A week before the SPS in Nuremberg, two bangs in one day: Trump elected with a clear majority, the German coalition of the “traffic lights” at the end. And what plays a big role in the debates is how the German economy and especially industry is doing. I would like to make an interjection from the side with a few facts that are usually not seen.
The economy in Germany is experiencing a crisis, not a decline. Germany’s industrial location is still so strong – compared to other industry nations – that Germany is the third strongest economic nation. Despite all the prophecies of doom, de-industrialization is not taking place – with a few exceptions.
The fact that the industry is weakening is not due to a lack of subsidies or funding. Many companies have long been lacking the courage to make real innovations and invest in the future without expecting an immediate return on investment. This applies to the automotive industry as well as to aircraft construction, to the steel industry as well as to the pharmaceutical and chemical sectors.
12 providers have been gathered in the “Smart Automation” market overview since early summer. Their innovation: 13 open, Linux-based platforms for flexibility, speed and smooth collaboration. Except for Contact, everyone is at SPS 2024.
That is why the reversal of the trend in the economy does not depend on the timing of new elections and a “better” coalition, but on the speed and courage with which companies and their employees dare to try new things. From electromobility to the energy transition and the CO2 footprint to digitalization.
A central area of industry shows that they are able to do this, but this has not yet been noticed: the automation of industry, especially the production of highly individual, sustainable and useful products, is reinventing itself.
In this area, a number of old and new providers have entered the market with open, Linux-based platforms in the last decade. Instead of using standard software, they have developed their own software that runs on open standards and architectures and promotes collaboration across company, departmental and national boundaries. The result is ecosystems and industrial apps of all kinds that cooperate with each other. Suddenly the Internet, cloud and AI have arrived in the production and assembly halls.
Some experts still believe that the solution comes from IT and the large, monolithic systems for MES, ERP and PLM. The industry still hasn’t understood all of this and used it properly. You are fooling yourself. The time for predetermined solutions is over. The industry is now taking digitalization into its own hands.
No other industrial nation can boast anything like these platforms, not even the USA or China. It is now paying off that the German industry has always valued know-how in terms of product development and, above all, in terms of production as its core competence. Now customers across industry and the wider economy will understand what software their leaders have to offer now. That and not a tax cut or subsidies will lead to economic recovery.