AFM Cluster, CECIMO Hold Summit, Host Top Manufacturing Firms in Gipuzkoa, Spain

San Sebastián, Spain – Presidents and CEOs of leading companies such as Fastems, GF Machining Solutions, Hermle, Marposs, StarragTornos, Ficep, Schneeberger, Trumpf, WFL Millturn Technologies, Renishaw, Dimeco, Loire Gestamp, Fagor Automation, and Soraluce, among others, together with the Managing Directors of the fifteen European associations that make up CECIMO, are going to meet in the capital of Gipuzkoa. They will debate the challenges facing European companies that manufacture machine tools and advanced manufacturing technologies and design a common strategy to tackle them.

The event will feature a full four-day program combining social activities with an intense work program. It will run from Saturday, June 14, to Tuesday, June 17, offering attendees the opportunity to discuss and share knowledge in a professional environment. The opening of the event will take place at the Aquarium of San Sebastian, where MEP Pilar del Castillo will give opening remarks, highlighting the importance of the manufacturing industry in the European agenda.

Monday’s working day will be designed around a full program that will include strategic and technological presentations and spaces for collaborative debate. The institutional opening will be led by José Pérez Berdud, President, AFM Cluster; François Duval, President, CECIMO; and Unai Andueza, Deputy for Economic Promotion and Strategic Projects of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, who will officially welcome the attendees, highlighting the key role of the European machine tool industry in digitalization, energy transition, and global competitiveness.

The central block of the day will feature experts and industry leaders who will address key issues such as artificial intelligence applied to manufacturing, European strategic autonomy, and the impact of the green transition on the sector. The session will begin with the intervention of Arantxa Tapia, former Minister of Economic Development and Industry of the Basque Government, who will present an introduction to the Basque Country, its economy, industrial sectors, and current challenges. She will be followed by Douglas Woods, President, AMT (The Association for Manufacturing Technology, USA), who will analyze the impact of US policies and tariffs on the global machine-tool and manufacturing sector.

Tapia and Woods will be joined by Michael Hauser, President, StarragTornos; Pello Rodriguez, President, Mondragon Corporation; and Marcus Burton, Chairman-Economic Committee, CECIMO, in the panel discussion on how geopolitics will reshape manufacturing. Other keynote speakers at Monday’s session are Thomas Schneider, General Manager, Research + Development, TRUMPF; Agustín Sáenz, Market and Technology Director, TECNALIA; Fernando Sáenz, General Manager, Savvy Data Systems; Laura Marrón, General Manager, Basque Artificial Intelligence Centre (BAIC); María Penilla, General Manager, ZIUR Cybersecurity Centre; David González, Procurement Director, SORALUCE; Juan Mancisidor, General Manager, FABRIKA High Performance Center; Joxe Mari Aizega, General Manager, Basque Culinary Center; and Guillermo Dorronsoro, Management Board Advisor, Zabala Innovation Consulting and PhD Professor, Deusto Business School, among others.

CECIMO, the European Association of Machine Tool Industries and Manufacturing Technologies, represents fifteen national associations of European countries, including AFM Cluster (member of CECIMO since 1964), and brings together more than 1,500 companies that produce around 98 percent of total European production of the sector and around 35 percent of world production. Founded in 1950, CECIMO promotes the development, innovation, and competitiveness of the European machine tool, additive manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing technologies industry. CECIMO plays a key role in representing the European manufacturing industry to the European and international institutions while boosting sustainable growth and technological leadership globally.

Image Source: CECIMO