Connecting in-depth know-how with diverse perspectives

No production environment in the manufacturing industry can be envisaged without machine tools. In many areas, the European machine tool industry are market and technology leaders. CECIMO is the umbrella organisation of this industry – and will join the EIT Manufacturing community as a network partner.

Based in Brussels, CECIMO as the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries and related Manufacturing Technologies connects 15 member organisations, including the national industry associations from Germany (VDW), Italy (UCIMU), Spain (AFM) and France (Symop). Of the 1500 industrial enterprises, around 80% are small and medium-sized companies, with a wealth of know-how and experience in their fields.

“Working with CECIMO is a great opportunity. The EIT Manufacturing community will benefit from the deep insights CECIMO has into the machine tool industry,” says Dr Christian Bölling, Director EIT Manufacturing Central. “CECIMO knows which challenges their members face – challenges also our partners need to tackle. I see great potential in working together, especially since our community brings diverse perspectives to the table, which CECIMO members can benefit from.”

“It is clear that the manufacturing sector has great potential to boost the EU economy and its competitiveness and enable a transition towards green and digital transformation,” says the Director of CECIMO, Filip Geerts.

“Hence, being a part of EIT Manufacturing, which integrates the three fundamental aspects namely innovation, education, and business creation, gives an opportunity to highly qualified European manufacturers to collaborate and share ideas in order to find the best possible solutions to improve their innovation capacities to the benefit of the industry and economy as a whole,” he concludes.

Another important topic is education and training. As digitalisation advances across all industries, and sustainability becomes an increasingly important topic, many employees in the machine tool industry need training in these fields – something EIT Manufacturing can offer.

“We have already discussed joint initiatives and I’m looking forward to our collaboration,” continues Bölling. “One touchpoint in 2023 will be EMO in Hannover, the trade show to be when it comes to production technology.” EMO is organised by the German Verein Deutscher Werkzeugmaschinenfabriken e.V., known as VDW, under the umbrella of CECIMO, and will take place from 18 to 23 September 2023. “Among other things, we plan to present innovative solutions related to the European data infrastructure Gaia-X, which is absolutely crucial for the machine tool industry with regard to data-driven business models.”