The Manufacturing-X data ecosystem concept celebrated a highly acclaimed premiere. The quality of the discussions at the exhibitors' stands was particularly praised.

In the midst of the current debate about Germany and Europe as an industrial location, the mechanical engineering companies at the Hannover Messe were confident that they will be able to maintain their strong position on the global market if politicians provide reliable and competitive framework conditions. "Climate protection and sustainability are now at the top of industry's agenda all over the world. In order to achieve the desired climate neutrality, new, intelligent technologies and solutions are needed for resource-saving and efficient production across all areas of life. Here at the Hannover Messe in particular, we have sensed the great interest of customers in the solutions that the mechanical and plant engineering sector has to offer. The trade fair was therefore a complete success for our industry this year and an important sign that the major challenges of our time can be solved with intelligent and networked production," said VDMA Managing Director Thilo Brodtmann, summing up the events in the exhibition halls.

The next stage of Industry 4.0

The importance of mechanical and plant engineering for the industrial location was also demonstrated during the trade fair by the numerous visits by top politicians to the stands of VDMA member companies. For example, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck and the SPD presidium informed themselves about the innovative strength of the mostly medium-sized exhibitors. "Once again, Hannover Messe has proven its function as a global platform for industrial transformation. With the Manufacturing-X data ecosystem concept, the associations and the Industry 4.0 community have presented the next stage of Industry 4.0 to the global public. This is an alternative to centralized data platforms that opens the door to new, digital business models, especially for medium-sized industrial companies," said Hartmut Rauen, Deputy Managing Director of the VDMA. "The leading role of the German and European automation industry can thus take another big step into the digital future."

Focus on energy management and decarbonization

Once again this year, the VDMA was present in the exhibition halls with a wide range of topics that demonstrated the broad positioning of the mechanical and plant engineering industry. A particular focus was on the issues of future energy generation and supply. "This year more than ever before, the relevance of energy topics radiated across the entire trade fair. The halls were well attended and the interest from both industry and politicians in solutions for energy generation, energy management and decarbonization as well as for improving security of supply was very high," summed up Dr. Dennis Rendschmidt, Managing Director VDMA Power Systems. "The transformation technologies of energy plant engineering played a key role in this. In order to maintain or establish supply chains and value creation in energy plant engineering in Europe, politicians must now urgently offer companies long-term planning and investment security," he emphasized.

On the way to digital ecosystems

Software solutions are also crucial for intelligent and networked production, with which industrial SMEs can advance the industrial transformation. The number of visitors to the VDMA joint stand for software and digitalization was correspondingly high. "The networking of the software industry and mechanical engineering is becoming increasingly important, as the strong growth in the number of exhibitors in the Digital Ecosystems exhibition area made clear. In order to implement the digital transformation in industry across the board, we need to think even more in terms of digital ecosystems. Data collection and processing, business models and data protection are the key challenges facing the entire industry," explained Prof. Claus Oetter, Managing Director of VDMA Software and Digitalization. "Our exhibitors presented new solutions for this with their innovative software products."

Data exchange and wireless communication systems

A core task for companies is to ensure that their machines and systems can communicate with each other across manufacturers and work together smoothly in production. "Cross-manufacturer data exchange is of crucial importance for the industrial transformation. Visitor interest in our umati initiative was correspondingly high," said Andreas Faath, Head of VDMA Machine Information Interoperability. umati is the first data space for standardized production information, which is an important building block for Manufacturing-X. "umati brings together over 300 companies to communicate production data in a shared data space based on OPC UA, the global language of production."

Wireless communication systems will also be among the most important building blocks on the path to digital transformation in industry and society in the coming years. "The Industrial Wireless Arena + 5G Networks & Applications at Hannover Messe, jointly organized for the first time by VDMA AG WCM, ZVEI and Deutsche Messe, was a complete success," summarized Reinhard Heister, Managing Director VDMA Electrical Automation.

Drive and fluid technology records high popularity

The exhibiting companies from the drive and fluid technology sectors were also very satisfied with Hannover Messe 2023. Both sectors were able to score points with the topics of digitalization and sustainability and showcase a large number of innovations based on digitalization, hybridization and software solutions in drive and fluid technology. "The quality of the discussions was very good and, fortunately, the number of foreign visitors also increased significantly again," said VDMA Deputy Managing Director Hartmut Rauen. The sector committees CETOP and EUROTRANS, which are supported by the drive and fluid technology associations, jointly organized the "International Motion & Drive Summit" networking event, which - sponsored by Deutsche Messe AG - was a complete success with participants from all over the world.

Compressed air and vacuum technology show digital solutions

The exhibitors at Compressed Air and Vacuum (ComVac) were also satisfied with the trade fair. "The world's leading suppliers of compressed air and vacuum technology showed that digitalization plays an important role in saving energy. The exhibitors also showed concrete examples of condition monitoring, predictive maintenance and intelligent spare parts and maintenance management," said Christoph Singrün, Managing Director of VDMA Compressors, Compressed Air and Vacuum Technology. With the "SMART Service Compressed Air 4.0 / Vacuum 4.0 - Added Value from Machine Data" orientation guide, the VDMA is supporting its members on this path. "Our excellently attended 1st International CEO Panel Compressed Air & Vacuum 2023 made it clear what enormous achievements companies have already made in the digitalization of their products and business models," Singrün emphasized.