handling: This year's Motek will be number 38. What will surprise visitors who have already been to Sinsheim or Stuttgart 37 times?
Bettina Schall: Well, Sinsheim has been a thing of the past for Motek since 2007. One surprise this year will certainly be the "Arena of Integration", which we are organizing together with our established cooperation partner Landesnetzwerk Mechatronik Baden-Württemberg and, for the first time, with the involvement of around 30 participants from industry. The Arena of Integration is a high-tech theme park in which companies will use use cases and sample cells to show concrete examples of how networked production and assembly in conjunction with digital applications works in practice. Trade visitors will be shown industrially applicable production examples that they can take directly into their working environment as a solution. This will be of great benefit to trade visitors.

handling: What was on the exhibitors' minds this time in the run-up to the trade fair? Are there any emerging trends?
Bettina Schall: It's no longer just a trend: increasing automation and end-to-end digitalization are the topics that are currently driving industrial production and will continue to do so for some time to come. Robotization, networking, digitalization, efficiency, data management, safety, consistency, sustainability - at first glance, these are all just buzzwords, but in everyday practice, they are real drivers on both the manufacturer and user side. In this respect, exhibitors are initially focusing on which products and systems they can offer in order to provide users with practical solutions with which they can work in a contemporary and economical way. Our claim is therefore "Smart Solutions for Production and Assembly" and is a sign that the core of the Motek product and service portfolio now includes digitalized components, assemblies, subsystems and complete systems.

handling: What about the trade fair participants from abroad? Do they see the trade fair as their own forum or is it more about maintaining contacts with the German-speaking market?
Bettina Schall: Of course, it is not possible for us to prove in detail which intentions exist and which results are achieved in each case. But the increasing degree of internationalization among both exhibitors and trade visitors is a strong indication of the apparently very high significance of Motek. At this industry trade fair, trade visitors are presented with a globally unique and comprehensive picture of the value-added chains of information and process-oriented production and assembly automation geared to the needs of industry. Motek is not a show, but an industry highlight for practitioners. This is, of course, a plus point that foreign guests take advantage of, both in terms of their own products and services and for trade visitors who want to get an idea of which new technologies can be profitably transferred.

handling: When I visit companies, I often encounter concerns about recruiting new talent. What role can a trade fair play in this?
Bettina Schall: As a unique communication and business platform, Motek is the specialist market for the realization of current and future production solutions. This must also be communicated to the next generation. This is where research from various institutes traditionally meets to transfer their approaches into practice and, conversely, to implement the requirements of practice in a scientific way. In this respect, Motek is also a long-established platform for young people. The topic of robotics enjoys widespread interest, and if it is possible to show schoolchildren, trainees and students what a robot really is and how complex and fascinating a factory works during their tours of the trade fair, a valuable contribution will have been made to attracting young talent.

handling: Bondexpo takes place at the same time as Motek. Is this a practical arrangement or are there also synergies?
Bettina Schall: If you like: Motek and Bondexpo are a practical arrangement that brings synergies for everyday production! The thematic focus of Bondexpo is consistently on industrial joining and bonding. The focus on this process chain through bonding, potting, sealing and foaming provides the user with useful news regarding materials, applications, cost-effectiveness, quality, reliability and efficient processes within the assembly or manufacturing process. We are expecting a total of around 1,000 exhibitors on 63,000 square meters of hall space.

handling: All indicators point to a global phase of economic slowdown. In which areas can investments counteract falling sales?
Bettina Schall: That's true. However, when there is a "crisis", positive, fruitful reactions are always generated: even more efficient processes, even more economical management, even more safety and sustainability in order to manufacture as effectively as possible. Motek with its portfolio of topics is certainly very useful here. Namely in the sense that the trade visitors take up suggestions and critically examine current manufacturing practice or go further and set the course for the future in order to meet the technological and economic requirements of the immediate future. This is where our slogan "Smart Solutions for Production and Assembly" takes on real meaning and substance. And we can also expect answers to the current pressing questions from the contributions at the Arena of Integration. dsc