13 June, 2025Presidents 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 to debate the challenges facing European companies that manufacture machine tools and advanced manufacturing technologies and to design a common strategy to tackle them.
The event will feature a full four-day programme combining social activities with an intense work programme. It will run from Saturday, 14th of June, to Tuesday, 17th of June, 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 programme that will include strategic and technological presentations and spaces for collaborative debate. The institutional opening will be led by the President of AFM Cluster, José Pérez Berdud, the President of CECIMO, François Duval, and the Deputy for Economic Promotion and Strategic Projects of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, Unai Andueza, who will officially welcome the attendees, highlighting the key role of the European machine tool industry in digitalisation, 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 of AMT (The Association for Manufacturing Technology, USA), who will analyse the impact of US policies and tariffs on the global machine-tool and manufacturing sector. Arantxa Tapia and Douglas Woods will be joined by Michael Hauser, President of StarragTornos, Pello Rodriguez, President of Mondragon Corporation, and Marcus Burton, Chairman of CECIMO's Economic Committee, in the panel discussion on how geopolitics will reshape manufacturing.
Other keynote speakers on Monday's session are Thomas Schneider, General Manager of Research + Development at TRUMPF; Agustín Sáenz, Market and Technology Director at TECNALIA; Fernando Sáenz, General Manager of Savvy Data Systems; Laura Marrón, General Manager of the Basque Artificial Intelligence Centre (BAIC); María Penilla, General Manager of the ZIUR Cybersecurity Centre; David González, Procurement Director at SORALUCE; Juan Mancisidor, General Manager at FABRIKA High Performance Center; Joxe Mari Aizega, General Manager at the Basque Culinary Center; and Guillermo Dorronsoro, Management Board Advisor at Zabala Innovation Consulting and PhD professor at 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% of total European production of the sector and around 35% of world production. Founded in 1950, CECIMO promotes the development, innovation and competitiveness of the European machine tool, additive manufacturing and advanced manufacturnig 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.
