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It is interesting to see the trend in the machinery: while the factory is in China, and the brand is Swedish, all the precision machinery, instruments, etc. com

It is interesting to see the trend in the machinery: while the factory is in China, and the brand is Swedish, all the precision machinery, instruments, etc. come from Switzerland and Germany. Güdel, ABB, Carl Zeiss, Kuka, etc.

avs733 9y ago
That isn't really new... If you look at Machine tools, Europe generally has the strongest base because their history with them goes way way back (think...first cannons). There are manufacturers in the US (e.g., Haas, Gleason) but they are smaller market and either highly specialized or known for being good enough and less expensive (Haas).
- ucaetano 9y ago
  Yes, I'm Swiss, people are usually surprised when they realise how industrialized Switzerland is, and how machinery (especially precision machinery) and not watches, chocolate or cheese, are our largest exports.
  - greeneggs 9y ago
    And pharmaceuticals even more than machinery. http://www.worldstopexports.com/switzerlands-top-10-exports/ http://www.worldstopexports.com/switzerlands-top-10-exports/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Switzerland#/media/File:Tree_map_export_che_all_show_2010_SITC4.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Switzerland#/media/...
- bsder 9y ago
  As I understand it, Haas has an entire facility solely dedicated to running full-time and supplying the machines that Apple installs in China for manufacturing iPhones--which are some of the most mechanically demanding products in the world. I remember reading this from an article discussing the fact that it would be impossible for Apple to switch from metal to ceramic cases simply because they would have to redo a massive amount of tooling.
henrikschroder 9y ago
ABB is technically a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation, and was formed by merging two 100-year-old companies in 1988.
ptr 9y ago
ABB is part Swiss, part Swedish. As far as I know, the robots come from the Swedish part.
Theodores 9y ago
...and not the former 'workshop of the world', i.e. the UK. There was a historical difference in manufacturing and how that gets invested in. In the UK, with the all important stock market, the culture was to take the profits and invest them in the city. Meanwhile, in Germany, if, for example you were 'BMW', then the thinking was different - let's invest in the company and make even more cars and even more profit. What remained of British machine tool manufacturing was utterly crippled and gone for good when Margaret Thatcher arrived on the scene. The UK then gave up on manufacturing anything except weapon systems, if you were 'smart' then you would speculate on property rather than invest in a manufacturing company. The cultural problem in the UK was short-termism, a focus on the share price and the profits for the quarter, not the next decade. The robots came later, after the UK lost manufacturing (okay, not all of it, but manufacturing used to be what the UK was about). If you are already making die-casting machines then it is kind of logical to make a robot arm to get the part out of the die, so the German/Swiss/Scandinavian machine tool companies were able to move into that space. As mentioned, when Thatcher came along it was game over, it was also impossible to sell European presses etc. into the UK market. So I am pleased to see these vast and wonderful machines being fully appreciated and used in China.

avs733 9y ago

That isn't really new... If you look at Machine tools, Europe generally has the strongest base because their history with them goes way way back (think...first cannons). There are manufacturers in the US (e.g., Haas, Gleason) but they are smaller market and either highly specialized or known for being good enough and less expensive (Haas).

ucaetano 9y ago
Yes, I'm Swiss, people are usually surprised when they realise how industrialized Switzerland is, and how machinery (especially precision machinery) and not watches, chocolate or cheese, are our largest exports.
- greeneggs 9y ago
  And pharmaceuticals even more than machinery. http://www.worldstopexports.com/switzerlands-top-10-exports/ http://www.worldstopexports.com/switzerlands-top-10-exports/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Switzerland#/media/File:Tree_map_export_che_all_show_2010_SITC4.svg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Switzerland#/media/...
bsder 9y ago
As I understand it, Haas has an entire facility solely dedicated to running full-time and supplying the machines that Apple installs in China for manufacturing iPhones--which are some of the most mechanically demanding products in the world. I remember reading this from an article discussing the fact that it would be impossible for Apple to switch from metal to ceramic cases simply because they would have to redo a massive amount of tooling.

henrikschroder 9y ago

ABB is technically a Swedish-Swiss multinational corporation, and was formed by merging two 100-year-old companies in 1988.

ptr 9y ago

ABB is part Swiss, part Swedish. As far as I know, the robots come from the Swedish part.

Theodores 9y ago

...and not the former 'workshop of the world', i.e. the UK. There was a historical difference in manufacturing and how that gets invested in. In the UK, with the all important stock market, the culture was to take the profits and invest them in the city. Meanwhile, in Germany, if, for example you were 'BMW', then the thinking was different - let's invest in the company and make even more cars and even more profit. What remained of British machine tool manufacturing was utterly crippled and gone for good when Margaret Thatcher arrived on the scene. The UK then gave up on manufacturing anything except weapon systems, if you were 'smart' then you would speculate on property rather than invest in a manufacturing company. The cultural problem in the UK was short-termism, a focus on the share price and the profits for the quarter, not the next decade. The robots came later, after the UK lost manufacturing (okay, not all of it, but manufacturing used to be what the UK was about). If you are already making die-casting machines then it is kind of logical to make a robot arm to get the part out of the die, so the German/Swiss/Scandinavian machine tool companies were able to move into that space. As mentioned, when Thatcher came along it was game over, it was also impossible to sell European presses etc. into the UK market. So I am pleased to see these vast and wonderful machines being fully appreciated and used in China.