Statement: The current crisis as an opportunity for the German mechanical engineering industry
It's time for concept and strategy
Stipo Nad, Head of Business Development Production at Aachen-based optimization specialist Inform, comments on the current situation and explains how machine manufacturers can use these challenging times as an opportunity.
The German mechanical engineering industry is currently facing numerous challenges. Global crises, high cost pressure and a shortage of skilled workers are creating a gloomy economic outlook. This is also shown by the Mechanical Engineering Barometer of the auditing and consulting firm PwC Germany. According to the survey, 53% of the 100 managers from the German mechanical and plant engineering sector surveyed are pessimistic about the development of the German economy in 2024 and anticipate a decline in growth.
"The current uncertainty in the mechanical and plant engineering sector is clearly noticeable. But there are opportunities in every crisis," says Stipo Nad. "While there is naturally little room for important and urgent projects in good times, companies should use the crisis phase to make and implement conceptual and strategic considerations. This is because conventional planning, for example using ERP systems or Excel, is reaching its limits when it comes to key challenges such as the increasing number of variants and increasing digitalization in production, as they are no longer able to cope with the growing complexity.
This year is therefore the ideal time to introduce digital and intelligent planning systems such as Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) systems. These can implement the key requirements of mechanical and plant engineering and have already proven their worth for many manufacturers of complex and/or variant-rich products. In contrast to manual, unrealistic planning in Excel and ERP alone, they ensure realistic planning based on mathematical algorithms and artificial intelligence and support the production planner with optimal recommendations for action. This enables companies to react agilely to disruptions and reduce their impact to a minimum. This not only enables machine manufacturers to get the best out of their production planning and better master the current challenges, but also to strategically position themselves for a successful post-crisis period," says Stipo Nad.
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