The 29th edition of SPS IPC Drives from November 27 to 29, 2018 promises to break records once again. At a pre-press conference, Mesago, organizer of the trade fair, gave an outlook on the automation industry get-together and an assessment of the current mood.

The organizers of Mesago Messe Frankfurt are expecting around 1,700 exhibitors this year (2017: 1,675 exhibitors) from around 45 countries. There will probably be 1,100 exhibitors from Germany (2017: 1,119), while around 600 exhibitors are expected from abroad (2017: 556). The exhibition space has also increased, by around 5,000 m² to 135,000 m². The number of visitors is expected to be on a par with the previous year. In 2017, 70,264 trade visitors attended the industry event.

Positive outlook for the industry in 2018, 2019 will be unpredictable

Christian Wolf, Managing Director at Turck and Chairman of the Exhibitor Advisory Board, emphasized the positive mood on the market. Industry sales in Germany increased by 7.4 percent, driven by the positive development of orders from China, the USA and Central Europe. China continues to be "the growth engine of German mechanical engineering". Like the ZVEI, Wolf also expects growth in the high single-digit range this year - provided the global political situation does not deteriorate. In his presentation, Wolf confirmed that Donald Trump's political activities, for example, are having an impact on the German mechanical engineering industry. Companies with a base in China, in particular, are observing Trump's trade disputes with suspicion and have also noticed an impact on business. As a result, the mood for 2018 is still very positive, while the mood for 2019 is more subdued. The volatility of the markets makes predictions difficult. Stability under Barack Obama is therefore a thing of the past, and trade freedom is still "a long way off".

SPS IPC Drives with new slogan and new hall layout

In its 29th edition, SPS IPC Drives presents itself with a new slogan: Smart and digital automation. The hall layout shows that this is also the program. In the age of digital transformation, operational technology and IT are moving closer together, including in the hall layout. The trade fair is "donating" two halls to this development: With Halls 5 and 6, the topics of software and IT are also moving into the core of the exhibition grounds. Software & IT in production is the focus of the two halls and this is where interested trade visitors will find the latest solutions from the software and IT sector.

Hall 3C will also have a new focus: it will be home to exhibitors specializing in "Mechanical Infrastructure" and "Control Technology". The neighboring Hall 2 is monothematically focused on "Mechanical Infrastructure". Halls 11.0 and 11.1 combine the themes of "Control Technology", "Electric Drive Technology/Motion Control" and "Software & IT in Manufacturing".

Guided tours for a better overview

The trade fair company is once again offering guided tours this year. Interested trade visitors can register for three tours for a fee:

• IT security in automation: The focus here is on cybersecurity and the end-to-end protection of all data streams.
• Smart production: This is all about process automation and solutions for the factory of tomorrow.
• Smart connectivity: Here you will find answers to how the data collected by intelligent components and systems can be used in modern production.

Hackathon "Digital ideas for smart automation

For the first time, a hackathon will take place at SPS IPC Drives. Start-ups and students are invited to develop "digital ideas for smart automation". Participating companies such as B&R, Balluff, Baumüller, Bosch Rexroth Endress+Hauser, Eplan, Phoenix Contact, Sick, Siemens and Turck will provide concrete ideas for the hackathon participants to try out for 48 hours. A jury will evaluate the results and announce the winners on Tuesday afternoon. The prize money is 15,000 euros. If you would like to take part, you can find out more at www.automation-hackathon.de.

WEKA organizes accompanying congress

SPS IPC Drives is accompanied by a congress on the first and second day of the trade fair. This is the fourth time that the Computer&AUTOMATION, Electronics and Markt & Technik editorial teams have organized this summit to accompany the trade fair at the Nuremberg Convention Center East (NCC Ost). This year, industry experts will give presentations on the following topics:

- Edge computing in industry - possibilities and limits

- TSN and OPC UA in the industry

- IoT platforms in the industry

- Sensor technology for Industry 4.0

Further information can be found at http://www.automation-40.de