The VDMA (German Engineering Federation) represents more than 3300 mainly medium-sized companies in the capital goods industry, making it the largest industrial association in Europe. The association represents the common economic, technical and scientific interests of the mechanical engineering industry, especially towards national and international authorities and business circles. Within the scope of this representation of interests, members are entitled to information, advice and assistance. The German mechanical engineering industry is an international leader - in 25 out of 31 comparable sectors, German companies are among the world's top 3 suppliers, with half of them even being world market leaders. The mechanical and plant engineering industry is the largest industrial employer in Germany with currently 1.35 million employees. It develops and produces key technologies for the world market. With a turnover of 220 billion euros (2016), the industry is the largest industrial employer and one of the leading German industrial sectors overall. VDMA's membership covers the entire process chain - in the field of mechanical and plant engineering, including associated tools and components, process, production, manufacturing, drive and automation technology, office and information technology, software, product-related services, i.e. from components to plants, from system suppliers to system integrators to service providers. The association reflects the diverse customer-supplier relationships along the entire value chain and promotes both industry-specific and cross-industry cooperation. The VDMA is divided into 15 cross-sectional departments, representative offices in Berlin and Brussels, liaison offices in Brazil, China, India, Japan and Russia, 38 trade associations and working groups, international committees and forums, 6 national associations and several service organisations. You can find the VDMA imprint at https://www.vdma.org/impressum