Mechatronics, duties and China weigh on competitiveness

Italy's mechatronics is one of the most solid certainties of our economy. A transversal sector, which intersects with traditional sectors of our industry, such as automotive, pharmaceuticals and food, or highly innovative, such as aerospace and medical. We are talking about a production basin that includes over 49 thousand companies, capable of generating a total value of 367 billion euros in 2024 and employing over 900 thousand workers. But these days, even certainties need to be reviewed in light of a global situation strongly disturbed by duties, wars and global tensions.

It is on this state of permanent uncertainty that the Antares Study Center, called every year by Unindustria Reggio Emilia to draw up the report on Italian mechatronics, has focused. Lorenzo Ciapetti, who directs the center and coordinates the survey, gives us a preview of some of the contents of the 2025 edition, entitled “The state of mechatronics 2025 - Between innovation and technological sovereignty”. One of the most evident data, he says, “is that, for the first time in years, in 2024 Italian mechatronics recorded a setback in exports, down 4.3%, even more than the national average of -1.5%. This is the sign that the post-pandemic recovery is over and that we have entered a new phase: on the one hand, the United States, with their tariff policies, could reduce our share of exports; on the other, China is now able to produce high-quality finished products and compete directly with ours”.

Italy exports mechanical value to the West, but imports the electronic heart from Asian countries. This raises the issue of technological sovereignty: “Our companies assemble sophisticated value, but remain dependent on critical external inputs,” observes Ciapetti. “We need to think about how to implement selective reshoring, diversify suppliers, invest nationally in digital sectors. And, above all, how to accelerate innovation.”

Let's be clear: Italian mechatronics is solid and articulated and does not abdicate its driving role for Italian industry. Compared to the countless types of objects and systems produced, the Antares report has identified 18 "product platforms", classified by technological and functional affinity, and pertaining to three main domains: land vehicles and mobility (which alone represent 39% of the value produced), highly complex industrial platforms, such as aerospace, fluid dynamics, embedded systems, biomedical, and traditional instrumental mechanics, which concerns the production of machine tools and industrial automation. In these areas, the average annual productivity per employee can vary significantly, from 102 thousand euros in aerospace to around 70 thousand euros in mature platforms such as household appliances and agricultural mechanics. "A polarization that highlights", notes Ciapetti, "how the most technologically intensive companies are also those best positioned to face the ongoing transitions, from digital to sustainability".

In short, many mechatronics companies maintain a strong propensity for innovation. But the question, faced with a changing global situation, is whether this capacity is sufficient. The size of Italian companies in the sector could be a limitation. “The idea is widespread,” says Ciapetti, “that SMEs are no longer able to keep up on their own and need external help. With this year's survey we wanted to verify the situation.” The first step was to verify the innovative capacity of our companies, going inside them to study their dynamics. “We did it with four companies from Reggio Emilia, not large, but with solid balance sheets, and we were able to observe their dynamism, which is no longer based, as in the past, only on the product, but also on a more open organizational culture. Modern mechatronics SMEs communicate with other companies in the sector, collaborate with the university, are open to change. These are the factors that allow them to remain competitive.” The experience, in addition to the evaluations for the report, also gave rise to a book, “Il posto dell'innovazione” (Edizioni Lavoro), co-written by Ciapetti with Giuliano Nicolini, an expert in organization and change strategies.