Components: excellence for EIMA and the Italian industry

The components salon staged within the agricultural mechanization exposition is a great international attraction and a resounding success for FederUnacoma and Comacomp, the association in the federation of the manufacturing industries which represents the sector. The types of products, Made in Italy quality and the leading areas for exports as explained by Comacomp President Alessandro Malavolti.

 

President Malavolti, the components industry looks to be a compartment of special interest as regards the merchandise types and commercial dynamics. How is it organized and what are its characteristics?

 

Taken together, the components industry is extremely broad and diversified, made up of an extremely large family of products, from oleodynamic components to mechanical transmissions, from electronics to sprayers, from tires to irrigation, from gears to components for cabs. The technologies involved in our compartment are strongly variegated but they share technological and commercial leadership in Italy and at the world level.

 

Data on the trend of the sector indicate a recovery also on the domestic market in the first part of the year. What evidence do we have now and what forecasts can be made for the end of the year?

 

The year will close positively for the compartment though in the second part of the year we have seen a slowdown in orders, especially in the tractor sector. The outlook for 2015  is for the numbers in slight decline compared to 2014, especially due to conditions of uncertainty in Europe, and recovery in the second part of the year.

 

In a market like the one in Italy, where sales of machinery and equipment have been dropping for seven years, what is seen is the steady aging of the machinery inventory and a consolidation of the second-hand market. Does this mean growth in the demand for spare parts and accessories?

 

The after market in Italy experienced growth in 2014 even though in the general economy of the compartment the major share of components are for the original equipment market. For this reason, the Italian market this year was not brilliant.

 

Italy can claim a remarkable tradition for the production of quality components and mechanical parts. But the industry in the sector has to come to grips with competition coming from the emerging countries which are increasing active in this compartment. Is there a quality segmentation for the market or do the products tend to converge towards types and standards which are more and more the same?

 

Year after year the segmentation of the market is becoming more significant and is polarizing towards two extremes. On one side there is high quality and on the other low price. By now the intermediate band is disappearing. The Italian industry has grown a lot because it has aimed for quality and especially for product innovation.

 

Many of the technological innovations are introduced on agricultural machinery linked to the components compartment. How much weight does research in the components sector carry? How is this organized and financed?

 

Research carries a very important weight. In general, R&D spending ranges from 3% to 8% of sales for each single company. Every company has independent R&D though there is ever more frequent collaboration with university research centers. A number of networks among enterprises have been developed in recent years, see Ide-Agri in Reggio Emilia, even for carrying out research together among competing companies. For financing, company resources are used and the few European offerings available.

 

The EIMA Components Salon has reported a steady increase in the number of exhibitors for all the recent editions and today reached the record of 800 industries taking part. What is the reason for such a great success?

 

The creation of this salon within a salon by EIMA a few years ago made our trade fair an immensely more important event at the world level for those looking for components. Specialization paid off. Almost all the European trade fairs, see Paris and Hanover, have tried to copy this model but with alternate luck. In any case, the Italian producers are world leaders at the level of components for agricultural machinery.

 

In the agricultural machinery and equipment industry there are major multinational groups and small and medium size enterprises which often manufacture specialized products for niche markets. Is this also the case for the components sector? What is the impact of the scale of the company on the competitiveness of enterprises in the sector?

 

Yes, there are big companies in components, often bigger than our most beat up customers, and niche companies of small and medium size. Size is important especially for servicing global customers but specialization is still the most important component.

 

It’s known that electronics is reporting remarkable process in recent years, being confirmed as a leading compartment within the components picture. What are the other compartments showing innovation capabilities for the development of their products?

Other than electronics we have seen oleodynamics and spraying coming to the fore.

 

EIMA International draws business people from all parts of the world to Bologna and gives manufacturers the possibility of monitoring the market geography. What are the most dynamic markets at this time and those of greatest interest for the Italian industry?

 

The most interesting markets for components are now in the Far East, China, India, Japan and South Korea. Unfortunately, South America has experienced a slowdown in the Brazilian and Argentine economies in recent months whereas Eastern Europe is linked to the geopolitical situation.