Editorial INDUSTRIAL Production 7/22
Peter the Great ...
... would have enjoyed today's industrial trade fairs. After all, he was a technophile, cosmopolitan, Western-oriented person who ensured that Russia became a modern and important player in the global community, primarily through science, technology and reforms of the state and the economy. It was clear to him that the country would not be able to keep up with other countries without a modernization push.
In addition to the art of shipbuilding and the manufacture of artillery pieces, he also brought renowned scientists, master builders, craftsmen and artists to the country and founded an academy of sciences, among other things. The economy and trade flourished under Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov.
Of course, Western technology also benefited Peter I's warfare. Wars were a means of maintaining power, but also of expanding and consolidating Russia's position - for example, by gaining access to the Black Sea against the Ottomans and to the Baltic Sea against Sweden. However, his reign was characterized in particular by progressive thinking and economic and cultural prosperity. Comparisons with later rulers are, incidentally, extremely misleading in this respect.
Technology from Western Europe in exchange for raw materials - this has always been a maxim of the Russian economy since that time. For this reason, the Tsar often spent long periods of time in Western Europe in order to examine new technologies and harness new knowledge for his country. Industrial trade fairs, as we know them and can now visit them in person again, would have been just what he needed.
And if he had been at Automatica in Munich these days, for example, he would have heard from many companies how important it is to make themselves independent in a number of ways - by diversifying their suppliers for raw materials and vertically aligning production in their own country in order to be less or not at all dependent on services from abroad. Many companies in Germany are taking these measures today in order to be better prepared for future crises. They are thus reducing their dependence on certain supply chains or individual trading partners and partner countries. Many entrepreneurs believe that this trend will continue and intensify in the future. It is not yet possible to predict how quickly these measures will be successful and whether this will be enough to avoid major cuts in the economy.
Being prepared for the worst-case scenario is also a topic in this issue: starting on page 10, you will find the focus on "Predictive maintenance" with many examples of how faults in modern production systems can be predicted and downtimes avoided.
Enjoy reading, you
Andreas Mühlbauer
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