Technology, people converge at Hannover Messe 2018

Event’s focus is integrated industry and supply chain.

By Bob Vavra, CFE Media April 9, 2018

The convergence of technology and people will be at the forefront of Hannover Messe 2018, taking place April 23-27 in Hannover, Germany.

"The integration of automation technology, IT platforms, and machine learning will take Industrie 4.0 to the next level," said Dr. Jochen Köckler, chairman of the managing board at Deutsche Messe, in a press release. The 2018 theme for the show is "Integrated Industry: Connect & Collaborate" and Mexico is the 2018 Partner Country.

With the industrial manufacturing landscape continuing to evolve, the focus of Hannover Messe 2018 will be showcasing how these technologies can be used to enhance productivity and safety while meeting the needs of a changing consumer market.

"The customer is king; he expects the world and he wants it right now," said Köckler, and Hannover Messe is expected to showcase how those demands will be met through technology. To do this, Hannover Messe is having a convergence of its own, as the CeMat material handling show will be co-located at Hannover Messe in 2018.

"The world’s leading manufacturers of automation technology, big-name robotics providers, and global IT and software corporations will all be there, making the show an absolute global hotspot for Industrie 4.0," Köckler added.

Energy is another area of emphasis at Hannover Messe, but in this sector, the focus is not on current capabilities but rather on future needs. "Everyone’s talking about the mobility transition, but the fact is, our power grids are simply not yet ready for the widespread use of electric cars," said Köckler. He noted that energy industry experts say the problem is electric mobility will result in much higher load peaks than are currently the norm. "The solutions needed to create power grids that can make electric mobility feasible will all be on show at Hannover Messe," Köckler said.

The five-day event actually begins with the opening ceremony on Sunday, April 22, where Mexico will be feted as the Partner Country. It’s the second time in three years a North American country has been the Partner Country, following the United States’ presence in 2016. More than 5,000 exhibitors and 220,000 visitors are expected at the Hannover Messe fairgrounds, and more than 150 presentations will take place during the week.

IHS Markit, a CFE Media partner, will present a roundtable discussion entitled, "Transformative Technologies Impacting Industrial Market Dynamics," on Wednesday, April 25. The discussions will offer an overall economic update, an industrial market review, and a look at the transformative technologies in industrial automation.

Bob Vavra, content manager, CFE Media, bvavra@cfemedia.com.