According to consultancy firm PWC, the mood in the German mechanical engineering sector is on a downward spiral. PWC is referring to the results of a study according to which an increasing number of companies expect the global economy to develop negatively. For the first time in over three years, the analysts are predicting negative growth for mechanical engineering companies. A look at the VDMA's industry data at the same time seems to support these statements: The association lowered its forecast for 2019. "Due to the current order situation and low real production, we expect production to fall by two percent in real terms in 2019," explained VDMA President Carl Martin Welcker.

18 percent of AMB visitors in 2018 work in the automotive industry and vehicle construction. An industry that is currently facing additional major challenges. Markus Heseding, Managing Director of the VDMA Precision Tools Association, puts the current market share of hybrid and electric vehicles in Germany at just over one percent. Because politicians are calling for emission-free vehicles, the automotive industry is investing primarily in the electrification of the drivetrain. "However, vehicles with combustion engines will continue to play an important role in mobility in the future," Heseding is convinced. The number of vehicles produced worldwide will increase from the current 93 million to 120 million in 2030. With combustion engines remaining at the same level and the proportion of e-cars increasing. Only then could the number of combustion engines and the associated demand for machinable components in cars decrease. The economical production of_CO2-neutral e-fuels could be a game-changer here. "That's why we want a funding policy that is open to all technologies," says Heseding.

Innovation and design

According to Dr. Jochen Kress, Managing Partner of the Mapal Group, the current challenges as a tool manufacturer are to keep up with the constant changes in technology and society, or even better, to lead them. He also cites electromobility as an example. Many tools from the Aalen-based company machine components in the drivetrain of vehicles with combustion engines. "We don't primarily see risks in a development from combustion engines to electric drives, but rather new opportunities. The electric motor housings require very complex and sophisticated tools. Due to the high speeds of an electric motor, the highest demands are placed on the precision of machining. "Just take the main bore for the rotor. It has to be machined to within a few micrometers. Mapal has developed tool solutions to implement this precision machining economically and to meet the requirements for accuracy and cycle time," says Kress. As a special tool manufacturer, MAPAL contributes its expertise to this precision machining.

In phases in which capacity utilization drops and replacement or new investments are postponed for the time being, it is particularly important to be able to stand out on the global market. "Even the best economic boom is of little use to us if we cannot differentiate ourselves with our products. For example, industrial and product design have so far played a rather subordinate role in the development of our chucks. The focus has mainly been on process reliability. In the past, our developers have gradually built up a broad portfolio, which was not uniform in appearance, however. We wanted to change this and brought industrial design experts on board. The first design studies are now available and I am confident that we will present a new range by AMB next year," says Kress. The new look of the chucks should not only enhance their appearance and recognition, but also achieve economic and ecological goals. For example, the polished surface should ensure that the chucks are more resistant to corrosion than before.

Hybrid machines complement the product portfolio

Innovation is the answer to a possible decline in sales at Mazak in Göppingen. "We approach every conversation positively and look at how we can help our customers with our portfolio. Thanks to our broad positioning, we have a pretty good overview of the different industries. We are currently seeing the sharpest decline in the automotive industry," says Martin Engels, Managing Director of the Mazak D-A-CH region, assessing the current situation. A certain amount of cost pressure from this sector in particular is a permanent condition for many machine manufacturers. In response, Mazak has now developed a new 5-axis machine, for example. "From our point of view, it is important to provide our customers with new technical solutions to increase productivity, regardless of the economic situation. A lot is happening in the high-tech sector, including hybrid machines. Our new machine models also combine all processes, from machining to additive 3D manufacturing, in just one machine, effectively reducing throughput times. For customers who want to use a phase of underutilization for necessary or early repairs or modifications, such a machine is particularly suitable," says Engels, explaining the strategy.

Engels confirms the importance of the European market in particular, regardless of the economic situation: "Mazak is well positioned on every continent and we have recently strengthened our presence in Europe once again by opening a new branch in Austria." This investment is primarily intended to strengthen direct sales in the Alpine republic. Looking ahead to the coming year, Engels emphasizes the importance of Stuttgart as a trade fair location: "A trade fair like AMB is not only a platform for us to present new innovations, but also always a good opportunity to strengthen our regional network. Next year, our entire German engineering team will certainly be discussing very specific automation solutions with customers at the trade fair. This customer focus is also the future for us from a strategic point of view. I therefore assume that our engineering team will have grown once again by AMB 2020. This is right at the top of our agenda," emphasizes Engels.

Depth of added value secures order backlog

As in any other industrial company, August Steinmeyer 's sales department is the first to feel the effects of economic downturns. The company manufactures drive technology components for various sectors such as machine tool construction, robotics, medical technology and the semiconductor industry. This broad positioning is one of the reasons why the company management and sales department consider the current economic situation to be good. Although the order situation in the mechanical engineering division is currently rather weaker, aerospace technology and medical technology are doing well to very well, says Sales Manager Jens-Uwe Gühring, giving an insight into the order books.

"Our company produces high-precision ball screws, so factors such as materials, manufacturing processes and assembly as well as measuring and testing equipment play a decisive role. However, the level of training and qualifications of our specialists also have a significant influence on the quality of our products," adds Managing Director Dr. Manfred Münch. The company is currently investing in a new plant structure and is converting production into a flow production system. "We are investing in the latest production technologies and in the further training of our specialists. This ensures maximum process stability, product quality and a high degree of flexibility. Our customers benefit from shorter delivery times, maximum flexibility and higher quality. Measures that also pay off in terms of external perception: The AMB exhibitor and 172 other companies were honored by the magazine "stern" for their location security in Germany. The award is the result of a study conducted by "stern", the Hamburg Institute of International Economics and the Institute for Management and Economic Research on the production locations of German companies.

"It is important to us to offer our customers the best possible advice with short delivery times. With the restructuring of our company, we can offer customers simplified customizing and processes with short lead times. We can implement individual solutions even better and faster and thus deepen our customer relationships," says Jens-Uwe Gühring, reflecting the view of the sales department.

Future-proofing through digitalization

One of the pioneers in the field of digitalization is AMB exhibitor Siemens. The company is integrating its new machine tool control system geared towards digitalization, edge and cloud computing, artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing into its portfolio for the machine tool world. "With our range of automation and digitalization solutions, we are shaping the future of the machine tool industry and thus helping our customers, manufacturers and users of machine tools, to use the rapidly growing volumes of data in new and far more comprehensive ways to increase their productivity, quality and competitiveness," explains Dr. Wolfgang Heuring, CEO of the Motion Control Business Unit.

For Heuring, the big advantage is that these innovative technologies make data available that can be used to create end-to-end digital twins of products, production and production output. All steps of industrial production could thus be mapped in virtual space and linked together. "The decisive lever is to use this data in an innovative way and convert it into valuable knowledge - for higher performance and flexibility," Heuring continues.

Although it is still too early to talk about specific solutions for AMB 2020, it is already clear that Siemens will continue to drive forward the digital transformation of the machine tool. This will enable machine manufacturers to fully virtualize their development, commissioning and machine processes. This allows them to significantly accelerate their processes and thus considerably reduce time-to-market while maintaining the same level of quality. Machine users, in turn, benefit from considerably faster commissioning times thanks to the digital twin. They can also set up faster, run in parts virtually and produce with significantly higher performance. Training can be carried out away from the machine.

With its Industrial Edge offering, the company also supports machine tool users in improving workpiece and process quality, increasing machine availability and further optimizing machine processes. Edge computing enables large volumes of data to be processed locally on the machine tool. It also reduces storage and transmission costs for users, as large volumes of data can be pre-processed and only relevant data is then transferred to a cloud or IT infrastructure.

Encouragement to think more digitally

Despite such offers, the analysts at PWC believe that German mechanical engineering companies as a whole are not yet determined enough when it comes to digital transformation. There is a lot of catching up to do, especially at the heart of the industry: Only a good third of companies consider themselves to be highly digitized in the areas of production, service and transport and logistics. On a positive note, however, the market researchers report that awareness is present: many companies are focusing on robotics (50%) and big data (42%). Artificial intelligence (37%) and the Internet of Things (36%) follow as other important technologies. It is already clear that the topic of digitalization in all its facets will play a prominent role at AMB 2020. New solutions can be found not only at the stands of the respective exhibitors, but also in the Trend Lounge or a Smart Factory.

According to documents from Messe Stuttgart