VDW
Number of employees in the machine tool industry at record level
In the second quarter of 2018, incoming orders in the German machine tool industry rose by 2% compared to the same period last year. Domestic orders increased by 29%. Orders from abroad fell by 9%. In the first half of the current year, orders rose by 12%. Domestic orders rose by 34 percent, while orders from abroad increased by 3 percent.
"There is currently a wide gap between orders from Germany and abroad," explains Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, Executive Director of the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders' Association) in Frankfurt am Main. "After a long period of hesitation, investments are now finally being made in Germany, both in modernization and capacity expansion. The euro countries are also growing at almost double-digit rates. They offer a solid basis for the further development of the business. In addition, investment momentum is slowing, particularly in Asia, as demand in China, the largest market, is easing noticeably as a result of political considerations. Incoming orders from India and South Korea also declined," Schäfer continues.
Orders for machining and forming technology developed equally well in the first half of the year and showed the same pattern for domestic and foreign orders as the industry as a whole.
Employment record set
The workforce reached a new record of almost 73,700 employees in May of this year. The last time employment was higher was at the beginning of the 1990s, directly after German reunification and in the following years up to 1993.
In July of this year, capacity was very well utilized at 93.2 percent. "In fact, capacities are reaching their limits," says Schäfer. According to the Ifo economic survey, over half of the machine tool manufacturers surveyed reported material shortages and almost 40 percent reported labor shortages in the middle of the year. "This is due to bottlenecks in the entire supply chain. Important parts are sold out. And commissioning, especially abroad, is suffering from staff shortages," explains Schäfer.
Significant increase in sales
Finally, turnover rose by 13% in the first half of the year. This supports the VDW's production forecast, which expects growth of a further 7% for 2018. In the reference year 2017, the second half of the year was significantly stronger compared to the first six months. "If international economic policy with Brexit, trade war, the reversal of globalization and threats of sanctions does not spit in our soup, our industry is on the right track," concludes Schäfer.
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