The German image processing industry achieved a record turnover of 2.6 billion euros in 2017 - an increase of 17 percent compared to the previous year. Within ten years, the turnover of the industry has doubled. Why industrial machine vision is so important and successful is clearly demonstrated by the new multimedia reportage "Seeing Machines", which the VDMA has now published on its website.

On the occasion of 125 years of the VDMA, the VDMA started the project "Man Machine Progress" in 2017. Online multimedia reports illuminate great challenges for humanity such as the supply of good air, pure water, important raw materials or are dedicated to health and work 4.0. It shows the essential contribution of mechanical engineering to solving these challenges.

The website, which has so far consisted of twelve reports, will be expanded to include the topic "Seeing Machines" in the VISION year 2018. The new multimedia report shows the parallels and differences between technical and human vision and provides a deeper insight into the exciting world of this forward-looking technology. Numerous examples from the VDMA membership show how image processing already offers people progressive possibilities in all areas of daily life and how "seeing machines" will influence our lives more and more in the near future.

Image processing will remain on a growth course in 2018

"Image processing as a driver of Industry 4.0 has become an indispensable part of the modern factory, and has long since conquered our everyday lives. Whether traffic control systems, autonomous driving, waste separation and recycling or health care - image processing makes it possible. Embedded Vision in combination with deep learning sets further growth impulses, "says Dr. Olaf Munkelt, Chairman of the Board of the VDMA Industrial Image Processing Department.

According to the VDMA forecast, sales growth in machine vision will continue this year by 7 percent to 2.8 billion euros. In the German domestic market, the industry recorded an increase in sales of 8 percent in 2017 compared to the previous year. Exports - growth drivers for years - grew by 23 percent in 2017. The two most important export countries remained China and North America, which together make up 26 percent of the total sales of the German image processing industry. Growth in the People's Republic in 2017 reached an impressive 56 percent compared to the previous year. North America also showed strong growth, up 21 percent over the previous year. Nevertheless, in 2017, the sales volume in China exceeded that in North America for the first time.

Vision benefits from the success of image processing

The industry event has been expanding steadily for years, breaking the records of previous years once again this year. Over 460 companies present themselves from 6.-8. November in Stuttgart (2016: 240). Of these, around 25 percent of the exhibitors are on the Vision for the first time. The trend towards internationalization is also progressing: in 2018, the proportion of exhibitors from abroad will be over 60 percent (2016: 57 percent). More here.