Back to How We Help Clients

Machinery

We work with leading international machinery companies to make distinctive, lasting, and substantial performance improvements.

The machinery industry is quite diverse and fragmented, creating challenges for our clients. They typically operate in the lower-volume business-to-business market yet maintain a truly global footprint. As they target high-growth markets around the world, they are facing a new wave of competition from emerging-market countries, and they need agile business and operational models to manage the volatility in market demand.

In order to effectively serve our clients, we have built a committed group of experts focused purely on machinery topics in many different sectors. In addition to core areas such as machine tools, we also have expertise in other segments, including the following:

  • Food processing. Our expertise on recent industry developments, including the growth of emerging markets and shifting consumer preferences, allows us to provide solutions and tools that help companies maintain their recent momentum and satisfy growing demand.
  • Flow control. We assist providers of pumps, valves, compressors and other flow-control equipment in developing strategies to suit evolving demand patterns and ensure future success.
  • Packaging. This is another sector undergoing rapid change. We use our knowledge of trends reshaping the market to help packaging-equipment providers improve margins in an increasingly competitive landscape.

We understand the challenges faced by machinery clients, including small organizations and those in high-volume industries. We blend this industry perspective with time-tested business acumen to deliver superior results, fine-tune strategies, and uncover detailed customer insights. We also help companies deepen their core competencies in engineering and product design.

Examples of our work

  • We helped a global packaging-machinery company decrease total product cost by 20 percent by optimizing their product and installation processes.
  • We worked with a leading company that produced highly engineered and customized products to reduce project complexity, improving cost competitiveness and cutting development time by 30 percent.
  • We installed a “supply chain control tower” to create a fast and efficient supply chain as a competitive advantage in the elevator industry, helping a company to reduce work in progress by more than 50 percent.
  • We worked with a leading global machinery OEM to develop an aftermarket-and-parts growth strategy, covering both mature and developing markets.

Featured experts

Harald Bauer

Senior Partner, EMEA, Frankfurt

Albert Chang

Senior Partner, Taipei

Dorothee Herring

Partner, Düsseldorf

Thorsten Schleyer

Partner, Munich

Related insights

Report

Smart fluid hydraulics: Preparing for the imminent revolution in the fluid systems industry

– Smart pumps may help companies in process industries achieve two of their main goals: optimizing energy efficiency and reducing... emissions.
Article

Unlocking the growth opportunity in battery manufacturing equipment

– Surging demand for battery cells gives rise to an opportunity for European machinery and equipment manufacturers to supply emerging... gigafactories.
Article

A changing material-handling market: How to ensure continuous success

– While the segment remains fragmented, a wide variety of here-to-stay macroeconomic trends are shifting the market landscape, requiring... manufacturers to adapt to an increasingly blended market.
Article

Creating value in the specialty-pumps market

– OEMs and distributors face a rapidly changing competitive landscape, but aspiring leaders can take the initiative to seize the... opportunity in this growing industrial market.
Article

Implications of the ‘energy transition’ across the machinery value chain

– End-market customer concerns about the environment and sustainability—fueled by stakeholder pressure—are prompting... the machinery industry to focus on energy transition across the value chain.
Article

How the European machinery industry can emerge stronger from the pandemic

– The European machinery industry has an opportunity to accelerate out of the COVID-19 crisis with an ambitious plan aimed at altering... industry fundamentals and increasing growth and profits.
Report

Electromobility’s impact on powertrain machinery

– The shift to electric powertrains will ripple back to affect the machine-tool industry. Here’s what manufacturers need to... know.
Article

The ascent of Nordic companies in the global machinery market

– Nordic machinery companies are setting new performance benchmarks for growth, margins, and other metrics. What’s behind... their recent success?
Report

Digitization: How machinery companies can meet customers’ expectations

– Mechanical engineering hasn’t seen a broad breakthrough in digital solutions, despite the industry’s attention. What’s... preventing successful offerings? Here’s a perspective focusing on the customer.
Article

Margin pressure builds in the German machinery industry

– Despite rising revenues, profits are plummeting. It’s time to assess the dangers of unprofitable growth.
Interview

Safety and service in the packaging industry: An interview with the CEO of Sealed Air

– Ted Doheny discusses how the COVID-19 pandemic is changing customers’ needs—and how his company is adapting its packaging solutions... to address those needs.
Article

Beyond COVID-19: Rapid steps that can help machinery and industrial automation companies recover

– With COVID-19 disrupting the equipment and services markets, machinery and industrial automation companies need a rapid recovery... strategy.
Report

How smart platforms can crack the complexity challenge in project industries

– Modular platform strategies—originally developed and used by high-volume automotive players—can drive value in complex,... project-based industries as well. Here’s what you need to know.
Report

Flow control: Sector at a crossroads?

– The sector’s performance has plateaued in recent years. But flow control’s best days may still be ahead, given increasing... demand and technological advancements.
Report

Packaging solutions: Poised to take off?

– Major trends are reshaping packaging solutions—and that could open new opportunities for players that are prepared to move fast.