Italian machine tool orders recorded strong gains in the third quarter of 2017 — up 14.7% compared to the same period of 2016. The rise was mainly due to a buoyant domestic market, with orders up 68.2% and exports up 1%.

Massimo Carboniero, president of UCIMU (www.ucimu.it) — the Italian Machine Tools, Robots and Automation Manufacturers’ Association — said: “This data attests to the strength of the Italian market and to the effectiveness of the incentives implemented by the National Plan Industry 4.0, which perfectly meets the requirements for industrial plant modernisation and for the introduction of the digitalisation and interconnection principles that are necessary for the Italian manufacturing industry to remain competitive.”