Abstract
In the 1980s, the German machine tool industry’s situation looked exceedingly favorable initially — not least against the background of developments in the American industry. The quality of its products and its flexible, trained workforce meant that the branch was very efficient in coping with the varying demands of a heterogeneous market. But in the course of the first half of the 1990s, the German machine tool industry endured a crisis of similar magnitude to the U.S. in the 1980s. It was a crisis from which it is only slowly recovering. On the international stage, this has been most visible with its relinquishing to Japan of the leading position in the share of world exports. There has also been a similar fall in the number of employees — from well over 100,000 in 1990 to a good 66,000 in 1996. (In the U.S.A., machine tool employment fell from 110,000 to just over 65,000 from 1979 to 1990.)
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Behr, M. von, Harvey, N. (1994): Group Work in the American and German Nonautomotive Metal Manufacturing Industry, in: The International Journal of Human Factors in Manufacturing, no. 4, vol. 4, pp. 345–360.
Bieber, D. (ed.) (1997): Technikentwicklung und Industriearbeit (Technical Development and Industrial Work), Campus-Verlag, Frankfurt/New York.
Bieber, D., Deiß, M., Hirsch-Kreinsen, H., Schmierl, K. (eds.) (1997): Neue Strukturen des Technikmarktes (New Market Structures for Technology Goods), mimeo, ISF München.
Bijker, W., Hughes, T., Pinch, T. (eds.) (1988): The Social Construction of Technological Systems, Cambridge.
Brödner, P., Schultetus, W. (1992): Erfolgsfaktoren des japanischen Werkzeugmaschinenbaus (Success Factors for the Japanese Machine Tool Industry), RKW, Eschborn.
Buss, K.-P., Wittke, V. (1996): Organisation von Innovationsprozessen in der US-Halbleiterindustrie — Zur Veränderung von Unternehmens Strategien und Innovationskonzepten seit Mitte der 80er Jahre (Organization of Innovation Processes in the US Semiconductor Industry — Changes in Company Strategies and Innovation Concepts Since the Mid-1980s), in: SOFI Mitteilungen 23, pp. 45–66.
Finegold, D. (1993): Skills, Technological Change and Economic Restructuring: A Case Study of the Machine Tool Industry in the United States, Germany and Japan, mimeo.
Friedman, D. (1988): The Misunderstood Miracle. Industrial Development and Political Change in Japan, Cornell University Press, Ithaca/London.
Fritsch, M. (1992): Unternehmens-„Netzwerke“ im Lichte der Institutionenökonomik (Company Networks — in the Light of Institutional Economics), in: Boettcher, E. et al. (eds.), Jahrbuch für Neue Politische Ökonomie, Bd. 11, Ökonomische Systeme und ihre Dynamik, Mohr, Tübingen, pp. 89–102.
Handelsblatt (1997): Rückzug in die Nische schwächt Europa (Retreating into Niches Weakens Europe), 28.4., p. 14.
Hirsch-Kreinsen, H. (1992): On the History of NC-Technology — Different Paths of Development, in: Altmann, N. et al. (eds.), Technology and Work in German Industry, Routledge, London, pp. 63–76.
Hirsch-Kreinsen, H. (1993a): NC-Entwicklung als gesellschaftlicher Prozeß (NC Development as a Social Process), Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York.
Hirsch-Kreinsen, H. (1993b): Die Krise des amerikanischen Werkzeugmaschinenbaus (The Crisis of the American Machine Tool Industry), in: Technische Rundschau, 9, pp. 22–34.
IFO Institut (1993): Maschinenbau: Vorübergehende Schwäche oder existentielle Krise? (Machine Tool Industry: Temporary Weakness or Existential Crisis?), in: IFO Schnelldienst, 10, pp. 11.
Ito, Y. (1996): Research and Development Activities to Enhance Market Competitiveness of Products in Japanese Machine Tool Industry, in: Ramussen, L., Rauner, F., Industrial Cultures and Production, Springer, London et al.
Jürgens, U., Naschold, F. (1994): Arbeits- und industriepolitische Entwicklungsengpässe der deutschen Industrie in den neunziger Jahren (Industry and Work-Related Politics as Bottlenecks for the Development of the German Industry in the 1990s), in: Zapf, W., Dierkes, M. (eds.), Institutionenvergleich und Institutionendynamik, WZB-Jahrbuch 1994, edition sigma, Berlin, pp. 239–270.
Kalkowski, P., Mickler, O., Manske, F. (1995): Technologiestandort Deutschland. Produktinnovationen im Maschinenbau: traditionelle Stärken — neue Herausforderungen (Technology Location Germany. Product Innovation in the Machine Tool Industry: Traditional Strengths — New Challenges), edition sigma, Berlin.
Laske, G. (1995): Eine Musterbranche stürzt ab (A Model Branch Crashes), Donat Verlag, Bremen.
March, A. et al. (1989): The US Machine Tool Industry and its Foreign Competitors, The MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity (ed.): Working Papers of the MIT Commission on Industrial Productivity, Vol. 2, Cambridge (Mass.)/London.
Moldaschl, M. (1994): Lean Production im Maschinenbau? — Argumente für einen eigenständigen Weg (Lean Production in the Machine Tool Industry? Arguments for an Independent Way), in: Moldaschl, M., Schultz-Wild, R. (eds.), Arbeitsorientierte Rationalisierung, Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York, pp. 249–293.
Rammert, W. (1997): Auf dem Weg zu einer post-schumpeterianischen Innovationsweise (Towards a Post-Schumpetarian Way of Innovation), in: Bieber, D. (ed.), Technikentwicklung und Industriearbeit, Campus Verlag, Frankfurt/New York, pp. 45–71.
Rosenberg, N. (1963): Technological Change in the Machine Tool Industry, 1840–1910, in: Journal of Economic History, Vol. 23, pp. 414–443.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hirsch-Kreinsen, H. (2000). The Machine Tool Industry: New Market Challenges and the Crisis of the Traditional German Pattern of Innovation. In: Jürgens, U. (eds) New Product Development and Production Networks. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04255-7_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-04255-7_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-08387-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-04255-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive