Restoring the competitive edge with innovations

The mood in the manufacturing sector could be better. A weak global industrial economy, geopolitical tensions and trade conflicts as well as structural challenges are increasingly weighing on European industrial goods manufacturers. It's no wonder that Germany, as the third largest mechanical engineering nation in the world, is also severely affected. Overall sluggish demand and the slowdown in China are weighing on this export-intensive sector in Germany.

The cautious economic expectations are also reflected in the latest figures from the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders' Association): Incoming orders for German manufacturers fell by 23% in the first three quarters of 2024 compared to the same period last year.

"The current order situation remains difficult," explains Dr. Markus Heering, managing director of the VDW. "The news from the automotive industry is a cause for concern."

It remains one of our most important customers. However, the German machine tool industry supplied around 27% of its production to the automotive and automotive supplier industry last year, which is 16% less than four years previously. According to the VDW, the transformation to vehicles with electric drives will result in significantly less investment in machining technology.

Focus on new customer sectors – EMO provides the ideal platform
At the same time, other customer target groups are increasingly coming into the focus of machine tool manufacturers. With a share of around 30%, mechanical engineering is now the most important customer sector for the first time. This includes companies from the tool and mold making industry, the machine tool industry itself and manufacturers of agricultural machinery and components such as hydraulics and pneumatics, as well as drive technology. In addition, aerospace, electrical engineering and metal production are becoming increasingly important sectors for machine tool manufacturers. The proportion of business coming from rail vehicle construction, energy technology, precision engineering, and medical technology has also continued to rise.

As the world's leading trade fair for production technology, EMO is the perfect platform for suppliers of metalworking solutions that cater to these customers. From September 22 to 26, 2025, the Showcase of Innovations will not only look back on 50 years of success. With its three focus topics of automation, digitalization and sustainability, EMO provides a dedicated look at the production of tomorrow. Applications for a very wide range of manufacturing technologies in numerous industries will attract interested visitors from all over the world to Hannover. Exhibitor interest in the upcoming anniversary fair is already high. More than 1,200 companies had already registered by the provisional registration deadline at the beginning of December. For the organizer VDW, this is a clear signal that the EMO trade fair – as in the past – is a model for success even in times of crisis.

This is confirmed by Dr. Thorsten Schmidt, CEO of the Heller Group, headquartered in Nürtingen: "For decades, it has been an indispensable place of inspiration and exchange for us – a real milestone for our industry."

EMO connects people, ideas and technologies in a unique way. It allows us to strengthen long-standing partnerships and establish new contacts.

"This is where we meet specialists from all over the world to talk about groundbreaking innovations, current challenges and the trends of tomorrow," Schmidt emphasizes. "We are particularly excited about the opportunity to present our latest developments to an international audience and to play an active role in shaping the future of production technology."

Exhibitors see great potential in diversification
One of the exhibitors at EMO 2025 is Supfina, a manufacturer of surface finishing systems from Wolfach in Baden-Württemberg. The company sees great potential in new growth areas such as e-mobility and wind power, as well as in sustainable production solutions.

"Thanks to our broad positioning and diversified customer base, our sales revenue remains on track,” says Christoph Siegel, managing director of Supfina.

To counter the effects of structural change, particularly in the automotive industry, the company is investing in the digitalization and automation of its processes.

"We see this as a long-term opportunity to increase our efficiency and strengthen our competitiveness," Siegel says.

This also includes safeguarding success factors such as our decades of surface finishing expertise, high quality standards and a strong culture of innovation. In this respect, Germany remains a key location for Supfina. Investments in technology and training in Germany form the basis for global success.

EMO traditionally offers Supfina a perfect setting for presenting technological innovations. The company will be presenting a completely new machine concept at the anniversary EMO to be held in the fall of 2025. The aim is to appeal to a broad customer base.

Germany as a success factor
For Datron, a solution provider for industrial milling and dispensing, Engineered, Designed and Made in Germany is also the basis for delivering quality. For the company from the south of the German state of Hesse, this is the prerequisite for retaining satisfied customers worldwide and acquiring new customers.

"Despite regulatory challenges and political hurdles, we are clearly committed to Germany as a business location and are investing around 40 million euros in a new technology complex," explains Michael Daniel, chairman of the board of management of Datron AG.

The new facility will bring the company's four local sites with a total of 300 employees under one roof. The local shortage of skilled workers sometimes makes it difficult to recruit and retain well-qualified employees in some areas.

"But we remain committed to young regional talent and a strong company culture," Daniel reports. "We are therefore still well positioned in the competition for talent."

However, the difficult economic situation in the mechanical and plant engineering sector is having a noticeable impact. The ongoing structural change in the automotive industry is having an indirect impact on Datron's customers from the affected automotive supplier industry in particular. Although the company is fortunately not entirely dependent on this important industry, a decline of 4% in turnover and 18% in incoming orders was recorded in the first half of 2024. This makes it crucial to tap into new market segments. EMO is a central platform for Datron to present both new and proven technology milestones and to obtain direct feedback from customers and users. At the last EMO, the main focus was on Optimizing Efficiency, in particular on increasing the efficiency of existing machines and new automation solutions. And at the upcoming trade fair, the company will address existing and potential new customers with enhanced technologies and improved functionalities for multi-axis milling.

Overcoming ongoing structural change with high-tech
Peiseler, a manufacturer of trunnion tables, rotary tables, rotary tilt tables, swivel heads and workpiece changing tables, is also consistently focusing on quality and high-tech in the current difficult conditions. Like the rest of the industry, the Remscheid-based company has had to cope with a significant decline in incoming orders this year. The main reason for this is a decline in orders from customers who supply the automotive industry with their machine tools. However, Peiseler also faces other structural obstacles. The company is experiencing increasingly high-cost pressure in competition with suppliers from the Far East. This is due to the high wage level and expensive energy costs in Germany, as well as the low wages and state subsidies available to Asian competitors in particular. In addition, the increasingly complex approval processes due to export regulations are making project handling more difficult.

"In order to counteract this, we consistently focus on technological innovations and high quality," emphasizes Arnd Kulaczewski, managing director at Peiseler. "Our solutions may not always be the most expensive, but they must be characterized by maximum precision and reliability."

In order to become less dependent on the current situation in the automotive industry, the company is also consistently working to diversify its customer sectors. Peiseler is increasingly offering customized positioning solutions for the energy technology, aerospace, medical technology and robotics sectors. Other important fields of application are in the area of additive manufacturing, where the company uses individual and highly precise component positioning to perform generative wire welding, for example.

EMO as a place to demonstrate innovative strength
"EMO provides us with a suitable stage to present our technologies and performance to an international audience from various industries," Kulaczewski adds. "This is where we meet our customers and potential partners."

Supfina Managing Director Siegel takes a similar view. For him, the trade fair is a "valuable platform for picking up on new areas of impetus from the industry." At the same time, it enables us to "demonstrate our innovative strength."

The EMO trade fair is also very important for machine tool manufacturers in the view of Datron boss Daniel. This is because it not only has an enormous reach, but also provides the opportunity to "consolidate our position as an innovator and ambitious player in the global competitive environment."

For the VDW as the organizer, these assessments provide important confirmation that EMO, one of the world's leading trade fairs, has been the right platform for the industry for 50 years. This is all the more true in view of current challenges, combined with the confidence that the EMO trade fair will once again prove to be a model of success for its exhibitors and visitors.