Future challenges in machinery construction and plant engineering for the concrete industry

Suppliers for machinery construction and plant engineering for the concrete industry essentially are facing the same challenges as other companies in this sector. Here, the following criteria industry must be met:

Reduction of operating costs

Increased efficiency

Increased flexibility

Sustainable production (energy efficiency)

Simple and safe machinery/plants

Qualified personnel

Solutions must be offered that enable the customer to meet these requirements. For this, various instruments are available already today, which, in future, will lead to further potentials. One of this topics is digitization in construction. Political uncertainties, protectionist tendencies, partly serious economic crises in individual countries are here the principal risks. Coupled with this are legal factors and issues like visa freedom, environmental legislation and questions of financing – all challenges that the German machinery construction industry must meet. The as a rule volatile business with an extremely fluctuating order situation in machinery construction and plant engineering will in future become even more difficult to plan and control and will lead to yet another important parameter: specialized personnel are difficult to find and, when a good team has been found and formed, their capacities wants and must be made use of appropriate orders.

However, finding the specialist personnel is not only a topic in machinery construction. These challenges are increasing worldwide, also on the part of our customers, the manufacturers of concrete products. The subject of automation must therefore be taken up in future developments. And, last but not least, a look at the supply situation. If the immediate topics are bought-in components and assembly groups and the associated delivery times, among others, which, already now have a strong influence on the scope of action, it can be assumed that the changing requirements will have an effect on the customers of machinery construction and plant engineering. Questions like the scarcity of suitable raw materials, like, sand, or the raw materials supply sector, for example on the chemical additions, will influence the required machinery and process and processes as well as the development of machines and plants.