Halfway through 2021, it seems appropriate to take stock of the situation in light of a semester that saw general growth in international markets, albeit at different speeds: China and the United States have had decidedly lively activity since the second half of 2020, while the Eurozone countries only got going at the beginning of 2021. In fact, most companies ended the year with a sharp decline compared to 2019. As we know, 2020 was particularly marked by a pandemic that highlighted certain market fragilities, such as the supply chain, with production sites located far from consumption hubs: precisely for this reason, many European companies are bringing production that had been offshored back to the old continent. Certainly, this operation can present some cost increases in some respects, but there are certainly advantages: in addition to the reduction in logistics costs and the immediate availability of required components, there is the added value of "Made in Italy," appreciated not only in the food and fashion worlds but also in the mechanical sector. To be able to operate competitively in this field, it is necessary to automate production processes: indeed, only through automation can industries maintain high quality at a reduced cost, responding to a market that today increasingly demands customized products, which can only be obtained at lower costs thanks to strong flexibility and the reconfiguration of production lines.
This is demonstrated by the fact that the demand for machine tools started to grow again in the first quarter: Italian manufacturers saw a 48% increase compared to the same period in 2020, with an increase in orders equal to 157% more than the previous year, a certainly comforting figure that allows them to "catch their breath" after months of great difficulty. Of course, the data must be weighed, also because it is compared with the first quarter of 2020, when at the end of February we found ourselves having to face the first effects of the international pandemic, but the incentives for investments in new production technologies provided for by the Transition 4.0 Plan certainly bode well for the coming months.
When we talk about Industry 4.0, it is necessary to clarify that we are referring to the monitoring and control of industrial processes. Where does this definition come from?
It was April 2011: during the Hannover Messe, an article entitled “INDUSTRIE 4.0” appeared in the information sheet of a German association, which practically heralded the fourth industrial revolution that had been submitted to the competent authorities for approval a few months earlier. For Italy, it was defined as the “Project for the industry of the future 4.0”: 10 years have passed since then, the term “Industry 4.0” has spread virally and is now an established concept in the world of European manufacturing. In practice, it was a transition from traditional automation, with predetermined results, to machines and self-learning and self-adapting environments that react in real time to changes in customer demand and expected disruptions, all with three great advantages:
-
Productivity
In an increasingly interconnected world like today’s, where competitiveness is a very current topic and access to technologies is increasingly possible, being able to work on costs and margins is fundamental to ensure strength for the company. -
Traceability
There is growing attention to traceability, a feature that is increasingly regulated in all sectors, from pharmaceutical to food: technology can be of great help, if the underlying processes allow it. -
Agility
More and more frequently, customized products and faster deliveries are required: therefore, the ability to redesign production lines quickly and efficiently is needed.
In essence, the evolution towards digitalization introduces a moment for companies in which they have the opportunity to improve their processes by revising them in their entirety and making them leaner thanks to better technological solutions.
In recent months, we have been witnessing a strong demand for automation for the production of electric vehicles and batteries, a prospect that offers companies great opportunities to open new markets in the automotive and electric mobility sector, but also in the lifetech segment for medical technologies: laboratory automation is experiencing a real boom, with very high growth rates.
This strong recovery has also confronted us with a rise in raw material prices, from steel to non-ferrous metals to plastic, with prices varying from day to day along with the scarcity of supply. This situation is creating great uncertainty and difficulty in manufacturing companies, which are showing great concern over the price increases, which had already started last October and have become particularly acute in the first half of this year. This circumstance is also linked to the fact that the Chinese market, and the Asian market in general, secured strategic stocks of various commodities as early as 2020, bolstered by an economy recovering from the pandemic ahead of Europe and North America, generating the contraction in supply that our companies are suffering precisely in these months.
The market is experiencing a phase of profound imbalance, caused by strong growth in demand and a supply that cannot keep up. A generalized economic recovery is expected in the near future, but the problem will continue to remain the price of raw materials: copper, for example, could reach an all-time high in the coming months.