Leveraging high-tech manufacturing to emerge stronger from the crisis

28 September 2022

How does European industry emerge str...

How does European industry emerge stronger from the tough times it is facing today? By accelerating the uptake of advanced manufacturing technologies to turn our historic manufacturing strengths into the competitive assets of the future. 

This was the main message from Orgalim’s Director General Malte Lohan as he joined the opening session of the European Manufacturing Conference, for a panel on "Competitiveness: Is Europe leading the manufacturing transformation? Which role for governments?"

"We all agree, the months ahead are going to be tough," he said. "But we have a big asset: we have world-class manufacturing industries. We need a focused political will to ensure we can preserve and expand Europe’s high-tech manufacturing lead in the global competitive realignment currently taking place."

  We need a focused political will to ensure we can preserve and expand Europe’s high-tech manufacturing lead. 

Malte Lohan

Among the enablers of European industrial competitiveness, funding for R&D was a key focus of the discussion. While Horizon Europe is a recognised success story, the many challenges of our time are causing an increasing fragmentation in Europe's funding instruments. It is important to recall that cutting-edge, sustainable manufacturing is the glue connecting many of these, Lohan argued. "This needs to be better reflected in the way we allocate funding, and in our focus on getting our very advanced manufacturing innovations into the market," he said.   

Other panellists joining the insightful discussion were Joanna Drake, Deputy Director General DG RTD at the European Commission; Joaquim Menezes, Chairman of EFFRA and President of Iberomoldes; Johan Svenningstorp, Director Research and Technology Development at Volvo; and Marco Taisch, Professor at Polimi and Vice-Chairman of EFFRA, moderated by EFFRA Executive Director, Željko Pazin

The European Manufacturing Conference brings together high-level policymakers, industrial sectors and societal stakeholders for a cross-exchange of ideas on people, technology and innovation. It is co-organised by the European Factories of the Future Association (EFFRA), EIT Manfacturing and ManuFuture.