Industrial policy fireworks at the German Foundry Day 2025 in Aachen
BDG President Clemens Küpper called for greater acceptance of traditional industrial production in Germany in his opening speech. The @BDG has been adopting a much more visible and political stance for several years now. Küpper generally attributes good intentions to the new federal government with regard to investment and confidence – and perceives a noticeable improvement in sentiment within the industry.
This assessment was confirmed by the renowned economist Prof. Dr Jens Südekum in his keynote speech, in which he clearly highlighted the current challenges facing Germany as an industrial location: Accelerating deindustrialisation, excessively high energy prices, a shortage of skilled workers and geopolitical risks pose a particular threat to the competitiveness of small and medium-sized industrial enterprises. Südekum therefore called for greater planning certainty, faster approval procedures and targeted investment in digitalisation and energy efficiency. Only in this way can SMEs remain viable for the future and maintain their important role in the regions.
Daniel Rinkert, an SPD Member of the Bundestag, emphasised: “We must strengthen trust in politics – through decisive, innovation-driven action.”
Dr Marc Mateika (Meier Guss GmbH) also highlighted the positive signs from the foundry sector and, like Clemens Küpper, hopes for rapid changes in energy prices and the introduction of a competitive industrial electricity tariff.
Around 400 participants, together with leading suppliers to the foundry industry, created a lively atmosphere in Aachen. The industry gathering became a forum for an intensive exchange of information and new ideas.
, Dr Sebastian Tewes, also picked up on this momentum in his passionate presentation on the topic of artificial intelligence. Under the title ‘Digitalisation of production systems – do we need more human or artificial intelligence?’, Tewes put forward the central thesis: Human intelligence alone will no longer suffice in future – foundries will only remain competitive through the integration of AI.
He drew parallels with the scepticism previously directed at computer technologies and predicted that AI, too, will soon become the norm. According to Tewes, four key drivers are accelerating this transformation:
- Global crises & Supply bottlenecks
- Climate change & rising CO₂ pressure
- Skills shortages & demographic change
- Digital disruption
AI-supported assistance systems and data-driven process optimisation are therefore indispensable for resilient, efficient and future-proof production processes.
Conclusion:
The German Foundry Day 2025 offered a successful mix of technical expertise, economic location analysis and policy-setting. In times of profound transformation, the event also served as an important forum for networking – and sent a strong signal from the industry to policymakers and the public.