The CECIMO Fall General Assembly which met in November 2011 in Zurich elected Martin Kapp as new president of CECIMO for a period of two years. He has been entrusted the responsibility of leading the European Association which represents 33 percent of the world machine tool production. Kapp succeeds Michael Hauser, CEO of Tornos A.S. and chairman of the SWISSMEM's Machine Tools and Manufacturing Technology Group. During his presidency, Hauser created a new image for CECIMO which reflects the innovative and enabling character of the machine tool industry. He explained to European authorities and citizens the strategic role the machine tool industry plays in boosting the competitiveness of the European economy, as well as the necessity of ensuring the development of Europe's manufacturing base within its borders. He did a lot to stimulate innovation, to promote free trade and to uphold a global level playing field for the European manufacturers. Kapp thanked Mr Hauser for his excellent work and confirmed his commitment to maintaining the momentum of progress seized within CECIMO.

After his election Kapp stated: "We need to focus on how to boost the competitiveness of the European machine tool industry in facing the challenges of globalization, the fight against climate change, environmental protection, the importance of market surveillance and enforcement, the specific needs of SMEs and the lack of skilled technical labour force. We need to encourage a research and innovation strategy driven by the present and future needs of the market."

His most important goal is to point out to European stakeholders the importance of machine tools for industrial production in Europe. Kapp says: "Manufacturing is the core of the economy, which creates real economic and societal value. The machine tool industry offers full potential to reboot our economy and to create new jobs. Europe still has world-competitive machine tool producers that build on a long-standing engineering expertise, unique performance and a highly skilled workforce. Now it is time to remobilize our strategic assets and resources to build the future European economy."