the near future and the growth experienced in 2014, the ZVEI reported that the electronics industry in Germany grew by 2.6 percent. This was mainly driven by foreign markets and the exports to China and USA. Both grew above European average, though especially China showed a jump of more than 16 percent in exports from Germany. On the other hand, Russia contracted, leaving the German electronics exports to BRICS to grow by only 2.4 percent. This strong development continued in the beginning of 2015. ARC believes that the positive development will continue in China and partly also in USA, contributing to overall growth in the automation markets. The ZVEI reports a comparably weak outlook of less than 2 percent growth for 2015, which ARC think is too low.
The VDMA, the association of the German machinery industry, supports the growth numbers of the ZVEI for 2014, but is more optimistic for future growth. The machinery industry was also driven by the development in USA and emerging Asia, though especially exports to Latin America contracted. More volatile are individual machinery types, which growth lies between plus 18 and minus 17 percent. Among the top performing segments have been: process plants and equipment, woodworking, measuring and testing, and robotics. The industries that contract strongly include: metals and mining machinery, as well as power systems, which suffered from the situation in the European power market.
Overall, the situation in Russia continues to weaken the overall industry. The direct exports contracted by nearly 20 percent, but there are also more indirect effects. In the European Union, Poland, UK, and Netherlands showed positive developments for the German machinery market and helped strongly to counterbalance the plunge of the Russian demand. Overall, the market in Europe was driven by consumer demand and spending, which helps to stabilize the market, but the partly weak supply side hindered a stronger development.
The ZVEI, the association of the German electronics industry, quoted studies showing that Industrie 4.0 can contribute up to 2 percent growth to the BIP in Germany. While the potential is certainly high, ARC sees this number as greatly exaggerated.
Looking more into the near future and the growth experienced in 2014, the ZVEI reported that the electronics industry in Germany grew by 2.6 percent. This was mainly driven by foreign markets and the exports to China and USA. Both grew above European average, though especially China showed a jump of more than 16 percent in exports from Germany. On the other hand, Russia contracted, leaving the German electronics exports to BRICS to grow by only 2.4 percent. This strong development continued in the beginning of 2015. ARC believes that the positive development will continue in China and partly also in USA, contributing to overall growth in the automation markets. The ZVEI reports a comparably weak outlook of less than 2 percent growth for 2015, which ARC think is too low.
The VDMA, the association of the German machinery industry, supports the growth numbers of the ZVEI for 2014, but is more optimistic for future growth. The machinery industry was also driven by the development in USA and emerging Asia, though especially exports to Latin America contracted. More volatile are individual machinery types, which growth lies between plus 18 and minus 17 percent. Among the top performing segments have been: process plants and equipment, woodworking, measuring and testing, and robotics. The industries that contract strongly include: metals and mining machinery, as well as power systems, which suffered from the situation in the European power market.
Overall, the situation in Russia continues to weaken the overall industry. The direct exports contracted by nearly 20 percent, but there are also more indirect effects. In the European Union, Poland, UK, and Netherlands showed positive developments for the German machinery market and helped strongly to counterbalance the plunge of the Russian demand. Overall, the market in Europe was driven by consumer demand and spending, which helps to stabilize the market, but the partly weak supply side hindered a stronger development.