Ulrich Reifenhaeuser & Thorsten Kuehmann

Niemieccy producenci maszyn na dnie

Rok 2024 był kolejnym rokiem "zapomnienia" dla niemieckich producentów maszyn do tworzyw sztucznych i gumy. Po skorygowaniu o zmiany cen liczba zamówień spadła o kolejne 21 procent w porównaniu z rokiem poprzednim, a sprzedaż również spadła o 19 procent.

Forum Mocy Tworzyw Sztucznych na K 2025

VDMA Stowarzyszenie producentów maszyn i urządzeń ponownie zaprezentuje się ze specjalną przestrzenią i bogatym programem na terenie otwartym K 2025.

It’s a tough situation, calling for courage

At annual conference of the trade associations of plastics and rubber machinery, waste and recycling technology, EMINT, and the project group for hybrid lightweight technologies, Ulrich Ackermann, Head of VDMA Foreign Trade, addressed the geopolitical changes and their impact on the mechanical engineering industry: "The globalisation of the world economy is coming under increasing pressure. China is placing its focus on autonomy, resulting in knock-on effects for the European mechanical engineering industry, and in the US, the Biden administration has continued the "national approach" of the Trump government's trade policy in recent years. As a result, the world is heading towards a new bipolar world order." For the European mechanical engineering industry, this means the need to have its own production facilities in large target markets and being able to offer market-specific products. Many plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers have already adapted in that regard.

Orders slump by 30 percent in the first quarter

German plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers closed the year 2022 with a price-adjusted increase in turnover of 10 percent. In nominal terms, the increase amounted to 18 percent. "This growth stems from the numerous orders the sector was able to attract in recent years and shows that the supply chains have eased to some degree," explains Ulrich Reifenhäuser, Chairman of the Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association at the VDMA. Currently, the order books are still reasonably full, which hints at a comparatively good sales year in 2023.

PROBLEMY BRANŻY

Rozmowa z Thorstenem Kühmannem, Dyrektorem Zarządzającym Stowarzyszenia Maszyn do Przetwórstwa Tworzyw Sztucznych i Gumy VDMA.

Co się dzieje w sektorze maszyn do PTS?

Spodziewana wartość produkcji maszyn do PTS i gumy w Europie w 2022 r. wyniesie – podobnie jak w 2021 r. – około 15 mld euro. Patrząc jednak na trend ostatnich dwunastu lat można zaobserwować stały wzrost produkcji.

Tworzywa a cyfryzacja

Rozmowa z Thorstenem Kühmannem, dyrektorem zarządzającym ds. tworzyw sztucznych i gumy w VDMA i Ingemarem Bühlerem, dyrektorem generalnym PlasticsEurope Deutschland.

VDMA Hybrid Lightweight Technologies

At the annual meeting of the VDMA Hybrid Lightweight Technologies working group, which took place on 12 February, 2021, it became clear that the industry is intensively addressing holistic concepts of lightweight construction, offering its customers worldwide customized solutions for CO2 reduction. In the automotive sector in particular, there is growing pressure from supply chains to live up to the guiding principle of climate-neutral manufacturing and to be able to prove this with data. In the context of taxation based on CO2 intensity, monetary benefits can also be generated through CO2 savings.

German plastics and rubber machinery

At the beginning of the year, the German plastics and rubber machinery industry – like almost all sectors of the economy – was hit hard by the effects of the Corona pandemic. However, the downward trend in sales and incoming orders already flattened out in mid 2020, and incoming orders even rose again from September onwards. Cumulatively, from January to October 2020 they are only 3 percent below the incoming orders in the same period of 2019.

Electric mobility and lightweight design

The year 2019 was marked by a weak global economy, trade disputes and a far-reaching structural change in the automotive industry. The mechanical engineering and supply industries are feeling the effects. Reduced CO2 fleet limits should boost lightweight design, but priority is currently being given to investments in electrification and digitization with the aim of autonomous driving. The annual meeting of the VDMA Working Group Hybrid Lightweight Technologies therefore addressed the question of the importance of lightweight design in electric mobility.