Even before the coronavirus pandemic, there were already signs of a slowdown in the laser industry. According to data from the VDMA's Working Group for Lasers and Laser Systems for Material Processing, both production and incoming orders fell by around 18% in 2019. However, even in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, there are opportunities, as the example of Industry 4.0 applications shows. "Due to the travel restrictions, digital solutions for remote services, predictive maintenance or connections to MES production control systems, for example, are becoming increasingly important in industry," explains Dr. Christian Schmitz, Group Managing Director of TRUMPF GmbH & Co.KG in Ditzingen and Chairman of the Board of AG Laser in the VDMA. "The German laser industry's work on interface standards based on OPC UA forms an important basis for this."
Decline in production and incoming orders
The production of laser systems withCO2, solid-state and diode lasers in Germany fell by almost 18% in 2019 compared to the previous year. The volume fell from 1.06 billion euros to 870 million euros. Orders recorded a significant drop of 19%. The volume for 2019 was EUR 1.05 billion. Domestic orders in particular fell by a third. Although orders from abroad remained comparatively stable with a drop of a good 16% to around EUR 900 million, the weak global economy, structural change in the automotive industry and politically motivated upheavals have left their mark. Uncertainties about the shape of Brexit, the ongoing trade dispute between China and the USA, China's actions in Hong Kong and the election campaign in the USA are just a few of the many developments that kept the global economy on tenterhooks in times before coronavirus. "Despite the major uncertainties, the order situation has stabilized in recent months and there are signs of recovery in some regions," explains Dr. Schmitz. "However, the coronavirus crisis will continue to keep us busy: The effects of the first wave, e.g. impending recession, payment defaults, economic difficulties of some customers, etc., are not yet fully visible. In addition, further shutdowns could set the economy back again."
Europe remains the largest market for laser systems
Exports by German manufacturers of laser systems were down significantly in 2019. While laser systems worth 950 million euros were exported in 2018, the value fell by 18% to 782 million euros. With a share of just under 61%, Europe remains the largest market, followed by China with 14%. Japan, the USA and others account for the remaining quarter of exports.
Plug & Play solutions for Industry 4.0: vocabulary needed for global language
Alexander ArndtIn terms of content,the German laser industry is working intensively on solutions for the introduction of Industry 4.0. Its success depends, among other things, crucially on manufacturer-independent data exchange in production. For this reason, companies are currently working hard to develop an interface standard based on OPC UA with the aim of achieving a plug & play solution for vertical communication.
As Europe's largest industry association, the VDMA is playing a leading role in the development of OPC UA Companion Specifications, as the work of the 3,300 or so member companies can be pooled. The VDMA's Working Group Lasers and Laser Systems for Material Processing also became active at the end of 2019. With the involvement of the University of Stuttgart, a white paper was produced that already gives major customers of laser beam sources and laser systems a preview of the Companion Specification to be developed.
"The essential basis of Industry 4.0 is the communication capability of different process and production participants," says Dr Alexander Arndt, Manager of Digitalization and Process Design at Laserline GmbH in Mülheim-Kärlich and member of the responsible working group, describing the goal. "The OPC UA communication standard, which is widely used worldwide, offers comprehensive possibilities for platform-independent data exchange between a wide variety of machines, devices and control systems. The need for Industry 4.0-capable communication - via OPC UA - is also reaching the laser industry, which is why the members are currently working on extending existing OPC UA Companion Specifications so that they can also be used for laser systems." "OPC UA meets customer requirements in terms of modern communication architecture and IT security aspects," adds Dr. Schmitz from TRUMPF GmbH + Co. "This opens the door to the IT-compliant integration of laser systems into customers' production networks and forms the basis for leveraging the potential of Industry 4.0 in terms of productivity, availability and quality assurance."
