Motek/Bondexpo – a Significant Milestone for the 2022 Fall Trade Fair Season
The traditional Motek/Bondexpo trade fair duo held in Stuttgart from 4 to 7 October 2022 was a great success. The 40th Motek international trade fair for production and assembly automation, together with the 15th Bondexpo international trade fair for bonding technology, was a highly successful and well-attended trade fair highlight for the manufacturing industry this fall.
Frickenhausen, 12 October 2022 – 505 exhibitors from 24 countries came to Stuttgart for Motek/Bondexpo 2022. “Once again, we experienced a lively, inspiring trade fair in four exhibition halls with satisfied exhibitors and expert visitors,” summarises Rainer Bachert, longstanding project manager for Motek/Bondexpo. “We were pleased to welcome 12% more exhibitors here in Stuttgart than in 2021, the relaunch year after the pandemic. We’re very pleased with these strong results.”
In many ways, this year’s trade fair was a celebration of Motek’s 40th anniversary. Original exhibitors, including Murtfeldt, KMT Produktions- und Montagetechnik, Afag, IEF-Werner, Föhrenbach, Utz Ratio Technik and Zimmer, were honoured on the first day of the trade fair by trade fair promoters P. E. Schall. “Throughout all the years, Motek has been a significant milestone with high standards in the field of automation,” observed Achim Gauß, managing director of the Zimmer Group.
“The Best Thing That’s Ever Happened to Us”
“40 years participation at Motek – that’s the best thing that’s ever happened to us,” remarked Ulrich Moser of IEF-Werner. “For years, we’ve been receiving more enquiries at Motek than at any other event. It’s perfect for presenting new products,” continued Moser. “The more explanation the product requires, the better Motek works as a marketing tool. We come together with the right customers and visitors here, and meetings take place directly at the relevant exhibits.” Ulrich Moser’s conclusion after four decades of participation at the trade fair: “Future prospects for Motek are outstanding!”
“Central Trade Fair Anchor in Our Annual Events Calendar”
Many voices have unanimously expressed their opinion that there’s no substitute for the exchange of ideas at a live trade fair. Manuel Rösinger from Bott said: “For us, Motek is the central trade fair anchor in our annual events calendar. We speak with customers and users about the optimisation of assembly operations at everything from manual to fully automated workstation systems.” Rösinger also stressed the fact that the right contact persons meet up at Motek/Bondexpo. The entire value creation chain for industrial manufacturing is presented at the event, and suppliers of solutions and systems get together with the right target groups. Thilo Utz, managing director of Utz Ratio Technik, reports that he has also had the same positive and successful experience: “We’ve had forty successful years at the trade fair – we meet our customers here, as well as our suppliers.”
Flexibility, Efficiency and Sustainability as Success Parameters
Many exhibitors focused on manufacturing flexibility, efficiency and sustainability as success parameters. Motek/Bondexpo once again provided the right setting and a suitable platform for exchanging information, as well as for cultivating customer relations and initiating business. For Igus too, Motek has been a “very important trade fair” for decades, affirmed Alexa Heinzelmann – the Cologne-based company focuses primary attention on improving all motion solutions and components. Sebastian Walter from Universal Robots also confirmed: “For us, the beginning of October always means: It’s time for Motek!” This has been the case each and every year, because Motek is “a highly user-oriented and very genuine trade fair”, affirmed Walter. Trade fair visitors come to our booth with specific robotics issues, which are mutually discussed and finally transformed into implementable solutions.
Elmar Worms from Bosch Rexroth also meets the right trade fair audience at Motek: “Our products supply answers to the questions that concern the trade fair visitors.” Amongst others, solutions for autonomous pallet transport, collaborative robotics and modern screwdriving technologies met with great interest this year at the booth operated by the company from Lohr, Germany.
Lots of Young Trade Fair Visitors on the Move
Not only in the Startup Area, but rather in all four exhibition halls, there were conspicuously large numbers of young visitors this year. Amongst other factors this was due to the comprehensive supplementary programme including the expert forum on “Safety and Automation” held by Pilz from Ostfildern, Germany, which presented the most up-to-date information on trends covering all aspects of safe automation. Young companies in the Startup Area in hall 1 with their new developments for production automation were of course targeted by young expert visitors as well. For example, Benjamin Volkert from Volkert Maschinen- und Anlagenbau demonstrated how users can familiarise themselves with cobot functions and modes of operation in a practical manner at his booth.
Six Use Cases at the Arena of Integration
Once again in 2022, the Arena of Integration (AoI) was at the heart of the Software for Assembly exhibition area in hall 1. Participating companies prepared a total of six use cases. For example, macio and sereact offered two levels of digitalisation and automation in production: a collaborative robot was used to pick various items from a single-sort container and place them into a load carrier. The cobot worked entirely autonomously thanks to AI-supported control software, which allowed it to perceive its surroundings and identify precise gripping points, even for complex objects, and to develop manipulation strategies. Another example of AoI involved digital order processing through the use of virtual commissioning and a digital twin as demonstrated by ruhlamat’s and machineering’s use case. Thyssen Krupp Automation presented an example of assembly digitalisation using a manufacturing execution system (MES) for both new and existing facilities (greenfield and brownfield).
On the Way to Normality
“Together with our exhibitors, we’re very pleased to have welcomed 24,236 visitors from 64 countries to Motek/Bondexpo 2022 in Stuttgart,” exclaimed Bettina Schall, managing director of trade fair promoters P. E. Schall. “This is almost on par with the levels of internationalism experienced before the pandemic began, at which time we welcomed visitors from 77 countries, and once again confirms the great significance of this trade fair for the production and assembly automation sector.”
Save the dates now for the 41st Motek and the 16th Bondexpo: the automation sector will meet again in Stuttgart from the 10th through the 13th of October, 2023.
Keep yourself well informed!
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60 Years of Trade Fairs for Markets – Schall Trade Fairs’ Recipe for Success
Schall has developed successful business platforms with internationally recognised trade fairs for quality assurance (Control), optical technologies, components and systems (Optatec), stamping technology (Stanztec), automation in production and assembly (Motek), bonding technology (Bondexpo), plastics processing (Fakuma), sheet metal working (Blechexpo) and joining technology (Schweisstec). This has given rise to entirely new markets in various sectors, whose protagonists are distinguished by tremendous innovative strength, comprehensive systems competence and practical application solutions.