China’s machine tool consumption is experiencing robust growth, and German manufacturers are returning to China in groups.

　　China Industrial News, Meng Fanjun

　　Despite the severe blow dealt to the Chinese market by the COVID‑19 pandemic, it has rebounded swiftly. For 2021, China’s industrial production and capital investment are expected to grow by more than 5% each, while machine tool consumption could post robust growth of around 10%. “Germany is China’s second-largest supplier of machine tools, after Japan, and holds a leading position in high‑tech sectors. Its technologies are widely adopted across diverse Chinese industries, including automotive, aerospace, mechanical engineering, power generation, and other broad‑based machine tool user segments,” explained Shane Sun of the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association (VDW) in Frankfurt at the 17th China International Machine Tool Show (CIMT 2021).

　　On April 12, at the press conference for CIMT 2021 hosted by the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association, Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, Managing Director of the VDW in Frankfurt, stated: “Due to travel restrictions imposed by the COVID‑19 pandemic, German manufacturers will primarily showcase their products through their Chinese subsidiaries.”

　　“Finally, we are once again hosting a truly meaningful trade fair.” Exhibitors and visitors gathered at the booths for face-to-face discussions—exactly what many German machine tool manufacturers had been eagerly anticipating at CIMT 2021.

　　CIMT marks a new starting point for umati’s entry into China.

　　Since 2020, orders for German machine tools from China have begun to stabilize, even posting double-digit growth of 17% in the fourth quarter. In 2021, numerous indicators suggest that the global economy will continue to expand. Wilfried Schäfer predicts: “The outlook for 2021 is even more encouraging, as we should by now have reached an inflection point.”

　　China Industrial News has learned that VDW maintains an umati booth at CIMT. According to the organization, umati (Universal Machine Tool Interface) is a community for the mechanical engineering industry and its customers, dedicated to promoting and advancing open, standardized interfaces based on OPC UA. The demonstration at CIMT aims to introduce Chinese industry stakeholders to the interface specifications enabling communication between machine tools and higher-level IT systems, while also showcasing the ease of implementation—six companies, all exhibitors in the German Pavilion, have already connected their machines. “Unfortunately, the repercussions of the COVID‑19 pandemic have prevented more companies from joining our initiative,” lamented Dr. Alexander Broos, VDW’s Director of Research and Technology, who oversees OPC UA activities in the machine tool sector.

　　To ensure umati’s full integration into China, the Advanced Manufacturing Technology Center (AMTC) at Tongji University is providing technical infrastructure support in Beijing. “We are also delighted to connect machines and services to China’s NC Link initiative for machine tools, a continuation of our successful collaboration at EMO Hannover 2019,” said Alexander Broos.

　　At that time, a number of Chinese CNC machine tool manufacturers had already established connections with umati. Alexander Broos stated that the NC Link team has now successfully integrated the OPC UA infrastructure with its own installed systems. A key component of umati’s participation in CIMT is the umati demonstrator, which consists of a data center connected to a computer in real time and a dedicated dashboard.

　　German machine tool suppliers are important partners to China’s industrial sector.

　　For many years, Germany’s machine tool industry has been a valued partner to Chinese industrial customers, making China a key sales market for the German machine tool sector. Over the past two years, German exports have declined by nearly 45%, with export value falling from €2.3 billion to €1.3 billion; the main products affected include machining centers, grinding machines, components, and lathes. By contrast, China’s import volumes have not suffered as severely—down only 28% in 2020—with most imported goods consisting of components and spare parts. Wilfried Schäfer believes that China’s demand for advanced manufacturing technologies remains substantial, particularly as the next step for Chinese industry is to launch higher‑quality products that can also meet global market requirements.

　　Wilfried Schäfer concluded: The China International Machine Tool Show is an excellent platform for showcasing products, where Chinese customers will place their trust in and choose offerings from German manufacturers. The show will continue to make significant contributions to fostering bilateral business development.

　　In fact, the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association has been doing the same: for many years, it has been applying to Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy to establish a joint German pavilion at the China International Machine Tool Show, and has taken responsibility for implementing this initiative. At present, Germany has become an overseas exhibitor at the 17th China International Machine Tool Show (CIMT 2021), with 150 companies showcasing a wide range of machine tools, cutting tools, workholding technologies, metrology solutions, molds, as well as CNC systems and software, occupying a total exhibition area of 7,500 square meters.

　　“Participating in trade shows is an excellent opportunity for us to build international visibility and gain valuable experience with umati,” Alexander Broos concluded. “We hope this will soon be replicated in other markets as well.”