CECIMO makes wave in Asia

Filip Geerts, Director General of CECIMO, the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries, speaks to International Metalworking News for Asia (IMNA) on the status of the European machine tools technology in Asia and how to better meet the demands from the region including highlights of the upcoming EMTE-EASTPO 2014 in Shanghai.

IMNA: What market opportunities or major application areas do you see growing rapidly for CECIMO in Asia with the metalworking industry in mind?

Geerts: A steady expansion of the Asian industrial machinery and transportation equipment industries would certainly result in these industries’ increased demand for machine tools. The European machine tool builders are especially well prepared to respond to this demand, for the following reasons:

First, an ongoing shift toward higher-value machines, such as machines with more advanced CNC controls and multitasking machine tools, is being observed. Europe’s machine tool industry is known for of its capacity to produce high-quality, very specialised machine tools tailored to their customers’ needs. This is achieved thanks to a combination of engineering know-how and a highly skilled workforce which enable a strong capacity of innovation and quality production.

And the shift towards advanced machine tools is real! For example in the Chinese machine tool industry, CNC machine tool is the type that sees the fastest growth. In 2012, 25.8% of metal cutting machine tools and 5.8% of forming machine tools were CNC machine tools; their portion is expected to be 29.2% and 6.8% respectively in 2013, and will reach 37.0% and 7.6% by 2015.

At the same time, increasing regulations regarding energy conservation in Asia will lead to growth in demand for energy-efficient machine tools. Because energy efficiency and sustainability are already driving forces in the European machine tool industry’ R&D activities, European machine tools will certainly fill the needs of Asian companies in that regard. In addition, the Blue Competence Machine Tools initiative, operated by CECIMO, provides customers with a reliable standard to measure the sustainability and saving potential of their machine-tool capital expenditures.

These factors will contribute to raising the overall value of European machines tools supplied to Asia.

IMNA: As CECIMO Director General, what areas do you see as requiring more focus to allow the European machine tool industries to better meet the Asian demand, and what actions have you taken that will ensure you meet your objectives?

Geerts: Over the past two decades, newly emerging competitors from Asia and other developing regions have come to challenge the leadership of the European machine tool industry in the world. They have shown significant and rapid progress in technology development and have quickly increased their market shares. Nonetheless, thanks to its high-quality workforce, Europe maintains a competitive edge and lives up to fierce global competition.

As state-of-the-art machine tools are characterised by a high level of technology integration, there is an increasing need for engineers and designers who master a broad range of disciplines (e.g. mechatronics, software, simulation, control, or hydraulics). Technical skills requirements in machine tool companies are becoming more demanding. Moreover, as the machine tool business is increasingly globaMężczyźni