Smart machine builders are separating software from hardware during export to reduce customs costs and increase pricing flexibility. This shift enables new digital services and makes international business more resilient.
CONTENT
RECAP
- Timely webinar offered in response to recent global trade shifts, including new import tariffs and economic uncertainty: How Smart Machine Builders Are Boosting Export Margins
- Digital transformation in machine building goes far beyond connectivity – it’s about delivering and capturing value in a targeted way. One often underestimated lever: separating software from hardware at the point of delivery.
- An increasing number of machine builders are discovering that this decoupling not only reduces import duties, but also enables financial, operational, and strategic advantages – from new business models to faster update cycles.
- FLECS Technologies shows how delivering software separately through a digital app store can help optimize import-related costs, enable faster updates, support digital revenue models, improve accounting and asset structures, and increase both perceived value and customer flexibility.
The webinar explored how exporting industrial machines with only basic software can significantly reduce customs duties. Instead of bundling everything into a single shipment, companies now deliver the machine first and let customers download the full software later through a digital app store. This split helps lower the declared value during customs clearance while still capturing the full value of the solution on-site.
The session outlined a typical export process under this model, from pre-testing and export to digital delivery and final commissioning. It also included a fictional cost example that showed how customs payments could drop by €180,000 for a single machine. Participants learned how this approach leads to faster depreciation, improves transparency, and simplifies compliance in global trade.
Beyond financial benefits, the setup supports modular business models such as software subscriptions, feature unlocks, and usage-based billing. Updates can be pushed flexibly at any point in the machine’s lifecycle. Security, license control, and version tracking are all integrated. The result is a more agile and transparent export process that helps manufacturers stay competitive despite rising trade barriers.
Presentation Slides by FLECS
