VDW organising first US symposia
The VDW is holding its first two technology symposia in the USA at the beginning of December 2018: in Detroit, Michigan, on December 4 and in Charlotte, North Carolina on December 6. Both regions are home to large numbers of machine tool users. This makes them of great interest to VDW members. The theme is “Innovations in Production Technology – Machine Tools from Germany”, and 22 renowned VDW member companies will be presenting their products and services to a selected audience of trade visitors.
The current economic situation and the general conditions for the planned technology symposia are both highly favourable. The USA remains the second most important market for the German machine tool industry. The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is peaking, with consumer confidence at record highs. With 2.9 per cent real growth in the US gross domestic product, the current year could well see the best result since 2015. The five strongest customer industries for machine tools are looking to invest significantly more than in the previous year. These are electrical engineering/electronics, the automotive industry, precision engineering/measuring and medical technology, mechanical engineering and the aircraft industry.
Machine tool consumption, the key parameter for growth, is expected to expand strongly in 2018, by up to 13 per cent (dollar basis). German manufacturer sales to the US rose by 18 per cent in 2017, after already posting 11 per cent growth in the previous year. Exports in the first half of 2018 were up 8 per cent. Orders received rose a full 20 per cent in the same period.
22 members have registered for the symposia in Detroit and Charlotte: Alzmetall, Chiron-Werke, Emag Gruppe, Emco Magdeburg, FFG Europe & Americas, Gleason-Pfauter, Heinrich Georg, Heller, Hermle, Index Werke, Kapp Niles, Niles-Simmons-Hegenscheidt, Open Mind, Peiseler, Profilator, Profiroll Technologies, Samag, Schütte, SW Schwäbische Werkzeugmaschinen, Siemens, Weisser, Zimmer & Kreim.
They will give 20-minute presentations on their products and services to a selected group of trade visitors at both locations. The symposia are aimed at the customer industries in the respective regions. These include the automotive and supplier, mechanical engineering, aviation, medical technology and mould & die industries.
B2B meetings are scheduled in parallel to the presentations, with the aim of bringing German suppliers and US customers even closer together. The VDW is also inviting guests to an evening reception on the evening of the event. This will provide a platform for further discussions between German suppliers and their guests from the USA.
The symposia take place in cooperation with the German-American Chambers of Commerce in Chicago and Atlanta. Interested users can register free of charge for participation on the websites of the Chambers of Commerce: Symposium Detroit (04 December 2018), Symposium Atlanta (06 December 2018). You can find out more about the background to the technology symposia on the VDW website.
Author: Klaus-Peter Kuhnmünch