Mechanical engineering sector. The mechanical engineering sector is a critical industry branch in the EU-27 with a share of around 9.1% of all manufacturing industries, as measured by production. In contrast to the aerospace or automotive industries, outsourcing is more difficult because this industry predominantly delivers small-batch and single-item production, requires high qualification in manufacturing departments, and demands a close communication between manufacturing, engineering and design departments. Consequently innovation and R&D are extremely important to mechanical engineering companies to keep a competitive advantage in a market that has turned global. This necessity is even stronger when the customers belong to European strategic sectors, for example, energy, transport, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and construction. Customers demand products that can work more efficiently with less energy, less material and less waste. This has led mechanical engineering companies to focus on (among other goals) higher and more stable product quality based on increased process robustness and accuracy. Sustainability is another customer concern in this sector, triggering efforts to develop products that meet energy efficiency, limited environment impact together with compliance with regulatory constraints and safety and health requirements. Recycling is also involved. Not only innovation has to provide economic growth but also environmental friendliness and social wellbeing. From the mechanical engineering industry perspective, ICT applications in production processes are very promising and will enable more adaptable production systems and their integration with business models and processes. Among them, ICT-based modelling applications include material and component properties and their variations that help identify the impacts of corrosion, stress, temperature, etc. This analysis of the industry, documented in “An introduction to Mechanical Engineering: Study on the Competitiveness of the EU Mechanical Engineering Industry within the Framework Contract of Sectorial Competitiveness Studies – ENTR/06/054” shows the ever growing importance of material data for the mechanical engineering sector. To better serve the customer requirements or to reach higher internal efficiency, high quality material data are mandatory for designing products, reacting to a changing environment and elaborating better production processes. Due to the large amount of data to input in data management systems, elect...
