23 October 2008, Pages – 18

Driven by the high fuel prices and increasing euro value, manufacturers in Europe have begun to enter strategic partnerships and collaborations with suppliers overseas to improve responsiveness across their supply chain. Further, deregulation and new stringent norms in the EU are driving manufactures towards collaborating and partnering, taking advantage of free trade flows in low-cost countries such as Romania and Netherlands, increasing capacities at reduced costs and entering new markets. In addition, pharmaceutical manufacturers have begun to look at collaboration and partnerships as a part of expanding their R&D activities.

Further, health and safety compliance and energy cost constraints have pushed manufacturing organizations towards innovative products with a strong technological content and value add. In addition, changing customer demands and increasing competition especially in consumer goods and pharmaceutical manufacturing segments are driving manufacturers to introduce new innovative products.

The report forecasts the IT spending of the Manufacturing Industry in Europe over the period 2007-2010. It is meant for IT vendors and intends to help them identify selling opportunities in the Manufacturing Industry in Europe. The report identifies key business issues being faced by the Manufacturing Industry in Europe.

Further, the identified sales drivers can be used to penetrate these accounts or increase current share of the customer's wallet. Also, the report lists leading IT buyers and provides their brief company profile, along with their IT spending.