Mechanical and plant engineeringVDMA expects significantly higher production for 2018
At the VDMA's economic press conference, association president Carl Martin Welcker announced an increase in the production forecast to 5%. This increase is based, among other things, on good demand prospects in the German mechanical and plant engineering sector.
© ifo Institut / VDMA
The machines in Germany are better utilized: In January 2018, capacity utilization was 87.9% - "This is the highest level of capacity utilization since April 2012," says Welcker at the Hannover Messe 2018. Whereas in the past, companies predominantly complained about a lack of orders as an obstacle to production, in 2017 one in four companies reported bottlenecks due to a shortage of labour.