Alfredo Mariotti, General Manager UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE & BIMU/SFORTEC INDUSTRY
Since the preparation for the most awaited exhibition Bi-Mu is on full swing, tell us more about this edition of the show (number of participants, country participating, area covered, etc)?
Third in the international exporters ranking and fourth in the manufacturers ranking, Italy can boast BI-MU as one of the historical and most qualified international events dedicated to the Italian industry of machine tools, robots, production systems and auxiliary technologies. Promoted by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, the association of Italian manufacturers of machine tools, robots and automation systems, BI-MU is organised by EFIM-ENTE FIERE ITALIANE MACCHINE.
After the extraordinary success of EMO MILANO 2015, Italy returns to the spotlight, in the schedule of the worldwide sector operators, with 30.BI-MU. On scene in October 2016 at fieramilano, the biennial machine tool exhibition is ready to reap the benefits of the upswing of the Italian and international markets, which, since the end of 2013, are experiencing a steady growth with regard to production and demand.
The applications to exhibit at 30.BI-MU have increased by 30% compared with the trend of applications in the same period of the past edition. This really considerable growth follows the positive trend of Italian consumption of machine tools, which reached 3,595 million euro (corresponding to a 31.3% rise versus the previous year).
What are the new things visitors/exhibitors will observe during this edition of Bi-Mu?
A novelty of the 2016 edition of 30.BI-MU is the special area called “FLUID POWER”, dedicated to oil-hydraulic and pneumatic systems.
The only exhibition area officially promoted by ASSOFLUID, the Italian Association of Manufacturing and Trading Companies in Fluid Power Equipment and Components, “POTENZA FLUIDA/FLUID POWER” will show the best of the sector, which is, by its nature, complementary to the machine tool industry and also shares its technological evolution and its user sectors.
Exactly the possibility of sharing common customers between the machine tool sector and the oil-hydraulic and pneumatic ones makes BI-MU an unmissable event for the enterprises that will exhibit in the” POTENZA FLUIDA/FLUID POWER” area. At their disposal there will be the wide and heterogeneous public, which usually visits the biennial exhibition, representing the whole manufacturing world, but there will also be machine tool manufacturers, who are among the main users of power systems, capable of improving efficiency, profitability and eco-sustainability in the achieved solutions.
Also created in response to the interest shown by a part of the public involved in BI-MU, the “POTENZA FLUIDA/FLUID POWER” area will be completed with workshops, conferences and events of “technological matching”.
In order to meet the needs of a rapidly evolving market, from this year on BI-MU will take place together with SFORTEC INDUSTRY, the new interpretation of SFORTEC, which dissolves its exclusive connection with the machine tool sector by expanding its technological repertoire to the whole manufacturing industry, gaining the title of “INDUSTRY”. Besides its new product range, the exhibition proposes itself in an unprecedented format: 3 exhibition days, from Thursday to Saturday, and a new, entirely and specially dedicated hall.
In this way, the organizers of the biennial machine tool exhibition intend to offer the widest range of products to the public visiting the trade show, who will be able to choose between two parallel visit routes: the “Make” of BI-MU, for those who design and build, and the “Buy” of SFORTEC INDUSTRY, for those who buy services, outsourcing a part of their business.
How many countries are participating and what would be the number of country pavilions in the show?
In 2014, the last edition of BI-MU/SFORTEC, the biennial machine tool, robotics and automation exhibition, had proposed the product ranges offered by 1,060 exhibiting companies, of which 47% from abroad, coming from Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, South Korea, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Great Britain, India, Israel, Holland, Poland, Portugal, Principality of Monaco, Czech Republic, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, USA.
29.BIMU had covered a total area of 90,000 square metres and had registered 61,926 visits. 4% of the visits were by foreign operators, representing 75 countries.
I think that this year, also following the positive wave of EMO MILANO 2015 and thanks to the new economic-political leading position regained by Milan with EXPO 2015, 30.BI-MU will be able to achieve much higher figures than those mentioned above.
How many participants are there from India and what’s the plan to attract more Indian visitors?
The data regarding the applications are not available yet, but we know that for several years India has been among the represented countries, with regard to exhibitors as well as to visitors.
In order to attract foreign visitors to BI-MU, according to tradition, the organizers of the exhibition are planning a well-structured activity aimed at welcoming the foreign delegations. Qualified delegations of foreign users coming from the countries that show the highest growth and development rates will be invited to visit the exhibition. Organized in co-operation with ITA-Italian Trade Agency, the initiative aims at expanding the spectrum of operators visiting BI-MU, also including end users from emerging countries, besides the users who usually participate in the event. The presence of qualified buyers meets the need to support exhibitors in the activity they are already carrying out autonomously, thus increasing the number of contacts they may activate in the five exhibition days.
How can this event help Indian companies enhance their business in European market and vice versa?
India is the eleventh destination market of the Italian exports in the sector; in particular, according to the last survey referred to the period January-December 2015, the Indian country bought machine tools from Italy for an amount of 79 million euro. The Indian market is particularly interesting for the Italian enterprises of the sector. Today India is considered as one of the leading manufacturing industries worldwide, but nevertheless it still has unexpressed large potentials which can and must be developed, also in cooperation with Italy. The Indian machine tool production has adequate standards for many types of machining, especially for machines having medium-level technology. We, the Italians, can and must propose ourselves more and more to work in the Indian market and foster its development and growth. Between India and Italy there is a continuous collaboration aimed at improving the mutual market advantages and at establishing a sharing of intents with a long-term view.
What’s the role of Bi-Mu in the Italian Machine tool industry? Over the period how has it helped the Italian companies in business?
BI-MU has been the privileged stage for sixty years to understand the future developments of the sector. At every edition it is reinvented, always showing a state-of-the art overview of products, defined by entering the new areas of the Italian industry of the sector and the relevant fields of application, with the purpose of interpreting the needs and the opportunities connected with the last industrial innovations.
Talking about Italian and European machine tool industry. What are the current trends in the Italian machine tool industry?
Well, the sector of production systems is continuously evolving, since it is, by its nature, an innovative sector. Much is discussed about “collaborative robots”; for many years the association has been studying how additive technologies affect the manufacturing industry. Consistent with this view and encouraged by UCIMU, in 2014 AITA-Italian Association of Additive Technologies was established with scientific, cultural and knowledge-sharing intent.
Another very important issue is that of the “smart factory”, as we have been calling it in Italy for many years, which is practically “Industry 4.0” to say it with a more popular and modern term. “Industry 4.0” is intended as the application of the “Industry of the Things” (IoT) to industrial production. In practice, it implies applying to the industry all that is made possible through the Internet, i.e. the possibility of connecting parts of the physical world with the net. The Internet changed the way of living and of interacting because it enables to eliminate distances almost completely. The spread of ICT in daily life is evident, as well as the effects brought about by the common use of smartphones that allow us to remain always connected and reachable. Today, and not only from today, this principle can be applied to the factory, which, in the Industry 4.0 concept, becomes a system of parts, areas, processes interconnected with one another and of automated systems that can partially replace human labour.
Can you please provide us some data about the Italian machine tool industry like production, consumption, import, export, etc
The Italian machine tool, automation and robotics sector is in third place in the international ranking for exports and in fourth place for production. In 2015, the Italian production exceeded 5.4 billion euro (+12.2%), of which 64% was sold abroad. Imports reached 1.7 million euro, growing by 44.5% and thus proving that Italy is again a receptive country.
Which country imports most from Italy? And tell us more about the machine tool trade between India and Italy?
With 389 million euro of machines sold, the USA is the first destination market for Italian production. For this reason, UCIMU organized the convention “Impact. Innovate. Integrate” in Chicago. Organized in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development, ICE-Italian Trade Agency and Confidustria, the conference saw the participation of Italian manufacturers who presented development trends, specific solutions and challenges for the near future, implemented by the Italian industry for the US market.
The presentation, which was attended, among others, by the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, the Italian Vice-Minister of Economic Development, Ivan Scalfarotto, and the President of UCIMU, Luigi Galdabini, hosted over 200 guests representing institutions, media and users of the main sectors, from the automotive to the aerospace industry, from the energy to the oil & gas fields.
The second destination market for the “Made in Italy” production of the sector is Germany (372 million euro) followed by China (339) and France (181).
53% of Italian sales to India concern metal-cutting machines: grinding machines account for 13%, lathes for 9.2%, TNC machines for 6.6%. With regard to metal-forming technologies (covering 47% of the total amount exported by Italy to India), the most important machines are: hammers and forging machines (10.7% of the total export), traditional cutting machines (12.1%), folding and bending machines (7.6%).
What are the initiatives taken by UCIMU and IMTMA to improve the business cooperation between these two countries?
The cooperation between the two associations has always been very efficient and well-organized and it could not be otherwise, considering that Italy is for India the second European supplier country of machine tools and the fifth worldwide. At the same time, for several years India has been among the “top 20” supplier countries of production systems to Italy and it represents an industry with very wide prospects.
The bilateral initiatives organized by UCIMU and IMTMA, aimed at fostering the trade exchange between the two countries, include collective groups and institutional exhibition stands, – which UCIMU organizes within the Indian IMTEX TOOL and IMTEX FORMING trade shows and which IMTMA organizes within the Italian BI-MU, LAMIERA and EMO MILANO exhibitions, – as well as planned missions of delegations and scheduled B2B meetings among manufacturers and users of the two countries.
In the previous years Italy and overall Europe faced some economic downturn. How is the situation now?
The recession, which has hit Europe from 2009 on, has caused a freeze of investments in Italy for several years, including those in machine tools. However, today the general economic situation has improved, both in Italy and abroad.
This first observation, which is obviously a relief for those who operate in this sector, is followed by another, even more important point: in the last year and a half, it was the Italian market that showed more willingness and inclination to invest in machine tools.
Supported by the decrease of money price practised by the ECB and by several provisions of industrial policy implemented by the Italian Government authorities who have been giving new energy to the demand for production systems, the consumption of machine tools is growing again in Italy and even more remarkably than in the rest of Europe.
How do you see the Indian market? What can be done to improve the trade between India and Italy?
The Indian machine tool production has adequate standards for many types of machining, especially for machines having medium-level technology. We, the Italians, can and must propose ourselves more and more to work in the Indian market and encourage its development and growth. Between India and Italy there is a continuous collaboration aimed at improving the mutual market advantages and at establishing a sharing of intents with a long-term view. As the Italian machine tool Manufacturers’ Association, we are present, along with ASSOCOMAPLAST, in the Indian territory, carrying out important initiatives, such as that of the “Italian Technology Center”. The promotion centre for the “Made in Italy” of the sector, with offices in Pune, promotes ITC brand and the brands of eleven Italian enterprises. These companies are manufacturers of capital goods and cooperate to develop new relationships with the Indian institutions and the culture and industry worlds: this is really necessary to support the internationalization of Italian enterprises in the area. Besides the Technology Centre, another project by UCIMU is PIATTAFORMA INDIA, a real hub, capable of providing assistance and advice to the companies interested in working in the area. The aim of the initiative is to support the companies in their internationalization activity. For this purpose, “Piattaforma India” can rely on the collaboration of an Indian officer, acting as a facilitator directly on site.
