Mechanical engineering of the world takes the first place among industrial branches in the number of people employed in it and in the cost of production. In highly developed countries, industry products account for approximately 35 percent of the value of all industrial production. For comparison, in the new states - only 15 percent.
At the moment, one third of the heavy industry is accounted for in such branches of engineering as electrical engineering, general, and transport. It should be noted that in addition to providing other industries with various machines and mechanisms, and the population with relevant products, the industry divisions include metalworking and equipment repair.
Mechanical engineering of the world is divided into four main regions:
• North America. It produces about 30 percent of all products - weapons, aircraft, space and rocket technology.
• Central Asia, Russia and Transcaucasia - power equipment, agricultural machinery, metal-intensive machine tools and military equipment.
• Eastern, Western and Central Europe produce thirty percent of the production.
• Southeast and East Asian countries — 25 percent: consumer electronics, ships, and cars.
The mechanical engineering of the world is unevenly distributed. In some regions, this industry is either not represented at all, or is very poorly represented. But there are also a number of developing countries (Argentina, India and Brazil) in which engineering is at the proper level.
USA is a leading auto manufacturer. The annual output is more than twelve million cars. Previously, Japan occupied a leading position.
The following countries remain the main manufacturers of electronics: China, South Korea and Japan. Developed countries, however, are moving into the status of importers of products of medium and low complexity from new states.
Thanks to these trends, the engineering industry of the world captures the rapid growth of trade in industrial products. Export of vehicles, machinery and equipment accounts for 37 percent of the total. Today, countries such as Germany, Japan and the USA are rightfully considered leaders in mechanical engineering.
The machine-building complex includes more than 20 industries: defense products, metal industry, consumer goods and transport.
But the main task of Russian engineering remains to provide production equipment for key sectors of the economy, and primarily manufacturing industries. The energy intensity of the gross domestic product and material consumption depend on the development of mechanical engineering.
The main problems of domestic engineering are the following:
• Lack of qualified personnel.
• Excessive production capacity, the cost of maintenance of which is extremely high.
• Lack of financial resources for the implementation of the strategic transformation program.
• Physical and moral deterioration of technologies and equipment.
• Extremely inefficient cooperation of enterprises.
• Outdated infrastructure of production facilities.
So what are the prospects for the development of engineering in Russia?
Today, Russian engineering can only produce products for relatively narrow market segments. The state of the industry does not contribute to increasing positions in the global market. There should be government support for this, of course, an important industry segment. Only when equal conditions with Western countries will be created for working in the market of machine-building production, we can talk about the corresponding competitiveness of domestic products.
Thus, the main task for Russian engineering is to satisfy the demand for goods that are produced in the country. However, for this it is necessary to achieve the appropriate quality of products, as transport is a zone of increased risk.