German MV industry sales grew 17% in 2017 to €2.6 bn

11 Sep 2018

VDMA Machine Vision Group reports record numbers for sector and booming, bi-annual VISION show.

The German machine vision industry achieved a record turnover of €2.6 billion ($3.0 billion) in 2017, representing an increase of 17 per cent compared with business in 2016. Turnover in the industry has doubled within the past ten years, according to the market report just published by the VDMA Machine Vision, sector group of the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association.

According to VDMA Machine Vision, the reason for the boom is that machine vision technology made in Germany is not only being increasingly used in automation systems in traditional industry sectors worldwide, but it is also reaching new industries. The industry-driven platform expects growth to continue in 2018 with a 7 per cent increase in turnover to €2.8 billion.

This market surge is also recognized by Messe Stuttgart as the organiser of VISION, taking place between 6-8 November. This year VISION is expected to break the exhibition records set in 2016: for example, the amount of rented exhibition space in 2016 rose for the first time to more than 11,000 m² and will increase again in 2018 to over 12,000 m².

For the first time, the gallery in the expo’s “L-Bank Forum”, in Stuttgart’s Hall 1, will therefore also contain exhibition stands. The number of exhibitors, set to exceed 460, will also beat the record of 440 companies from 2016. Moreover, around 25 per cent of exhibitors will be new to VISION.

International exhibitors up

In 2016, 57 per cent of VISION exhibitors came from outside of Germany while the proportion this year will exceed 60 per cent. This picture corresponds with the latest industry figures from the VDMA: whereas the turnover of the machine vision industry on the German market grew by 8 per cent in 2017, exports rose by 23 per cent. Germany’s two most important export targets are still China and North America which, together, make up 26 per cent of the German MV industry’s total turnover.

"As a driving force for Industry 4.0, machine vision is now indispensable in modern factories, having long been part of our everyday life," said Dr. Olaf Munkelt, co-founder of MVTec Software and chairman of the board of directors of the machine vision group of the VDMA.

"Whether in traffic management systems, autonomous driving, rubbish separation, recycling or health care, machine vision makes all these applications possible. Embedded vision in combination with deep learning is stimulating additional growth."

This view shared by Florian Niethammer, VISION’s Project Manager: “The trending topics in the industry will also be some of the focal points of VISION 2018. In Stuttgart, industry experts and trade visitors alike will have the opportunity to be inspired by practical examples and discuss their needs.“