The construction sector is on a high and ready to invest, results of an ‘industry barometer’ study confirm.
The positive mood of the industry is well-timed, with the world’s largest trade fair, Bauma 2019, beginning on Monday, April 8. Event organizers are calling on the sector to step up its investment in digital technologies.
Polling 10,000 industry experts over a period of two months, the study revealed 44% of respondents are planning to increase the investment volume for their company in the future.
Comparing like-for-like results, African (68%) and Asian (67%) based respondents were most optimistic about future investment trends, while European (42%) and specifically German (39%) participants were a little more sceptical.
Assessing the climate of the construction industry, Klaus Dittrich, chairman and CEO of Messe München, said, “During the Bauma 2019 year, the industry is doing brilliantly. The majority of the respondents assume that investments will remain at a high level.
“This illustrates the extraordinarily positive mood with regard to the economic development of the construction machinery industry. But it also shows that an above-average willingness to invest is necessary in order to remain competitive in the long term.”
Over half of respondents (58%) cited a lack of skilled workers as the greatest challenge for the industry, with increasing competition/price pressures (31%), increased legislation (24%) and digitization of business processes (19%) considered as less serious concerns that need addressing.
While more than half of businesses surveyed had already digitized parts of their company or are starting to do so (28% and 25% respectively), just 4% considered themselves as leaders in digitization. 
