From the top into the valley? Germany's robotics have to rethink now - that's how it goes uphill again

How Germany's robotics industry can master global competitive pressure

The robotic and automation industry in Germany faces major challenges. For some time now it can be seen that its former competitiveness is disappearing and that the industry is in a area of ​​tension from rising costs, strict regulatory requirements and global competitive pressure. At the same time, many companies are faced with a declining demand that has a particularly strong manner on traditionally important buyers such as the automotive industry. As can be seen from industry estimates, a further decline in total sales of minus nine percent can be expected in 2025. This would mean a decline to 13.8 billion euros. As early as 2024, sales fell by six percent to 15.2 billion euros, according to this forecast. In view of this development, numerous industry actors are wondering what causes this decline, which structural problems come into play and what countermeasures are offered to ensure long-term securing of robotics and automation skills in Germany.

"Robotics and automation in Germany has lost competitiveness: For 2025, the industry association predicts a decline in the total turnover of minus nine percent to 13.8 billion euros" is a central assessment that reflects the uncertainty of the industry. The year 2024 had already brought a sensitive drop in sales of six percent with 15.2 billion euros. The German robotics and automation industry thus faces a problem that manifests itself at various levels: a declining domestic demand, a challenging international environment and a high cost pressure within Germany. At the same time, however, there are initiatives and strategies that could ensure a new upswing in the coming years - provided they are consistently implemented and supported by political framework.

1. Current market situation

The declining sales development in the area of ​​robotics and automation makes it clear how fragile the economic situation of many companies has become. In recent years, this industry has not only been one of the most innovative, but also one of the most growing in Germany. Many companies benefited from the upswing in the automotive industry, from increasing focus on productivity increases through automation and new fields of application, for example in medical technology. Today, however, there are first erosion symptoms that are to be found in the changed global conditions and in the restructuring of some key sectors.

"The industry is struggling with structural problems" - this is how it describes a summary of the latest development. These problems include the excessive dependence on the automotive industry, high costs and regulation at the Germany location and a weakening demand from abroad. After all, the euro zone had a significant increase in the order inputs, but exports to countries outside the euro zone were noticeable. The demand flaut in Germany has a particularly serious effect, where the orders have decreased by 16 percent according to some surveys.

The following, frequently discussed development of the order situation for 2024 illustrates the extent of the decline:

• Domestic orders: -16 %
• Foreign orders: -2 %
• Euro zone exports: +44 %
• Non-eurozone exports: -13 %

These numbers indicate a very heterogeneous picture. On the one hand, there are markets in Europe that are still strong for some of the companies. On the other hand, decisive foreign markets, for example in North America or Asia, are significantly weaker. This is exactly where the dependence on individual industries and regions reveals.

2. Backgrounds and causes

For many experts, a central factor of this negative tendency lies in the structural problems with which the processing industry is confronted with. In addition to increasing energy prices and costs for staff, this also includes an increasingly dense regulatory framework. Companies have to provide increasing time, money and personnel resources in order to meet legal requirements, which are often due to high quality and security orientation, but at the same time inhibit agility and innovation ability.

The industry is also sensitive to economic burglaries and structural upheavals: the automotive industry, so far one of the most important customer areas, is in a phase of the transformation, which includes switching to electromobility, among other things, enormous investments. At the same time, savings are made in many manufacturers, and the previously lavish budgets for classic automation projects in Germany come under pressure. This is particularly noticeable in robotics and automation companies that have specialized in this sector.

In addition to these factors, uncertain geopolitical framework and the global technology competition also contribute to the current problems. Companies from Asia and North America often benefit from state subsidies or lower production costs, which can provide them with a clear price advantage in tenders for large -scale projects. This makes it difficult for German providers to successfully position their technologically high -quality products and solutions internationally, unless they are active in niche markets or special applications.

3. Role of the automotive industry

The importance of the automotive industry for the robotics and automation industry in Germany can hardly be overestimated. "Excessive dependence on the automotive industry, which in 2024 recorded a landlord of 16 %," is an essential risk factor, according to industry experts. The dependency is that a significant part of the robotic and automated production systems are used especially in vehicle production - for example when welding body parts, painting or final assembly.

In times when many automobile manufacturers have increasingly uncertain sales forecasts and at the same time have to invest huge sums in new drive technologies, battery technology or software solutions, classically oriented automation solutions often remain in the way. Although new production processes and electrically operated vehicle platforms could stimulate the demand for highly specialized robotics in the long term, the reorientation in the automotive industry is currently increasing a retention of investment in traditional projects.

4. International challenges

A look beyond the national borders shows that German companies in the area of ​​robotics and automation are faced with high competitive pressure. In countries such as China, Japan or the USA, a flourishing innovation environment has established itself in which state support programs intensively support the development of new technologies. Companies there can also often fall back on larger risk obuds, since risk capital providers are more willing to invest in new products and markets in international comparison. In addition, concepts such as smart manufacturing, Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) and data -based business models are progressing quickly there, which leads to a broader adoption of highly automated processes.

While Germany has achieved international attention in recent years through the keyword "Industry 4.0", it is now evident that a successful implementation of these concepts requires closer interlinking of research, business and politics than before. In addition, many companies are still strongly focused on the classic mechanical engineering business and are difficult with the new business models that arise from artificial intelligence, big data or cloud computing. The lack of pace in digitization could prove to be a further competitive disadvantage in the future.

5. Potential of digitization and artificial intelligence

Despite the current dampers, there is no question that robotics and automation will continue to play a major role in industrial added value in the future. Because the automation of complex processes, the guarantee of constant quality and the improvement of efficiency remain essential goals of many industries- from metal and plastic processing to the food industry to logistics and e-commerce.

In addition, progressive digitization opens up new opportunities to integrate automation and robotics even more seamlessly in production processes. Topics such as the digital image of a production location ("Digital Twin"), cloud services for forward-looking maintenance ("Predictive maintenance"), collaborative robotics ("cobots") or the integration of AI into control software offer companies potential to increase their competitiveness . A high benefit can be seen, especially in the area of ​​AI-controlled image processing and process optimization: robots can be flexibly adapted to various tasks through machine learning algorithms and learn to identify error images in real time. Such technology fields are far from being exhausted and have a considerable growth potential.

Another success factor could be to establish new business models. Instead of selling individual machines or robots, more and more providers are being carried out to operate automation as a service, whereby the billing is carried out according to the time or per unit produced. This reduces initial investments for customers and could facilitate market entrance, especially in industries that have so far only wanted to invest in expensive automation solutions.

6. Diversification and new markets

"The reduction in dependency on the automotive industry by expanding to growth areas such as laboratory automation, logistics or renewable energies" is one of the most promising measures to strengthen the German robotics and automation industry. In the logistics industry in particular, the demand for autonomous transport systems, automated storage systems and intelligent sorting robots rapidly increases. Even in the area of ​​laboratory automation, especially in pharmaceutical and medical technology, robot-based handling can lead to quality gains and cost savings. In addition, boom sectors such as renewable energies, hydrogen technologies or the battery cell production increase automated processes in order to manufacture efficient and consistently high-quality products in large quantities.

In particular, the assembly and handling of sensitive components, for example in semiconductor and electronics production, has great potential. The need for microrobotic solutions that enable high -precision manipulation will continue to increase in the coming years. German companies could benefit from their experience in high technology, provided they make the required F&E expenses and enter into the right collaborations.

7. Strategic industry initiatives

"Companies have to accelerate innovations, develop higher agility and exploit cost reduction potential," according to the request of an industry representative. However, this can only be achieved if companies do not look at themselves in isolation, but rather form networks and work together on key technologies. Consortics and cross-sector cooperation could be created, for example, in the areas of fuel cell production, AI integration in production or in data-driven platforms for the manufacturing industry.

The initiative to establish a common data ecosystem for manufacturing companies could facilitate the exchange of production data, which in turn drives the use of artificial intelligence. The aim is to analyze production processes in real time and automatically optimize decisions. Medium -sized companies in particular, who usually do not have their own departments for data analysis, could benefit from this. Such a platform, which is intended under the keyword "Manufacturing X", would create standardized interfaces, data security and common rules of the game to enable a smooth flow of information between different companies.

8. Political demands and economic framework conditions

"We are calling for the reduction of regulatory barriers and the creation of more competitive framework conditions." This statement underlines the importance of politics in order to create a cheap breeding ground for investments and innovations. From the company's point of view, the following points are in particular in the foreground:

Reduction of regulatory hurdles

Simple approval processes, more flexible working time regulations and a reduction in bureaucracy in research and development projects could increase competitiveness.

Investment incentives for users

Tax relief or targeted support programs for companies that invest in automation and robotics could stimulate market demand and ensure the connection to international developments.

Cheaper financing conditions

Especially for small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and start-ups, access to capital is an essential prerequisite for developing new products or building worldwide sales structures. State guarantees, risk capital funds or innovation loans could remedy the situation here.

Industrial policy answers to global subsidies

Competitors from Asia and North America sometimes benefit from far -reaching state support. In order for German companies to be able to keep or expand their technology leadership, appropriate programs would be necessary to initiate innovative developments in this country and to facilitate the market entry.

Another important point concerns energy and climate policy. In order for companies to remain competitive, a reliable, affordable and sustainable energy supply is essential. Flanked by the challenges of the energy transition, companies are currently not only confronted with increasing energy prices, but also with the need to make their processes climate -friendly. Politicians could help with clearly defined and realistically implementable goals, paired with grants for energy-efficient production processes, to ensure that robotics and automation companies develop further and remain internationally competitive.

9. Corporate reforms

The companies themselves are also obliged to rethink their processes and break new ground. "Acceleration of innovation cycles through agile processes and cost optimization" is a frequently mentioned maxim in this context. While in some companies the process drives are still strongly hierarchical and bureaucratic, agile methods such as Scrum, Kanban or Lean Development can help shorten development times and test prototypes faster.

With a view to the ongoing global uncertainties, cost control is also of great importance. German providers, who usually have higher wages and production costs than competitors from low -wage countries, can score through specialization and quality leadership. This lead should be expanded: High quality, reliable and technologically leading solutions can convince customers, even if they cost a little more than cheaper products.

A central area of ​​the future, which is likely to become more important in the coming years, is the service robotic. It is used for activities such as building cleaning, transporting in hospitals or in gastronomy. Likewise, logistical robots in the e-commerce environment are a strong growth field. Here, German companies could strive for global technology leadership by setting standards at an early stage, registering patents and consistently align their developments in the need for customers.

10. Educational and research funding

In order for these steps to take place, there must be a solid basis for specialists and research capacities. "Doubling the study places in robotics and automation by 2028" and "Introduction of a mandatory school subject technology" are exemplary ideas to promote interest in technical professions and to use the talented offspring. Many companies already lack engineers, programmers as well as specialists for operating and waiting automated systems.

Early awareness of technology and natural sciences can help to inspire more young people for corresponding courses. In addition, top research in robotic security, human-robot collaboration and artificial intelligence should be expanded so that innovations that are developed in laboratories can find their way into practice as quickly as possible. Universities, universities of applied sciences and non -university research institutions would have to cooperate closely with companies in order to create practice -oriented solutions that not only exist on paper, but also solve real problems in production.

In the area of ​​human-robot collaboration (MRK), for example, the question is about how robots can work safely and directly with people without the need for heavy protective fences or complex security concepts. There is still great development potential here, which could lead to an increase in efficiency in many industries. Robots could take on repetitive tasks and dynamically adapt to new processes, while specialists focus on more complex work. In order to test such applications under realistic operating conditions, a close integration of research and industrial practice is indispensable.

11. Global competitiveness and export promotion

In order to compensate for the break -ins during the foreign orders, it is important to increase export promotion. "Strengthening export funding, especially for non-eurozone markets", is considered a necessary step to take action against the slump in demand. Since there is a high need for automation in many emerging countries and emerging economies, German companies could build up new business areas in the long term. However, this presupposes that sales structures are professionally established and that local partners may be brought on board that facilitate market access.

With a view to the global technology competition, the question also arises as to how German and European companies should react to the massive subsidies in Asia or North America. Without its own industrial policy initiatives, the location disadvantage could further tighten. One approach is to promote strategic investments in key technologies and to initiate joint projects at European level. A close cooperation between the countries of the European Union would increase local added value and secure a certain independence from other world regions.

12. Concrete measures for the future

"The German robotics and automation companies now have to implement structural reforms and strategic initiatives in order to regain their competitiveness," is the conclusion of many experts. Various fields of action can be derived from the challenges and demands of the industry that have to be addressed by both companies and politics:

• Form consortia for key technologies: Cooperation between different companies and between industry and research can help use synergies and to bring innovations to market maturity faster.
• Diversification of sales markets: The dependence on the automotive industry should be reduced by focusing more on new industries such as laboratory automation, logistics, renewable energies or medical technology.
• Agile innovation processes: Faster development cycles and closer integration of potential customers in the development process enable precisely precise solutions for developing solutions for different industries.
• Politics for competitive framework conditions: reduction in bureaucracy, tax cuts for research and development as well as targeted export promotion programs could cause an upswing. At the same time, hurdles must be reduced in approval procedures.
• Educational offensive: The doubling of the study places, a stronger range of technology in schools and the intensive support of student innovation projects help to counteract the shortage of skilled workers.
• Promotion of start-ups and SMEs: Favorable financing options, specific incubators and accelerators for robotics and automation as well as regional cluster formation strengthen particularly small and medium-sized actors.
• Expansion of the service robotic: The demand for flexible, collaborative and mobile robots increases. If you can offer your own solutions at an early stage, you get a competitive advantage.
• Set international standards: In many areas of the future, there are still no clear standards and interfaces. With their technical competence, German companies could make a significant contribution to designing global standards and thus establishing themselves as a leading provider.
• Long-term energy and climate strategy: Planning and stability in energy supply is essential to keep investments in the Germany location attractive. At the same time, demanding climate goals require innovative concepts, which in turn can offer opportunities for automation providers.

13. Robot and AI: The driving force behind the megatrends of the future

Despite the current challenges, the basic growth story of robotics and automation is intact. The world population is growing, the demand for more and more individual and high-quality products is increasing, and new technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G communication or advanced sensors open up a wide range of possible uses. At the same time, megatrends such as the aging society in many industrialized countries lead to the fact that a shortage of skilled workers and demographic shifts lead to automation.

"Despite the current challenges, it can be assumed that long-term growth trends will remain intact- provided that the course is now being set correctly." This sentence illustrates that the German robotic and automation industry is under pressure, but at the same time has enormous opportunities if they are flexible reacts and courageous decisions.

In the short term, the situation will be particularly difficult due to the current cost environment in Germany and the fluctuating economy in some foreign markets. In the long term, however, numerous drivers are recognizable that speak for relaxation and again growth. Whether it is possible to exploit this potential depends largely on the willingness of the industry players to address the necessary changes.

At the political level, strengthening innovative strength and competitive advantages is required. In this way, accelerated planning procedures, stronger tax incentives and a brave digitization strategy could cause a spirit of optimism. If it is also possible to close the educational gap in the MINT subjects (mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology), nothing stands in the way of a long-term skilled workers' basis.

A greater awareness of the advantages of automation could be created in the population by emphasizing the social importance of these technologies. Robots and AI can improve work processes in many areas and secure jobs in the long term if they are used and accompanied wisely.

The exchange between research, business and society should also be intensified so that technological developments are not only in the laboratory or at individual production locations, but are used promptly, are accepted by the public and create an actual added value.

14. Robotics 4.0: Secure competitiveness through innovation and cooperation

The German robotics and automation industry is undoubtedly on the crossroads. On the one hand, the structural problems, which are expressed in declining order numbers, cost increases and a declining competitiveness. On the other hand, there are great opportunities in diversification and innovative technologies such as collaborative robotics, AI-based production and the new field of service robotics. An essential impulse could also assume cross-sector cooperation in which research institutions, established companies and start-ups develop solutions together.

Political framework conditions are a crucial factor. Germany and Europe are committed to creating competitive structures, promoting research and development and paving the way for successful digitization. Bureaucracy reduction, tax relief and reliable energy supply could send significant signals to companies and investors to shape their future in Germany.

At the same time, companies themselves are responsible for adapting flexibly to new markets, forming collaborative networks and adapting their products and business models to change. The acceleration of innovation cycles and stricter cost control can help to maintain the traditionally high quality of German robotics and automation solutions. In addition, targeted educational offensive are essential to secure the offspring and find a long -term solution for the shortage of skilled workers.

Ultimately, the success of the industry will compete whether it will be possible to convert the challenges of the coming years in sustainable growth and technological leadership. Robotics and automation are key technologies that are not only in industry, but also in numerous areas of life. From care and service robotics to autonomous vehicles to intelligent processes in agriculture- the need for mature automation and robotic solutions will continue to increase. This trend gives hope that the industry can reposition itself after the current weakness phase and shape its future successfully.

When all actors- companies, associations, politics and society- pull together and drive the necessary reforms, the chances are good that the German robotics and automation industry will build on old successes in the medium term. Then a phase of the revival and innovative dynamics could emerge from the current upheaval, in which Germany is again considered a pioneer for future -oriented technologies. At the same time, this development would benefit many other branches of industry that rely on reliable and efficient automation solutions. Seen in this way, the current decline in sales is not the end, but rather a wake -up call that could adjust the course for the future.

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