Column number 75 – 2020
After two months of lock-down, European economy and industry are rebooting, trying to understand which will be the best way to normality. Not so easy, since also before the pandemic they were running at two speed, increasing differences among countries: northern economies were as always running fast, southern ones were steady, at risk of stagnation in Italy, better in Spain and Greece.
The pandemic obtained the result of stopping them all, leveling to bottom: in ma- machine tools sector, Cecimo, the European Association of producers, esteems a 25% decrease year-to-year. The forecast of a 20% rebound is only a part a good news for all European economies, if not even at a larger scale, for world economies.
The rebound is certainly, as correctly underlined by Cecimo, a proof of strength and capability of the sector to adapt itself to the new boundary conditions due to plants’ re-organization, new rules in supplying assistance and technological advi- sory, new obstacles in transportations and customs; in brief, facing a world where, after the pandemic, circulation of goods and people will be more dif cult, many companies will need to re-think their operative mode and to nd out the way for supply their customers despite the difficulties. This is particularly evident in after sale services and machine tools assistance, where the possibility to act by remote is still limited and restricted to newer machineries already developed on Industry 4.0 standard.
This to say that rebound maybe more difficult than prevented and can involve unexpected sectors: industry, and above all machine tools producers, need imme- diate measures, if possible at a supranational level, to defend European economy, that is different from defending single states’ economies.
European Union seems to have failed the challenge to face the pandemic as one: the topic of solidarity between states and subsidies to enterprises, workers and families seems to be the rock against which the fragile European boat will drown. The efficiency and effectiveness in developing an environment that will sustain all economies in their effort to reprise will be the great possibility to demonstrate that European dream is still actual and achievable.