Euromap Interprets the Global Plastics and Rubber Machinery Market: European Advantages Amid Demand Fluctuations and Digitalization Breakthrough

At the press conference for K 2025, the European Plastics and Rubber Machinery Association (Euromap) conducted an in-depth analysis of the current situation in the international plastics and rubber machinery market. Despite the phase fluctuations in market demand, European manufacturers remain committed to transitioning towards a circular economy and digitalization/artificial intelligence.

Over the past two years, the demand for plastic and rubber machinery in the European and global markets has continued to decline. According to Euromap, the association representing the European plastic and rubber machinery industry, the reason for the decline in demand is that the purchasing willingness of downstream client industries has significantly decreased due to uncertainties in major markets such as Europe and Germany.

The Euromap association once predicted that market demand would rebound in 2025, with the recovery of the U.S. market expected to be a key driver. However, due to the import tariffs implemented by the U.S. market and the resulting uncertainty, this expectation has not materialized. Nevertheless, the association maintains its original outlook, believing that U.S. market demand will gradually improve and boost global procurement confidence.

Europe remains the market leader, with China following closely behind.

In the field of plastic and rubber machinery production, Europe continues to maintain a global leading position, accounting for over 40% of the total global output by value. China, the United States, and Japan follow closely, forming the second tier globally. Despite the market landscape showing a trend toward China in recent years, Europe still firmly maintains its strong position.

Within Europe, Germany is the core producer, contributing 50% of the total production in Europe; Italy and Austria also play key roles, jointly supporting Europe's industrial advantage in this field.

Euromap Association: A Representative of Corporate Interests and a Promoter of Industry Development

The Euromap association represents approximately 500 industry companies, with its core mission encompassing two main aspects: assisting member companies in enhancing their global competitiveness and actively promoting the overall development of the international plastics industry, providing support for the construction of the industry ecosystem.

Digital Standard Construction: Key Foundation for Industry Development

One of the core tasks of the Euromap Association is to establish internationally recognized industry standards. As the digital transformation of the industry accelerates, the association's standard-setting work increasingly focuses on meeting the digital needs of the industry, aiming to remove barriers for global collaboration and innovation.

Internationally recognized standards play a significant role in enhancing industry competitiveness and promoting sustainable development, but the realization of the value of standards depends on widespread application across the entire industry. As an independent international standards-setting organization in the field of plastics and rubber machinery, Euromap has been deeply involved in standard development and promotion for over 40 years.

About 10 years ago, the association expanded its standard system to the digital field. At that time, the digitization of production lines had become a key factor for enterprises' future development, enhancing competitiveness, and achieving sustainable operations, while the lack of digital standards had become an important bottleneck for industry transformation.

Nowadays, mechanical data and data communication have become the core support for improving production efficiency, expanding equipment functions, and innovating business models. However, the prerequisite for all this is data consistency. Standards play an indispensable role in this process—only when all devices "speak the same language" (i.e., follow a unified standard) can data be utilized efficiently and comprehensively.

The value brought by standardization is reflected in three aspects: first, reducing enterprise operating costs; second, shortening the investment return cycle; and third, ensuring the repeatability of operational outcomes at different production sites, thereby enhancing the stability of global operations.

Efficiency Engine: OPC UA and Asset Administration Shell (AAS)

Currently, Euromap's technical recommendations focus on digitization and Industry 4.0. Among them, OPC UA has been established as the "global production language," and the association has also expanded its scope of work to include the Asset Administration Shell (AAS) — a technology that has become the standard framework for digital twins.

The combination of OPC UA and AAS has established a unified "language system" and a stable data model, providing support for three core application scenarios.

Plug-and-play integration: streamline the connection process between devices and systems, reduce deployment costs.

Reliable sustainability data: Ensuring the accuracy and traceability of environmental, energy, and other data.

Long-term compatibility: Ensure interoperability between devices and systems of different generations, extending the asset lifecycle.

Tobias Baur, Chief Strategy Officer of Arburg GmbH & Co KG and Chairman of the Euromap Association, stated: "This technological system brings immediate value to users and customers: significantly reduced complexity, fewer interfaces, and faster equipment commissioning. Specifically, the efficiency of problem-solving by the team is higher, and production line downtime is reduced. Planning tools can create smarter scheduling plans that precisely match production with energy supply conditions and cost levels. Furthermore, energy and material flows are managed transparently, which not only enhances production efficiency and optimizes recycling processes but also provides data support for reliable reporting of the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF)."