VDMA: “Seeing Machines” on a growth course

• 2017: German machine vision industry posts 17 percent growth
• New multimedia report showing the world of vision

In 2018, the German machine vision industry achieved record sales of 2.6 billion euros – a rise of 17 percent compared to the previous year. Sales in the industry have more than doubled in ten years. Why machine vision is so important and successful is illustrated by the new multimedia report on “Seeing Machines”, which the VDMA has now published on its website humans-machines-progress.com.

On the occasion of 125 years of VDMA, the VDMA launched the project “Humans Machines Progress” in 2017. Online multimedia reports focus on major challenges for humankind such as the supply of good air, pure water, important raw materials or are dedicated to health and the future of work highlighting how essential the mechanical engineering industry is for solving these challenges.

In the VISION year 2018, a new multimedia report on “Seeing Machines” is added to provide an in-depth insight into the exciting world of this forward-looking technology. The report starts with showing parallels and differences between machine and human vision, and a glimpse on the history and development of machine vision. Numerous examples from the VDMA membership show how image processing is already opening up innovative possibilities for all of us in all aspects of life and how “seeing machines” will continue to improve our lives in the future.

Vision remains on a growth course

“Machine vision as a driver of Industry 4.0 has become an indispensable part of the modern factory. Machine Vision technology has already conquered our everyday lives. Whether traffic management systems, autonomous driving, waste separation and recycling or health care – machine vision makes it possible. Embedded Vision in combination with Deep Learning sets further growth stimuli.”, said Dr. Olaf Munkelt, CEO MVTec Software GmbH and Chair of the Board of the VDMA sector group Machine Vision.

According to VDMA forecasts, turnover growth in machine vision will continue this year by 7 percent to 2.8 billion euros. In 2017, the industry posted year-on-year sales growth of 8 percent in the German home market alone. Exports – a growth driver for years – grew by 23 percent. The two most important export countries remained China and North America, which together account for 26 percent of the total turnover of the German machine vision industry. Growth in the People’s Republic reached an impressive 56 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year. North America also showed strong growth with a plus of 21 percent. Nevertheless, in 2017 the sales volume in China exceeded that in North America for the first time.

VISION – leading international trade fair benefiting from the success of machine vision

VISION has been expanding continuously for years and will also again break the records from 2016 this year. More than 460 exbitors will participate in the show from 6 – 8 November 2018 in Stuttgart (in 2016: 240). Around 25 percent of exhibitors will take part in VISION 2018 for the first time, an expression of the dynamic development of the machine vision industry. The trend towards internationalisation is continuing: In 2018, over 60 percent of exhibitors come from abroad (in 2016: 57 percent).