The sector: Smart industrial machinery moving towards the Industry 4.0
At a time when industry is changing worldwide – especially the industrial machinery sector, which is more and more involved in technological evolutions that can be summarise in the 4.0 technology – the industrial machinery sector is asked to make a qualitative leap to keep up with the market’s recovery.Innovation is not just bound to technological progress, which is increasingly characterised by mechatronics and advanced robotics, but also by the presence of professionals trained to seize new opportunities and the focus on integration dynamics and possible synergies with other segments. Companies who aim at achieving and confirming their excellence and Italian companies who want to validate their leadership on international markets are more oriented towards this “smart manufacturing” approach.
Therefore, the recent fiscal measures super- and hyper-depreciation entered into force to allow Italy’s companies to keep up with this revolution. Particular attention is paid to training and the introduction of a 40% tax credit up to 300 thousand euros to arrange refresher courses for employees. The Innovation Alliance will act as the driving force for this ongoing recovery.
Thanks to the numerous solutions that will be showcased and various events on this topic, The Innovation Alliance will be an opportunity to learn more about this change and evaluate whether and how to use 4.0 technologies especially within consolidated business processes.
Circular economy, energy savings, and counterfeiting will be the hot topics. Therefore, the event will be especially addressed to highly qualified operators, who will have a key role in designing production lines and choosing the technologies to be used.
The stars of the show: Italy-made products in the world (and back)
The Made in Italy label defines the excellence of Italian-made products exported in the world. When it comes to industrial machinery -oriented towards strong synergies between sectors and integration between technologies - it also indicates the Italianness expressed as versatility and ability to solve complex production issues and demanding requests with tailor-made solutions.Italian-made machinery is feeding the new market that we like to call “Made with Italy”, where the excellence of instrumental mechanics has become essential for manufacturing goods and products worldwide. Market figures show that export is still as strong as ever, but the domestic demand is on the rise again.
The importance of the manufacturing companies that will be part of The Innovation Alliance is confirmed by the 2017 preliminary year-end data (Italian market). The rubber and plastic processing machinery sector is worth 4.5 billion euros, representing a 5% increase in terms of turnover (source: AMAPLAST) and exports equal to 70%. The packaging and processing sector, with an overall value amounting to 10.8 billion euros, has seen a +5.9% increase in turnover (source: IPACK-IMA Research Centre derived from Ucima and ANIMA data) and exports equal to 69%. The industrial printing and converting machinery segment has seen growth of 13% and a turnover equal to 3.2 billion euros (source: Acimga and ARGI) and exports equal to 67%. Even the internal logistics segment has seen growth of 5.4%, with an overall turnover equal to 5.2 billion euros and exports equal to 36% (source: ANIMA).
The target countries for the Italian export in these sectors are many: Germany, Spain, and France are the first purchasers in all segments except for logistics, whereas the USA are the top non-European buyer.
The Innovation Alliance will be a test field to understand the directions in which Italy’s industrial machinery exports and international trade are moving.
