The German machinery industry is divided into three groups - new in the Quest Trend Magazine

Quest TechnoMarketing investigated the industry structure of the German machinery industry and published the result in the Quest Trend Magazine. In particular for the manufacturers of automation technology it may be useful to adjust the products for the machinery industry and the market processing of the machinery industry with its industry structure.

The analysis exclusively used data from the Federal Statistical Office, in its actual version concerning the year 2012. This data is based on legal obligations to report being more complete therefore than statistics of associations.

At first regarding the sizes of the firms a clear partitioning into three groups shows up:

• Two thirds of all firms of the machinery industry (64%) have less than 100 employees.

• 30% of all firms have 100 up to less than 500 employees.

• And only 6% of the firms employ 500 and more employees.

So the smaller firms with less than 100 employees shape the firm landscape in the German mechanical engineering industry.

The survey considers additionally the turnover in these three sizes of firms.

As a result the picture turns around directly.

• The smaller firms constituting two thirds of all firms show only a share of 13% at the total sales of the machinery industry.

• The 30% medium sized firms reach a share of 36% at the total sales of the machinery industry.

• The 6% large and very large firms cover 51% of the machinery industry.

So the medium-size character of the machinery industry is only related to the group of the 30% medium sized companies, whose proportions of companies and turnover are relatively close together. This proximity of the two sizes signals a certain balance among the competition forces within the machinery industry and the relations of these medium sized companies to their customers and suppliers.

The smaller companies, however, are in a strongly dependent position in the competition with the two other groups of the machinery industry and opposite their customers and suppliers. The average turnover of these smaller companies is 80% below the average turnover per company in the machinery industry.

There is the 6% of the large companies, which determine the machinery industry and often take a key position opposite their customers and suppliers.

The link to the published survey in the Quest Trend Magazine is http://www.quest-trendmagazine.com/....