Outlook for 2017 and 2018 remains positive

26 October 2016

On October 18, in Messe Düsseldorf - the day before the grand opening of the K trade fair - Europe’s plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers anticipated that sales will grow by an average of 1.8 per cent in the current year and in the two years ahead.

“This forecast means that the industry in the member countries of Euromap will continue to grow”, said Luciano Anceschi, president of Euromap, the European umbrella organisation for the most important national plastics and rubber machinery associations, during the federation’s press conference organized in the VDMA TV Pavilion.

“Between 2005 and 2015, sales in our countries rose from 9.3 to 13.5 billion euro, up by a noteworthy 46%, albeit less than the 83% growth recorded worldwide in the same period”.

“At the same time, exports from Euromap countries rose by 52%, from 6.6 to 10 billion euro. Here, the European growth rate was only slightly below the global increase of 56%. For us Europeans, the whole world is our market, whereas in the last decade China was still predominantly serving its own market”, added Euromap vice president, Karlheinz Bourdon.

In 2015, the Euromap countries as a whole accounted for 47% of world exports, while China’s share, following a surge in exports, reached 15%. In the years 2016 to 2018, global sales of plastics and rubber machinery are expected to grow by an average of 3.4%, with China as the main growth driver.

So far as German manufacturers are concerned, in the following press conference, on October 18 as well, VDMA confirmed the forecast made in the spring of 2% growth both this year and next.

To bring Industry 4.0 to life with practical examples is the aim that the VDMA Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association and its member companies have set themselves for K 2016. “The motto for K 2016 is Industry 4.0 - working for you!”, explained Ulrich Reifenhäuser, chairman of the board of VDMA Plastics and rubber machinery association. “Plastics and rubber machinery manufacturers are creating technological solutions with added value for the user. For them, Industry 4.0 is not an end in itself. Their aim with the smart factory is to increase productivity and make the best possible use of resources by means of networked, self-optimising manufacturing processes. What this means for our customers is reliable production with high standards of quality, bringing them decisive competitive advantages. We will demonstrate this with many practical examples of the technology at K 2016”.

At K 2016 VDMA will be assisting its members in communicating and presenting practical examples of Industry 4.0. In “Catch of the Day”, seven companies will use an end product to illustrate how Industry 4.0 can make manufacturing processes run more efficiently and how the product itself can be made smart. The “Catch of the Day” will be presented in the VDMA TV Pavilion (Düsseldorf fairground, FG 16.1, outdoor space) every day of the fair at around midday. In fact, in addition to its stand F42, in hall 16, for the first time VDMA is also using a television studio at K 2016 with Plas TV as its media partner, as Thorsten Kühmann, the association’s managing director explained closing the VDMA press conference.