Hosted by BolognaFiere from 11 to 14 May 2016, the event registered a 10% increase in the number of visits (compared to the 2014 edition).

The visits officially registered at the show were 20,395, of which 857 were foreign operators. Beginning from next edition, the exhibition will change its venue and date in the international schedule of trade shows, choosing Milan and the odd years to present itself to the public.

While awaiting the next edition of the biennial exhibition of metal forming technologies, scheduled from 17 to 20 May 2017 at fieramilano-Rho, the organizers have expressed great satisfaction for the successful outcome this year which is certainly a good sign for the future of the event:  Milan will offer the best exhibition complex, capable of ensuring, like no other, an increase in the number of foreign visitors.

There were numerous, interested visitors, targeted contacts and transactions that, in many cases, were concluded directly at the exhibition: this is what has emerged from the first interviews collected at the stands of LAMIERA which, in the last two days, registered a “full house”, thus confirming the positive trend of the metal forming sector.

Operators have been attracted by the product offering proposed by 386 enterprises, of which 30% were from abroad, covering an exhibition area of 35,000 square meters, thus reporting a 10% rise compared to the previous edition.

“These figures – stated Luigi Galdabini, President of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE- compared with those of the previous edition, confirm the interest of the sector operators in this trade show and highlighted the positive situation characterizing the metal forming field and non-conventional technologies”.

On the basis of the success achieved in the previous edition, LAMIERA reproposed BLECH ITALY, an area dedicated to the supply chain of steel, metal alloys and non-ferrous materials, conceived to enhance two connected industries: the machine tool sector and that of the machines for the processing of steel and other alloys.

The new version of the historic area LAMBDA 4.0 contributed to complete LAMIERA with important contents: this time, it was dedicated to illustrate the commitment of the sector to the study of Industry 4.0. The comprehensive conference programme involved 400 operators.

Among the workshops regarding the theme of the “smart factory”, “Machines for laser processing: Industry 4.0 is here!” attracted a crowd, but in addition, there were also numerous in-depth discussion meetings on economic-technical topics. Among others, there was a presentation of the results concerning the survey carried out by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE every ten years on “Total machine tools and production systems of the Italian industry. Focus Emilia-Romagna” and of the Competitiveness Study, which compares systems and industries in Italy and in Germany.

To complete this successful framework, there were over 500 bilateral meetings which were organized between Italian exhibitors and foreign operators of the delegations invited by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, by the Ministry of the Economic Development and by ICE-Italian Trade Agency. The foreign guests came from Austria, Germany, India, Iran, Poland, Russia, Spain, United States, Switzerland, Turkey and Mexico, Country of Honour of the 2016 edition of LAMIERA.

The Italian enterprises are again investing in production systems. 

In 2014 the Italian machine tool, robot and automation industry recorded a positive outcome, showing a production growth driven by the recovery of domestic consumption. The resumption of Italian domestic demand benefitted mostly the deliveries of Italian manufacturers, registering a strong increase.

Thanks to its positive performance, the Italian industry strengthened its fourth position in the world ranking of manufacturers and confirmed its third place in the ranking of exporters.

In particular, in 2014, the production grew by 7.9%, reaching 4,840 million euro: it was driven by the recovery of domestic consumption that increased by 33.8% to 2,738 million euro, favouring both the deliveries of Italian manufacturers, – up by 44%, to 1,587 million – and imports – grown by 21.9%, to 1,151 million euro.

An opposite sign was highlighted by exports, down by 3.9% to 3,253 million euro: this outcome was due, at least partly, to the choice of manufacturers to readdress their offer to the domestic market, where consumption started again.

This is in short the account of the 2014 situation, given by President Luigi Galdabini, this morning, on the occasion of the annual Members’ Meeting of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, in which Giorgio Squinzi, President of CONFINDUSTRIA (Italian Industrial Federation) also took part. The meeting, hosted by fieramilano, was attended by about 300 people, among entrepreneurs, institutions and media representatives.

The recovery of the Italian industry of the sector will be confirmed also in 2015, as emerged from the forecast data processed by the Studies Dept. & Business Culture of UCIMU. In particular, in 2015, all main indicators will show an increase: production will grow by 5.2%, to 5,090 million euro, consumption will reach 2,895 million euro, 5.7% more compared with last year, driving both the deliveries of manufacturers, expected to rise by 4.3% to 1,655 million, and imports (+7.7%). Back to a positive sign, exports will also grow by 5.6%, achieving the amount of 3,435 million euro. The export/production ratio, decreased in 2014 as a consequence of Italian demand, will remain stable at 67.5%.

With regard to exports, in 2014, the United States turned out to be the first destination market for the “Made in Italy” of the sector, followed by China, Germany, Russia and France. The last available survey, concerning the period January-March 2015, highlights a recovery of sales to foreign markets, which materialized with a 2.1% increase versus the first quarter of 2014. China came back to the top position in the ranking of outlet countries, thanks to a 9.3% rise in the purchases of Italian machine tools. Germany (-9.4%) and the United States (-3%) followed in the ranking. Good performances were registered in Russia (+40%). The last of the top positions in the ranking belonged to the United Kingdom (+155.7%).

Luigi Galdabini, President of UCIMU stated: “After a year 2013 to be forgotten, in 2014, the Italian industry of the sector is growing again, starting off a positive trend that has already been confirmed by the 2015 data. However, last year – went on Galdabini – will be remembered for the recovery of Italian demand which seems to have awaken from its torpor”.

“The increased investments in production machines are certainly good news for the whole country, because they testify a general restart of manufacturing activity in many production fields, for example in the automotive and the aerospace sectors. Nevertheless, if it is true that optimism is necessary to support this newly started trend, it is also true that it is not enough, mainly because, in reality, the growth we are experiencing is still weak and not sufficient to completely recover the ground lost in the 2009 crisis”.

“We should also say that, even if sometimes in a fragmentary way, our government authorities proved to be “willing to give a shake to our country”. The reduction of IRAP (regional tax on production activity), the Jobs Act, the tax credit for research: these are all measures to be intended in that direction. An excellent measure was also the re-financing for the whole year 2015 of the New Sabatini Law that allowed to activate loans for around 2 billion euro between March 2014 and May 2015, and the machinery bonus, which unfortunately has not been extended”.

“These two measures – affirmed Luigi Galdabini – have favoured the recovery of Italian consumption in a significant way, but, most of all, their merit was their contribution to maintaining the competitiveness of the Italian manufacturing industry, by stimulating the acquisition of new production means that are essential to grant the “Made in Italy” the necessary standards to fight foreign competition”.

“For this reason – went on the President of UCIMU – we ask President Squinzi that CONFINDUSTRIA may support the proposal of extension of the Machinery Bonus, a measure enabling tax deduction of investments in high-technology machinery, as well as that of an incentive programme to support the replacement of obsolete machinery installed in Italy, so that the production systems may meet the new requirements of productivity, energy saving and compliance with the current work safety EC regulations”.

“This said – concluded Luigi Galdabini – however, it is necessary to stress again the need for specific measures capable of supporting, in a structured way, the relaunch of the domestic market and of the Italian manufacturing sector. A complementary action to these measures should be the liberalization of depreciation on purchased capital equipment and the revision of coefficients for its calculation, dating back to 1988″.

As part of the CECIMO Fall Meetings 2014, roundtable discussion was held with members of the European Parliament and the European Commission: Matching the EU environmental agenda with the trade strategy. CECIMO expressed its full support for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement (TTIP) which is under negotiation between the EU and the US. “The removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers can eliminate unnecessary burdens on exporters of machine tools without jeopardizing the level of protection, safety and the performance of machines,” stated Jean-Camille Uring, CECIMO President.

Freer and more open trade between the two sides of Atlantic will create a level playing field and will stimulate competition based on the delivery of the highest level of innovation in production technologies. Martin Kapp, CECIMO Vice-President affirmed: “TTIP can play a significant role in promoting a genuine manufacturing renaissance across the Atlantic.” CECIMO advocates that the priority should be given to the harmonisation of regulatory requirements in the area of health, safety and environment, and to the use of consensus-based international standards as the basis of regulations. Moreover, appropriate consultation and notification mechanisms should be put in place to ensure the alignment of future legislations. Other priorities for CECIMO are the simplification of customs procedures, the removal of barriers to the mobility of the professional personnel and investment protection.

CECIMO also called on European policy-makers to fully integrate the global market reality when applying the Ecodesign Directive to highly export-oriented business-to-business sectors such as machine tools. Technical requirements which do not meet user demand in export markets may have a negative impact on the competitiveness of the sector. Furthermore, overly-prescriptive ecodesign rules may even compromise the productivity, accuracy and performance of machines which are the core procurement criteria for customers all over the world. More than half of the European machine tool production is exported outside the EU. “The international dimension of the machine tool business and its global competitiveness should be placed at the heart of discussions,” stated Luigi Galdabini, CECIMO Vice-President. The sector generates a trade surplus worth 9.5 billion euro and contributes to the EU trade balance.

Given the technical and market characteristics inherent to the machine tool industry, Ecodesign can be best achieved via stimulating market-based competition with reference to international standards.. Therefore, CECIMO has proposed a self-regulation measure (SRM) to the European Commission based on the principle of manufacturers’ self-assessment. CECIMO’s SRM proposal received positive feedback from member state representatives at the Ecodesign Consultation Forum in summer this year, but awaits the Commission’s final evaluation.

Ecodesign became one of the major components of the Circular Economy package recently proposed by the Commission. CECIMO is of the opinion that, in order to remain competitive, Europe has to develop along the lines of sustainable consumption and production. As the Commission and the European Parliament discuss introducing resource-efficiency criteria in the future review of the Ecodesign legislation, CECIMO called on them to carefully consider market acceptance, technology readiness, the existence of industry standards and the aspect of global competitiveness. Incentives for competition and innovation have a far greater potential to deliver resource-efficiency in industry.

The European Council of 21 March 2014 concluded that Europe needs a strong and competitive industrial base, in terms of both production and investment. CECIMO underlined that the integration of this strategic objective in all EU policy areas will be key for sustaining European leadership in the global machine tool production and exports.

What are the current trends in the European machine tool industry?
The needs and the trends of the European machine tool sector are constantly analysed by CECIMO, the European association that brings together the main category associations, among which is UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, of which I am the president. Through the comparison and the dialogue among the representations, CECIMO tries to understand what the sector needs, and activate the necessary actions, so that these needs are met. The most important new introduction for next year for the European manufacturers of machine tools is “Horizon 2020”,  the new framework program of the European Community, which includes a useful funding plan for relaunching the industrial sector in Europe. Compared with previous plans, the programming of the European structural funds for the 2014-2020 period shifts its interests from infrastructures to technological innovation, and brings manufacturing back to being the main focus point for the European Union, offering SME new opportunities for development.

What is the current market size of Italian machine tool industry? What per cent of the total production goes for export?  
As shown by the preliminary data processed by the Studies Department of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, in 2013 production reached 4,780 million Euros, resulting significantly stable when compared to the previous year. Exports were once again the driving force of the sector. Stable at 3,615 million Euros, -0.2% when compared to that in 2012, they absorbed 75.6% of the total Italian production. Numbers place Italy in fifth position in the international manufacturer standings, and third in line as exporters.

What are some of the unique qualities of the Italian machines? Approximately what per cent of revenue is dedicated for R&D?
Creativity, intelligence, innovation and profiling are the characteristics that makes one opt for an Italian product. The technological level of Italian machine tools is similar to that of the main competitors. However, what sets them apart is the high level of flexibility, achieved thanks to a close collaboration with the final customer during the whole manufacturing process. A work that although requires a great deal of effort, also results in machines that specifically meet targeted needs. On an average Italian companies invest 5 per cent of their turnover in research and development (R&D), but to this one should add all the investments, which are difficult to quantify, that Italians make to customise their machines based on the requests of the customers.

How do you tackle the current situation looking at the not-so-good economic situation in Europe?
The economical difficulty that has characterised Europe in the last few years has obviously affected the industrial sectors, with the machine tool suffering a lot due to its position as the basis of manufacturing. Signals of recovery had already arrived during the end of 2013, and for 2014-2015. Also, thanks to the new framework program “Horizon 2020”, the forecasts indicate a recovery of the whole manufacturing sector.

The automobile industry, one of the biggest consumer of machine tools is going through a tough time. What are the other emerging sectors that are capable of creating opportunities for machine tool manufacturers?
The automotive sector is certainly the most important customer sector, and its crisis has greatly impacted the machine tool sector; however, at the same time there has been an increase in the importance and the interest of new end-user sectors. Areas like biomedical and nano-technology, which add to other consolidated sectors, such as energy, transports, aeronautics and aerospace can be looked upon.

How do you see the Indian market? What are the Indian buyers looking for according to you?
Relationships are certainly extremely positive, and India is among the top 10 destination countries for the Italian industry in terms of exports. In particular, according to the latest figures, referring to the January – September period of 2013, India has purchased machine tools from Italy for a total value of 95 million euros. The Indian market is of particular interest for the Italian companies. The country is  nowadays recognised as one of the big manufacturers of the world. However, it still holds great uncovered potential, which can and must be developed also in collaboration with Italy.

What are the steps taken to improve the collaboration of Indian and Italian industry?
The Indian production of machine tools is of an appropriate level for many processes, particularly for machines with an average degree of sophistication. Italy and India are in continuous collaboration with the aim to improve the competitive advantages of both parties and establish a long term policy of common objectives.  As the association of the Italian manufacturers of machine tools, we maintain a presence in India with important initiatives like the “Italian Technology Center”.  The new center for the promotion of the Made in Italy, with its location in Pune, promotes the ITC trademark, and the brands of 11 Italian manufacturers of capital goods that work together to develop new contacts with the institutional, cultural, and industrial sectors in India. The technology center adds another project to the association, PLATFORM INDIA, which presents itself as an actual hub, capable of providing support and expert recommendations to those interested in working in the region. The objective of the initiative is to support the companies during their internationalisation activities. For this reason, “Platform India” appointed an Indian officer, who operates on location, acting as a facilitator.

How was 2013 for the Italian machine tool industry?
In the fourth quarter of 2013, the machine tool index of orders, issued by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE’s Studies Dept., registered a 4.1% year-over-year increase and an absolute value of 100.6.  In particular, the amount of foreign orders went up by 6% compared to the September – December period of 2012. Internally, the index records a substantial stability (+0.2%), when compared to the fourth quarter of 2012.

How do you see the year 2014 and what are your expectations? 
In 2014, the production is expected to increase by 4.6%, reaching a level of 5,000 million Euros. Exports will do well, with a 4.6% increase, reaching a new record of 3,780 million Euros. Apart from these, the export/production ratio is expected to remain stable at 75.6%. After being down for three consecutive years, deliveries from manufacturers will show a positive trend: thanks to a 4.7% increase, they will reach 1,220 million Euros, driven by the recovery in domestic consumption, which will reach 2,145 million Euros, 4.4% more than in 2013.

Also imports will benefit, although at a lower level, from the increase in demand from Italian manufacturers, reaching 925 million Euros, a +3.9% increase when compared with 2013.