CHARACTERISTICS

Customer-specific or series: where margin is made in machinery

Many machinery and plant manufacturers combine customer-specific orders with series and modular products. Both businesses follow their own rules, and in both it is decided where margin is made and where it is lost.

Costing and variants decide the margin. Whether a special-purpose machine or a series product with options: anyone who costs quotations, variants and special requests too optimistically loses the margin before production starts.

Lead times and inventories tie up capital. With customer-specific orders, many months often pass between order intake and final invoice. In the series business, materials, semi-finished and finished goods tie up liquidity.

Demand fluctuates strongly. Capital goods react early to the economic cycle. Anyone who does not steer the order backlog with foresight only notices the downturn when production runs empty.

Service carries part of the earnings. Spare parts, maintenance and retrofits often have higher margins than new business. In many companies, however, they are run on the side.

Market situation · As of October 2026

The recovery is not reaching many mid-sized companies

Order intake in the Swiss tech industry was 12.1 per cent above the previous year in the first half of 2026. However, the growth was carried almost entirely by large companies: SME revenues fell by 3.8 per cent over the same period. At 81.1 per cent, capacity utilisation was well below the long-term average of 85.6 per cent, and around a quarter of companies reported a negative EBIT margin in the previous year.

In Germany, the VDMA expects a real production decline of 2 per cent in machinery and plant engineering for 2026, the fourth in a row. With 38 cases, the number of large insolvencies in German machinery in 2025 was well above the five-year average. In Switzerland, company insolvencies reached their highest level since 1994 in the first half of 2026. Part of the increase is due to public creditors enforcing outstanding claims more consistently since the revision of the Debt Enforcement and Bankruptcy Act.

Waiting for demand to return costs time. The companies that put their processes, sales and working capital in order now will emerge stronger from the weak phase.

Sources: Swissmem, press release of 24.08.2026; VDMA, economic forecast September 2026; Falkensteg, analysis of large insolvencies 2025; Dun & Bradstreet Switzerland, first half of 2026.

+12.1%

Order intake of the Swiss tech industry in the first half of 2026

−3.8%

Revenue of Swiss SMEs over the same period

81.1%

Capacity utilisation, long-term average 85.6%

about ¼

of companies with a negative EBIT margin in the previous year

38

Large insolvencies in German machinery in 2025

since 1994

no half-year with as many company insolvencies in Switzerland as the first half of 2026

Early warning signals

How to recognise that action is needed

Problems in machinery rarely show up first in the income statement. They show up with customers, in the order backlog and in projects.

  • The gross margin falls although revenue is stable. Some projects end below plan without anyone being able to say exactly why.
  • Transparency about operational performance processes is lacking. Outside financial accounting there are hardly any KPIs on delivery reliability, lead time or productivity.
  • Delivery reliability falls. Confirmed dates are postponed, customers escalate, and sales spends more time appeasing than selling.
  • Post-calculations are missing or come too late. Only at year-end does it become clear which orders lost money.
  • The book-to-bill ratio drops below 1. The order backlog melts away while capacities are still geared to growth.
  • Variant complexity grows without a contribution margin calculation per product, option and customer.

If several of these signals apply, a sober assessment is worthwhile before the figures force one.

More about the Corporate Health Check
Schematische Darstellung typischer Frühwarnsignale im Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, von der sinkenden Rohertragsmarge bis zur wachsenden Variantenvielfalt

Levers

Five levers for earnings and liquidity

Earnings and liquidity rarely depend on a single department. Growth, margin, complexity, efficiency and cash influence each other, which is why we look at them together.

Growth. We sharpen customer profiles, define which customers and industries are approached actively, and make the pipeline steerable: with clear stages, closing probabilities and owners. This also includes the service and spare parts business, which many companies run on the side. If new customer groups or markets are to be opened up, we realign positioning and sales with your management team as part of a transformation.

Margin. Margin is made in quotation costing and becomes visible in post-calculation. We establish robust pricing, compare plan and actual per order and reduce material costs through bundled requirements, renegotiated terms and reviewed make-or-buy decisions. Such measures are typically part of an optimisation with which a fundamentally healthy company strengthens its earning power.

Complexity. Every additional variant, option and special solution costs money in design, purchasing, production and service. We make the contribution margin per product, option and customer visible, expand modular systems and streamline the range where variants make no contribution. Why complexity costs earnings and how a focus on the core business succeeds is described in our article Peak performance through strategic focus.

Efficiency. From order clarification through design and production planning to commissioning, we make the core order fulfilment process measurable and shorten set-up and lead times. We also review personnel and overhead costs in production and administration. How we work with your teams is described under Operational Excellence.

Cash. Down payments, milestone invoices, payment terms and inventories determine liquidity. We set clear rules for down payments and milestones, reduce inventories using ABC/XYZ logic and make purchase commitments visible. If liquidity is already tight, working capital becomes the central building block of a restructuring.

Fünf Hebel für Ergebnis und Liquidität im Maschinenbau: Wachstum, Marge, Komplexität, Effizienz und Cash mit typischen Ansatzpunkten

KPIS

Which KPIs management in machinery should see every month

A few reliable KPIs are enough to steer a machinery company. What matters is that they are regular, comparable and forward-looking.

  • Order intake and book-to-bill ratio: The ratio of order intake to revenue shows whether the order backlog is growing or shrinking.
  • Weighted sales pipeline: Open quotations, weighted by their closing probability, show the expected capacity utilisation of the coming months.
  • Delivery reliability: The share of orders delivered on the confirmed date is the most important early indicator of customer satisfaction.
  • Project margin plan/actual: Comparing the costed with the achieved margin per order shows where money is lost.
  • Lead time: The time from order intake to delivery determines both delivery reliability and capital tie-up.
  • Purchase commitments: The sum of open orders with suppliers makes future cash outflows visible before they occur.
  • Inventory by ABC/XYZ: Classification by value and regularity of consumption shows where capital is tied up without benefit.
  • Gross margin: It summarises all these figures in the income statement; its trend shows whether the measures are working.
CEO-Cockpit Maschinenbau: Auswahl monatlicher Kennzahlen von Auftragseingang und Book-to-Bill-Ratio bis Rohertragsmarge

The selection is not exhaustive; which KPIs fit depends on the business model. In the CEO cockpit, we bring these KPIs together on three levels, from management to the core process.

More about the CEO cockpit

Our key topics

With tailored approaches and proven methods, we support you in aligning and developing your company — independently, and starting from your current economic situation.

Transformation: engineering and office area of an industrial company

Transformation

Sharpen your strategy and develop a holistic alignment to realize growth opportunities.

Learn more
Optimization: production area with assembly workstations and material flow

Optimization

Increase your problem-solving capacity and develop your organization from mediocrity to peak performance.

Learn more
Restructuring: production hall with machinery and operator workstations

Restructuring

Secure your company's viability through structural interventions and sustainable earnings optimization.

Learn more
Turnaround: production area of an industrial company with machinery and employees in motion

Turnaround

Secure your company's liquidity and continued existence and restore its earning power for the long term.

Learn more

FROM PRACTICE

Two machinery manufacturers, two starting points

Fallbeispiel Optimierung bei einem Sondermaschinenbauer: Titelbild des Blogartikels

Optimisation at a special-purpose machinery manufacturer

A globally active special-purpose machinery manufacturer with revenue of around EUR 130 million had been successful for years. But confirmed delivery dates were met in only 60 per cent of cases, inventories covered more than 250 days, and outside financial accounting there were no KPIs on the core processes. In a few workshop days, a programme with six building blocks emerged, implemented by the company's own teams.

Read the case study
Fallbeispiel Restrukturierung mit Geschäftsführung auf Zeit: Titelbild des Blogartikels

Interim management at a special-purpose machinery manufacturer

On behalf of the owner, we took over the management of a special-purpose machinery manufacturer with around 80 employees. The starting point was a dysfunctional organisation, an investment backlog and dissatisfied customers. After two years, revenue was 23 per cent higher and the gross margin 7 percentage points higher. In production, output rose by 50 per cent with a team 30 per cent smaller.

Read the case study

EXPERIENCE

Management and hands-on experience from industry

Our team combines management experience with technical, hands-on experience from industry. We know manufacturing companies not only from analyses but also from being responsible for results, employees and customers. That is why we speak the same language as your management and your production, and our solutions work in everyday operations.

More about us

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Frequently asked questions about consulting in machinery and plant engineering

Which machinery and plant manufacturers does 10-P Consult work for?

For companies with around 30 to 500 employees in German-speaking Switzerland and southern Germany, from special-purpose machinery, machine tools and packaging machinery to plant engineering. Typical features are customer-specific orders, a high share of engineering and an in-house service organisation.

Do you also work in plant engineering?

Yes. In plant engineering, projects are larger and run longer. This makes robust project costing, milestone invoicing and an ongoing plan/actual comparison per project all the more important.

How do you handle customer-specific orders and series business?

In the customer-specific business, we treat every order as a project with its own margin and start with quotation costing, order clarification and post-calculation. In the series business, contribution margins per product and variant take centre stage.

How do you differ from a lean consultancy?

Lean methods are one tool among several. We look at the whole company, from positioning, sales and purchasing to KPIs, and use operational excellence where it has the greatest leverage.

What if the situation is already critical?

Then securing liquidity takes priority. On request, we take over interim management or the role of Chief Restructuring Officer.

More about turnaround

How does a collaboration begin?

With an assessment of where you stand. The Quick Health Check takes five minutes to complete and shows what state your company is in and which fields of action offer the greatest leverage – as a five-page profile, reviewed by an experienced consultant and free of charge.

ASSESSMENT

Where does your company stand?

The Quick Health Check takes five minutes to complete and shows what state your company is in and which fields of action offer the greatest leverage – as a five-page profile, reviewed by an experienced consultant and free of charge.

Start the Quick Health CheckBook an initial meeting
Strategy consulting for SMEs
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