Europe’s industrial foundation, long built on precision, process discipline, and technological leadership, is facing a moment of strategic reckoning. A new generation of global challengers – particularly from China – has not only entered the field but redefined the pace of competition. Their most potent advantage is not simply lower costs, but the sheer speed at which they develop, test, and launch new products. In the past five years, Chinese mechanical engineering firms have tripled their revenue and increased exports to Europe by over 70 percent. More strikingly, their products reach the market 50 percent faster – and at 30 percent less cost – than those of many European rivals (based on analyses by Porsche Consulting).
This shift is not the result of incremental efficiency gains. It reflects a fundamental redesign of how Research and Development (R&D) is organized. Modular platforms, streamlined governance, and digital-first development practices enable a pace of iteration that traditional models, focused on exhaustive validation and layered alignment, struggle to match. In today’s compressed product cycles, the ability to move quickly from idea to launch defines who sets the standard – and who follows.
Read the whole article: Speeding up Research and Development in Mechanical Engineering
