INTENSE INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITY IN THE ADVANCED MANUFACTURING SECTOR IN THE LAST QUARTER OF THE YEAR

September and October are busy months for trade fairs and the companies are continuing with their international work. The IMTS trade fair was held in Chicago between 12 and 17 September with the participation of businesses associated to AFM Cluster, such as CORREA, COUTH, DANOBAT, ETXETAR, FAGOR AUTOMATION, GEMINIS, GURUTZPE, IZAR, JUARISTI, MELTIO, SOLING IMPACT, SORALUCE, TRIMEK and ZAYER.

IMTS is the most important machine tool fair in the US and one of the top 3 worldwide. After four years of absence, the results have been satisfactory, with a huge array of stands and machines on display in the 4 main halls of the congress centre. 1,816 exhibitors and 1,603 stands on 112,412 square metres of exhibition space, according to the organisation. The number of visitors recorded came to 86,307 (10% more visitors from North America than the last edition), with the first half of the week proving the busiest.

The vast majority of the main manufacturers in the sector were present, with good representation from the most significant countries and a notable presence, as usual, from Asian companies. Cutting tools, controls and CAD-CAM and, above all, metal cutting machinery were the key areas, with outstanding staging by other trending areas in advanced manufacturing, such as additive manufacturing or training for young professionals.

The United States market continues to be a crucial mainstay of the industry globally, as the largest importer and consumer of machine tools (4,812 and 10,781 million dollars, respectively, in 2021). The trend has been positive in recent years, as evidenced by Spanish exports of machine tools, with 82.32 million euros in 2021 and the US being the top export destination.

The US is not immune to the uncertainty hanging over the global economy, although it is significantly less preoccupied by energy concerns than Europe. The United States GDP has fallen in the last two quarters (0.4 in the first and 0.2 in the second), but several sectors remain strong and the job market is recording the lowest unemployment rates in 50 years. The GDP is forecast to grow by 1.4% for 2022 and 0.3% for 2023, with inflation or the drop in consumer spending (which accounts for 70% of the GDP) being the main worries.

In parallel to this, the twentieth edition of the AMB trade fair was held in the Messe Stuttgart congress centre between 13 and 17 September. Twenty-three AFM manufacturers took part in the fair: CMA, CORREA, DANOBAT, DIVIPREC, FAGOR AUTOMATION, FERG, FRESMAK, GMTK, GURUTZPE, IBARMIA, INTEGI, KENDU, LAGUN MACHINE TOOL, LAGUN MACHINERY, LAIP, MADAULA, MTE, ONA, SHUTON, SIDEPALSA, SORALUCE, TDG and TEDISA.

The event proved once again to be one of the most important of the metal industry worldwide, with a total of 1,238 exhibitors, 25% of whom were foreign. A total of 64,298 visitors packed out the 10 halls of the congress centre and were presented with the innovations, products, services and new features of the participating manufacturers. 18% of these visitors were from abroad, with a total of 71 countries represented. Second to Germany, these were Switzerland, Austria, the Scandinavian countries, Italy, France and the Netherlands.

This year, special focus has been placed on digitalisation, automation and sustainability. Innovations such as the “Trend Lounge”, with themed conferences on topics such as climate change; the “SmartFactory”, presenting automated processes; or “Self-guided Tours” for individual visitors to the fair, were very well received by the attending public.

Germany has historically been a key market for the AFM manufacturers’ sector, largely due to its extremely high industrial level. In 2021 it ranked third in our exports destinations, with almost 10% of our foreign sales and a turnover of 82.57 million euros. The associated companies attending the fair reviewed their experience very positively, reporting high visitor numbers and expressions of interest.

However, high energy dependency on Russia has put the German economy at risk. According to recent reports by Bundesbank and Deutsche Bank, Germany's GDP is forecast to drop and inflation rise, which will lead to recession in the country. In this setting, industry will also be affected, and will be further hindered by increasing interest rates and rising production costs.

Despite this, the figures recorded by the AFM business in the German market during 2022 have been positive, with dynamic activity and healthy levels of new orders and sales.

Upcoming fairs

The next fair will be ADVANCED MANUFACTURING MADRID 2022 between 19-20 October at IFEMA (Madrid). The 14th edition of this fair will feature 600 exhibiting companies and 15,000 professionals in an exhibition space of 38,400 m2. AFM Cluster will have an important presence, with over 100 associated companies, 26 of whom will be participating on a joint basis. In addition, AFM Cluster will organise the 9th Advanced and Digital Manufacturing Conference, which offers SMEs, startups, large companies, training and research centres the opportunity to connect with potential customers and suppliers, as well as form partnerships for technological commercial deals and R&D&i projects.

This year's trade fair circuit continues with the EUROBLECH fair, which will be held in Hannover (Germany) between 25 and 28 October, with the participation of twenty-one associated companies: ALTEYCO, ATHADER, AUTOPULIT, BIELE, CEVISA, COMETEL, COUTH, DENN, DIMECO, DIPER, EKICONTROL, FAGOR ARRASATE, GEKA, GOIZPER, LANTEK, LARA, LOIRE GESTAMP, NIDEC ARISA, SARRALLE, TECOI and ZORROTZ. EUROBLECH is the most important metal forming fair in the world.

We will close out the year with the FORMNEXT fair in Frankfurt (Germany) between 15 and 18 November. Formnext is one of the world’s top additive manufacturing professional events, presenting many new innovations every year, including machines, materials, software and even new applications. In this case, there will be a considerable presence of ADDIMAT companies: ADDILAN, AIMEN, CEIT, HEXAGON - MSC SOFTWARE, HIPERBARIC, HP, INDART3D, LEITAT, MATERIALISE, MELTIO, MOSO 3D, NIPPON GASES, NIT, PRIMA ADDITIVE, RENISHAW, SIEMENS, TRIDITIVE and TRUMPF.