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Why is it that Germany makes the best industrial machines and industrial manufacturing?

adrianN 7y ago
There is a strong market for such machines in Germany.
ofrzeta 7y ago
I am not saying they don't but in German machine shops I have worked a lot of machines were of Japanese origin such as Okuma or Mori Seiki.
- zaarn 7y ago
  IIRC from when I did metal work, that's mostly because the Japanese vendors deliver more machines per year. German manufacturers generally don't make that many machines, one because they're used for a LONG time (I learned milling on a machine from the 60s in 2015), two because they are complicated to build. You can't easily order 100 high quality mills from a german shop.
Quequau 7y ago
Because they have an extensive framework of public policies to foster these kinds of industries.
usrusr 7y ago
If you want a cultural difference vs America to point a finger at: low ambitions. Even the most talented don't necessarily shy away from modest markets that could never buy them their own private island. Industrial machines is a high value market, but the total growth potential isn't so big. With a typical European medium business (this is really not limited to Germany at all), if it achieves exceptional success in its particular field, chances are that it won't try too hard to leverage that success for growing aggressively into other fields, eventually losing focus on their core business. High specialization like Kern is achieved by sticking to what you do best and trying to get even better at it, not by trying to become a billionaire. Americans, by comparison, would be more prone to handing over the core business to the management equivalent of a maintenance coder and moving on to the next bigger opportunity.
qntty 7y ago
Manufacturing in Germany tends to be more high-tech on average than America. America has a lot of smaller job shops that buys foreign machines, but Germany has large, highly automated manufacturing companies (esp car companies) that have both the capital and skilled labor to make use of high-tech equipment like this. Probably in part because Germany has better technical education, and worker protection that keeps jobs in Germany (sometimes).
dekhn 7y ago
Hold my bier. https://str.llnl.gov/str/April01/Klingmann.html https://str.llnl.gov/str/April01/Klingmann.html http://mooretool.com/jig_grinders.html http://mooretool.com/jig_grinders.html

There is a strong market for such machines in Germany.

I am not saying they don't but in German machine shops I have worked a lot of machines were of Japanese origin such as Okuma or Mori Seiki.

zaarn 7y ago
IIRC from when I did metal work, that's mostly because the Japanese vendors deliver more machines per year. German manufacturers generally don't make that many machines, one because they're used for a LONG time (I learned milling on a machine from the 60s in 2015), two because they are complicated to build. You can't easily order 100 high quality mills from a german shop.

Quequau 7y ago

Because they have an extensive framework of public policies to foster these kinds of industries.

usrusr 7y ago

If you want a cultural difference vs America to point a finger at: low ambitions. Even the most talented don't necessarily shy away from modest markets that could never buy them their own private island. Industrial machines is a high value market, but the total growth potential isn't so big. With a typical European medium business (this is really not limited to Germany at all), if it achieves exceptional success in its particular field, chances are that it won't try too hard to leverage that success for growing aggressively into other fields, eventually losing focus on their core business. High specialization like Kern is achieved by sticking to what you do best and trying to get even better at it, not by trying to become a billionaire. Americans, by comparison, would be more prone to handing over the core business to the management equivalent of a maintenance coder and moving on to the next bigger opportunity.

qntty 7y ago

Manufacturing in Germany tends to be more high-tech on average than America. America has a lot of smaller job shops that buys foreign machines, but Germany has large, highly automated manufacturing companies (esp car companies) that have both the capital and skilled labor to make use of high-tech equipment like this. Probably in part because Germany has better technical education, and worker protection that keeps jobs in Germany (sometimes).

dekhn 7y ago

Hold my bier. https://str.llnl.gov/str/April01/Klingmann.html https://str.llnl.gov/str/April01/Klingmann.html http://mooretool.com/jig_grinders.html http://mooretool.com/jig_grinders.html