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On October 16, 2024, 30 lean management experts met for the VDMA Austria's fourth lean experience exchange in Maria Enzersdorf, Lower Austria, at Koenig & Bauer (AT), the world market leader for banknote printing presses.

How will Europe's mechanical and plant engineering industry hold its own in the global competition of the future? The new future study by VDMA and McKinsey shows which trends, success factors and approaches are crucial now.

How can Europe's mechanical engineering industry remain competitive? Part 1 of our series of discussions on the summit shows which trends are shaping the industry - and how the VDMA is providing guidance.

The committee's internal revision of ISO 9001 has been completed and the draft standard will be made available to the public for comment at the end of August with the DIS.

The QM Corner showed how companies can become more successful with systematic opportunity and risk management in accordance with ISO 9001.

NRW mechanical engineering under pressure: The new study shows the need for action, opportunities and clear recommendations for companies and politicians - for innovation, competitiveness and sustainable growth.

The new EU packaging regulation (PPWR) brings with it far-reaching requirements for mechanical and plant engineering.

With over 220 participants, the Photonics Partnership Annual Meeting organised by Photonics21 took place in Brussels on May 15–16, 2025, bringing together leaders from science, industry and politics.

The Mechanical Engineering Summit in Berlin is the "place to be" for young entrepreneurs

With the revision of the industrial policy model, the state government is providing impetus for the further development of North Rhine-Westphalia as an industrial location - with the active involvement of VDMA NRW.

Mental health is a strategic success factor: investing in leadership, team spirit and culture reduces absenteeism and boosts motivation, innovation and employee loyalty.

The introduction of new US tariffs poses challenges for exporting companies. These trade policy measures can have a significant impact on cost calculation and risk distribution in international supply contracts.

Strengthen the resilience of your company. Our series of events shows ways through difficult economic times - compact, practical and future-orientated.

AI in quality management: exploiting opportunities, recognizing risks - at the QM Corner, experts discussed data protection, security and the responsible use of AI.

Customer training is an important after-sales service that can increase customer satisfaction and thus also strengthen customer loyalty. The offers must therefore be well thought out - but they must also be economically viable!

In economically difficult times, the VDMA supports its members with valuable information and personal advice. Together we will find the right course and strengthen the resilience of the companies.

Working capital management is of particular importance when focusing on liquidity. Here you will find the updated data for the guide.

The latest VDMA marketing survey 2025 in mechanical engineering offers comprehensive insights into the current marketing landscape. Compared to the previous period, the number of participants has increased by 42%.

Job advertisements remain a key element of successful recruitment. Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to make job advertisements more target group-oriented and effective.

In mechanical and plant engineering, a comprehensive analysis of your own service offering is of crucial importance. This allows potential to be identified and utilized for the entire company.

Companies in the mechanical and plant engineering sector face various challenges: Supply chain problems, material shortages, rising costs and uncertain markets are making operations more difficult.

Crisis management in mechanical engineering: The practical guide from VDMA and Ebner Stolz shows how to future-proof your company by optimising your portfolio, purchasing and inventory management.

Customer requirements and their implementation are no longer defined only within one's own company, but must be developed in a joint value chain with cross-company teams, so that a holistic, resource-efficient value cycle is created.

Global supply chains are prone to disruption - from freight space shortages to geopolitical crises. Choosing the right Incoterms can help minimize risks, control costs and ensure delivery capability.

Managers face particular challenges in economically difficult times. They have to convey stability while experiencing uncertainty themselves.

Strengthening flexibility and resilience is essential for companies in the mechanical and plant engineering sector to successfully overcome crises and remain competitive in the long term.

The QM Corner stands for one topic, one hour and virtual. The session presented the possible applications of artificial intelligence (AI) in quality management.

In economically challenging times, companies face the difficult task of communicating restructuring, short-time work or even job cuts.

The VDMA NRW Board of Directors meeting focused on setting the political course: together with VDMA President Bertram Kawlath, the focal points of political lobbying and regional support were discussed.

The Incoterms define rules for the national and international movement of goods. The Incoterms 2020 are the latest version of these rules, which are updated every ten years by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

Efficient process management in mechanical and plant engineering is the basis for successful operation, competitiveness and innovative strength.

At the 23rd Financing Day of the mechanical and plant engineering industry in NRW, VDMA NRW focused on the data economy and corporate financing in challenging times.

After more than 15 years, the model for calculating life cycle costs (LCC) is fully established on the market and enables companies to make "Made in Germany" assessable in monetary terms.

VDMA assessment of cost development and cost trends in 2025.

The workshop of the working group has set itself the goal of examining and proposing a system of key performance indicators broken down by company divisions.

Professional and personalised application management still has plenty of room for improvement in many cases. Low-threshold application processes (such as via WhatsApp) are an interesting new development.

China's mechanical engineering industry continues to catch up, products from the Far East are getting better and are almost always cheaper. China is not only striving for technological supremacy locally, but also internationally.

On September 12, 2024, the Executive Board of VDMA NRW met at LEMKEN GmbH & Co. KG. The agenda included the political representation of interests and the current economic situation in the mechanical engineering sector.

The different reporting obligations in the EU member states present companies with considerable bureaucratic challenges when it comes to work assignments. How can companies deal with this?

The strategic integration of sustainability reporting obligations in companies is becoming increasingly important, as the increasing transparency requirements will affect a large proportion of SMEs in the future.

Overview of events on innovation

QM Corner stands for one topic, one hour and virtual. In the second session, the established format dealt with the topic of handling confidential documents and the role of quality management.

What's new in the area of export controls? What do you currently have to be prepared for in practice? The event addressed the most important developments.

Among other things, the event covered changes in the areas of ATLAS exports, carbon offset tax (CBAM) and customs clearance in third countries.

The VDMA salary survey provides a detailed overview of the status quo regarding the salaries of a good 160 typical positions in our industry.

Hiding and searching for colorful eggs and chocolate at Easter is great fun for young and old. But when important information is hard to find, the fun in the company stops. A good flow of information is what counts.

The stable participation of companies in updating the accounting benchmarks allows them to be evaluated and analyzed.

QM Corner stands for one topic, one hour and virtual. The established format will be continued in 2024. The first session dealt with the topic of sustainability and management systems.

Expenses for warranty and goodwill costs have also stabilised at a low level. This applies in particular to larger companies, which are disproportionately represented in the survey of these figures.

Tools are helpful if they are suitable for the task and have been tried and tested in use. Unsuitable tools or their improper use often cause damage - both at the workbench and in organizations.

Addressing price-sensitive customers and markets with tailor-made quality products. This is the subject of the new study "Frugal innovations in mechanical and plant engineering" by the IMPULS Foundation of the VDMA.

Data is the blood of the complex organism of product development. The results report "Digital Product Development" by the WZL of RWTH Aachen University and the VDMA compactly shows how the many pieces of information can be effectively linked.

The VDMA Salary Study is ready! As planned, the printed results report will be available at the end of March, so we will be sending it out to study participants in the first week of April. Non-participants can order from the store from the beginning of April.

Discover startup contacts and trends for mechanical engineering worldwide? The digital startup search platform helps you get started with startup scouting and find suitable partners.

Two days of future power in Friedrichshafen: at the invitation of Rolls-Royce Power Systems more than 50 participants met on June 06-07,2023 to exchange ideas on increasing complexity in future management.

As of July 1, 2019, air cargo may no longer be made secure via the special screening procedure "Explosive Trace Detection." Until then, this ETD procedure was approved by the German Federal Aviation Authority if it was not possible to check the cargo using X-rays.

Technical professions are still strongly male-dominated. In view of the shortage of skilled workers, many companies are asking themselves how more women can be recruited and retained for technical professions.

In the second episode of the podcast series "Nachgehakt - vergleichen, verstehen, verändern" we talk to Dr. Bastian Krieger from ZEW in Mannheim.

The calculation schema for non-wage labor costs is a model calculation for determining the imputed surcharge for direct and indirect wage-dependent costs. Here you will find the current version, as of March of the current year.

Especially when it comes to compliance and cyber security, it is important that all employees are properly informed, vigilant and adhere to defined rules.

The first episode of the new podcast series "Nachgehakt - vergleichen, verstehen, verändern" is online! In this format, we talk to experts and go into the essential points of the intercompany comparison. In the first part, we welcomed Prof. Stefan Mayr from the University of Linz.

In inter-company comparisons, particular attention must be paid to structural and formal comparability - only from this can the interpretability be derived.

A possible interpretability in the interfirm comparison results from the data on which it is based. Here, therefore, attention must once again be paid to the meaningfulness of a figure.

The new podcast on intercompany comparison is underway.In order to bridge the time until the release of the further episodes, we inform here about the objectives of all episodes.

In the second year of the pandemic, the number of participants could again be increased significantly. The quality offensive of the benchmarks is thus not yet completed but on a very good way. More and more companies in the mechanical and plant engineering sector are facing up to the issues of quality assurance and are taking up benchmarking for this purpose.

Israel is a source of innovation and a startup hotbed for the mechanical engineering industry. The VDMA Innovation Tour Israel project introduces VDMA members to the Israeli innovation ecosystem.

Here you will find supporting documents to assist you in implementing the contents described in the ZVEI-VDMA Code of Conduct (compliance and sustainability topics) in your company.

Portfolio vitality above all else, or why key performance indicators from other departments are only partially suitable for adjusting product market success.

Although the situation in supply chains has eased, prices remain an important issue. To get an overview of current developments, it is worth taking a look at the interactive report.

The planned EU reporting obligations on sustainability are out of touch with reality. Among other things, they are supposed to cover the entire value chain of companies. For this, medium-sized companies lack the in-house-expertise. Moreover, there are not enough experts available.

VDMA member companies consider different strategies to minimize decoupling risks in both markets. The full report is available for download.

Gaining inspiration and starting points for startup innovation, building networks and exchanging ideas: That was the Ecosystem Journey "Startup Innovation" 2021 in Munich.

In parts of the mechanical engineering industry, business development is seen as the savior when it comes to commercially developing and successfully marketing diversified product groups. However, due to the high personnel costs involved, areas for action need to be prioritized.

The VDMA NRW has summarized the expectations of mechanical and plant engineering companies for a future state government in six key demands.

Peter Steindl, managing partner of FAWEMA GmbH, describes himself as a great friend of Africa. He talks about the company's start in Africa and gives tips on building up business.

Which documents help the bank in making financing decisions, what should be observed in the formal procedure and which typical mistakes should be avoided at all costs? Our field report provides the answers.

Description

What is important to service customers in the most important sales countries of the mechanical engineering industry, and what is not? The Global Service study helps to identify regional preferences and to adapt services locally.

A crisis shows which companies are capable of finding answers to difficult challenges. The means of leadership to choose from are: stringent instructions from individuals or the power of self-organised teams.

The VDMA benchmarks prove that service contributes to success with a multiple of the average company revenue. Services make a significant contribution of almost 20 percent to revenue.

In the context of change, there is often talk of "picking people up" and "taking them along". But it would be important to "involve" everyone. With Lean Management, change can be even more successful.

Digitization and changing market conditions are causing recruitment channels to change. In this article you will find some highlights from theory and practice.

If, in times of crisis, expenditures to ensure the quality of products are cut across the board, there is a danger that the quality level will drop significantly and that the damage to the company will be much greater than the supposed savings.

Say nothing, see nothing, hear nothing - we are all familiar with this image of the three wise monkeys. This phenomenon can be observed among all groups of people, even in companies. Since there is usually also a hierarchical order in companies, however, additional "monkeys" can be observed here. Lean Management helps to work together effectively and efficiently in spite of this.

The VDMA East working groups provide important impulses for your daily work. They show best practice examples, provide valuable suggestions and promote contacts among members - currently also in web meetings.

The structure of the participating companies has changed significantly in some cases.

Description

Currently there is a lot of talk about "agility". But: What are agile methods helpful for? What does it actually mean to become more "agile"? And what does all this mean for the topic of "leadership" in the company.

Risk management is a large field. However, it is possible to exchange experience on this topic in a way that is clean from an antitrust point of view. In VDMA committees, members talk about systematic procedures

In every company, risk management is practiced on a daily basis: Sometimes systematically, sometimes less. Paying attention to risks is actually daily business. But it can only be comprehensively effective if it is systematic, coordinated and communicated.

All the content of the VDMA Future Business Trend Radar is available digitally on our platform. This makes them more easily accessible for research, presentation and customization, including a variety of features. Try it out now!

Periods of economic weakness often allow purchasing to reduce costs. However, structural changes must be worked out to improve the competitive situation in the long term.

Essential aspects of sustainability

Concepts and measures

Companies can be affected by climate change in different ways.

What do we mean by risks and what does a risk management system suitable for my company look like?

What is a Due Diligence process and how can I implement it in my company?

How can I correctly analyse, evaluate and prioritise the risks and impacts identified in the value chain analysis?

Which risks or impacts do I need to identify for my value chain analysis and which information sources can I use for this?

Your value chain is complex and your resources are scarce.

The supply chain diagram represents the stages of production as an ordered sequence of activities.

What is a value chain analysis?

Stakeholders should be involved in the risk assessment, especially of the company's impact on sustainability aspects (e.g. through consultation).

The central instrument for the summary determination of materiality is the materiality matrix.

The external environment and internal company analysis can be combined in a so-called SWOT analysis.

With the help of the environment analysis, the external opportunities and risks in particular are determined.

With the help of the company analysis, the internal factors - in particular the strengths and weaknesses of the company - are first determined.

Most companies still find it comparatively easy to identify the relevant aspects of sustainability that can influence the course of business, the result or the situation of the company.

The DNK is based on the fundamental understanding of sustainability and the most important indicators of other frameworks (especially the GRI).

Beside basics of Lean Management and it's rarely told secrets the “Lean Management Compass” illustrates how also SMEs are able to continuously improve: by qualified and motivated people and their bright ideas.

Guiding principle 6: Our employees are our most valuable asset. We promote commitment and opportunities for participation

Principle 5: We act in a resource-efficient manner and are committed to climate protection

12 We communicate our sustainable actions transparently.

9 We assume social responsibility in our regions.

8 Our company is a living space

Principle 7: We are committed to respecting human rights

Principle 4: Sustainable thinking and action is reflected in our processes and products

Guiding principle 3: Our technology and solutions promote sustainable development worldwide.

2nd guiding principle: With sustainable business models we create stable values and ensure entrepreneurial success

Sustainability is an essential component of our corporate strategy

Developing a sustainability strategy means finding the best way from the "as-is" situation to the realization of your company's strategic goals. It thus serves to determine the long-term behaviour of your company and relevant sub-areas in relation to their corporate environment in order to achieve the long-term goals.

Do you actually know all the services of our association that are important to you? Whether online, in writing or in person: Our range of services is as diverse as our industry - here you will find an overview.

Reliable information, individual advice, practical exchange and an intensive dialog with politicians: Oliver Köhn on the advantages of VDMA membership and controversial topics.

Companies tie up too much capital in working capital - money they need for growth and investment.

With the VDMA Startup Radar, we now support members even better in screening global startup trends and in tracking down suitable cooperation partners from the international startup scene

Startups are also playing an increasingly important role in mechanical and plant engineering. Many companies are looking for partnerships to jointly conquer new fields of technology. The VDMA's new Startup Radar helps navigate the global startup scene - and lists more than 3,000 startups with relevance for mechanical engineering.

Learning from concentrated startup expertise and meeting the best science startups: that was the motto of the first Startup Summit organized by the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and the VDMA in Berlin in May 2019. More than 170 decision-makers from the mechanical engineering sector and startups from the Fraunhofer network came together to network and initiate co-innovation.

Medium-sized industrial companies are increasingly seeking access to start-ups in order to jointly accelerate digital change and develop future technologies - from robot programming for everyone to navigation solutions for entire fleets of driverless transport systems.

Companies in the mechanical and plant engineering sector see startups as strategically important partners for the future of their industry. A VDMA member survey shows that almost three quarters of companies are planning to collaborate with startups in the next three years. Small and medium-sized companies are also on the move in the startup world.

Do you want to know how good your quality management is compared to the best in the industry? Then use the results of the "Fit for Quality" evaluation of the VDMA-Benchmarks Quality Management! In this approach we have identified 22 success factors that have a direct impact on the effectiveness of your quality management.

A good 71 percent of the companies see digitization as one of the central strategic priorities, but only 27 percent of the companies are satisfied with the current status of digitization activities - almost 25 percent even see considerable need for improvement.

Merging Industrie 4.0 and Lean Management offers great potential for successfully developing companies. The VDMA Guideline is intended to support companies.

Key figures have become a standard tool that has become an integral part of today's corporate management. Every company has its own key figures, looks for comparative figures or takes part in benchmarking studies.

China, India, Japan, USA, Brazil or Singapore: Our VDMA liaison offices abroad help you with your commitment in the most important foreign markets.

Startups are a fountain of youth for mechanical engineering: With VDMA Startup-Machine, we offer a platform that brings the two together and supports them in their collaboration. So you can benefit from it.

VDMA Startup-Machine - who is behind it? Over 30 VDMA divisions support us with their specialist expertise in the "Startup-Machine" task force. Here we present our network of experts.

Do you want to find out how to make your service even more successful? Then use the results of the “Fit for Service” analysis of the VDMA benchmarks for customer service! Together with the consultants of goetzpartners, we have identified success factors that influence service sales and/or yield. We are currently preparing a documentation and an online tool.

The VDMA information sheet "Service specialist as a qualified person for compressed air systems" produced by the Service Management working group can be downloaded here in both short and long versions.