Businesses

Technical masterpieces are the machines that are being built in Germany for various markets, from packaging machines to welding robot installations up to machines for the food industry. Often their manufacturers are worldwide market leaders in their niche, or at least top-three players. They may have started like small players, but now an increasing number of outside parties are contributing to their success. Think of the smart knowledge partner, the specialist service provider and the service-oriented technical value add distributor. The latter now provides technology for industrial automation as well as mechanical and electrical supply.

The stakes are high in the industry segment. Machines and installations have to increase performance, with increasing functionality and complexity.  To achieve maximum yield, end users want to keep downtime to a minimum and expect immediate responses to malfunctions. All of this without having to keep an extensive range of spare parts in stock, because that is too much 'dead capital'. And end users hardly employ technical people nowadays, because with the current quality level of machines and installations they had too little to do.

Modularization is the keyword in the current machine building and plant construction. Customer-specific engineering and construction is risky, expensive and time-consuming. Therefore, machines are configured to order and built up from standard modules that are available in several variants, where necessary augmented with specific options. And the heart of every machine or installation today is the control cabinet with smart electronics and software. The panels for that control box are also built up as much as possible from standard modules.

In the installation sector it is all hands on deck. There is a screaming shortage of skilled workers while the imminent energy transition is causing a lot of extra work in residential and non-residential construction. At the same time, the installation industry is still growing. Companies continue to invest in new construction and expansion. Not only to increase their capacity, but also to make factories more intelligent and to reduce energy consumption.

In machine building and industrial automation, the focus is more on system integration than ever. Separate components, \\(sub\\) modules, systems, devices and machines are integrated into complete production lines. The technology is too complex and the scope of projects too big for one party to control the installation at all levels. Naturally, the system integrator is and remains responsible for the technical functionality of the machine \\(line\\). He must also monitor the execution of the project, in terms of costs, lead time and quality.