Abstract :
Throughout the entire spectrum of the manufacturing industry, the words ´globalisation´ and ´consolidation´ have become common currency. Companies and organisations are being forced to operate in increasingly competitive, increasingly global markets against increasingly aggressive world-class players. Through mergers, joint ventures and acquisitions, fewer and larger groups are taking the wider view beyond their immediate domestic markets to win market share in the fastest-growing world economies. Here, the author describes how Instron and Carl Schenck, two key international players in the niche market for materials, products and structures-testing equipment have now formed an alliance aimed at winning a bigger slice of the global cake.
