Every two years, the trade fair duo Intec and Z opens the new year. Since 2007, the two trade fairs have been held in parallel and provide the mechanical engineering and supplier industry with important impetus as to how the coming months will develop - both technologically and economically. "The supplier trade fair Z is an ideal complement to the mechanical engineering trade fair Intec: Mechanical engineering needs suppliers and suppliers need machines. Both sectors meet at the trade fair duo for an international exchange," says Kersten Bunke, Project Director at Leipziger Messe, describing the synergies of the two trade fairs in an interview with SCOPE (issue 12/2018).

Around 1,300 exhibitors will be showcasing new products, the latest technology and complex services as part of the trade fair duo. At Intec, visitors can expect an overview of production technology for metalworking, automation technology for upstream and downstream processes in production as well as technology and equipment for workshops and operations.

Z offers suppliers of the middle production stages in particular a platform for positioning themselves on the market. This year, Leipziger Messe was able to attract new companies in addition to established exhibitors. The international exhibitors mainly come from Western and Eastern Europe. In order to promote international exchange, the exhibitions are accompanied by a comprehensive supporting program.

New special shows, forums and congresses
The three special shows "Additive + Hybrid", "Sensor Technology" and "New Mobility" offer an opportunity to obtain specific information and a platform for discussion and exchange of opinions.

Additively manufactured rocket engine with aerospike (air spike nozzle instead of conventional bell-shaped nozzle). © Christoph Wilsnack, Fraunhofer IWS

The special show with integrated specialist forum "Additive + Hybrid - New manufacturing technologies in use" was redesigned for 2019. Here, interested visitors can find out how classic manufacturing processes can be combined with new technologies and thus overcome the limits of conventional processes. Among other things, new possibilities for functional integration, the choice of technology in terms of cost-effectiveness, quality assurance processes and the advantages of new material concepts and multi-material production will be on show.

The focus is not on sensor production, but on the benefits and possibilities of sensor technology, system integration, the control and processing of sensor data as well as examples of solutions and possible applications in the new special show with accompanying specialist forum "Sensor technology - on the way to the intelligent product. Solutions, trends, potentials." The four-day specialist forum is being developed and organized by Leipziger Messe together with the Saxon automotive supplier network AMZ and a programme advisory board made up of experts from industry and science.

The trade fair duo will also address a megatrend that is of great interest to the mechanical engineering and supplier industry. On February 7, the likewise newly conceived specialist forum "New Mobility: New Vehicle Drives - Challenges and Opportunities for the Manufacturing Technology and Supplier Industry" will showcase the challenges for the sectors associated with the electromobility megatrend, among other things. The German Engineering Federation VDMA is participating in the event. In a study, it has examined scenarios for future drive concepts for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and mobile machinery for the European, US and Chinese markets up to 2030 and derived requirements for the development of value creation in manufacturing.

For the 6th time, the "Resource-efficient production" congress of the Fraunhofer Group for Production is taking place under the motto "Smart Production. Scenarios. Solutions. Benefit". The presentations will showcase the latest methods and practical examples from production that lead to increases in efficiency. The main focus will be on the networking of information: Data analysis, among other things, can be used to identify correlations in complex processes and thus identify optimization potential.

The gateway to Eastern Europe
However, Intec and Z not only provide impetus for annual investment decisions, the trade fair duo has also established itself as a showcase for (East) German mechanical engineering and as a gateway to Eastern Europe due to its location. This is also evident in the numerous cooperation events. For example, the Enterprise Europe Network, or EEN for short, is taking place for the 13th time. Organized by the Leipzig Chamber of Industry and Commerce and its partners, the networking event brings international visitors and exhibitors together with German trade visitors.

On 5 February, Saxony Economic Development Corporation is organizing the International Cooperation Forum Russia/CIS. Also organized by Saxony Economic Development Corporation is the Polish-Saxon Business Forum 2019, which will take place on 6 February. Under the motto "Cooperation. Digitalization. New technologies without borders", a tour of the trade fair will take place on February 6, while the economic forum will culminate in the "Country Meeting 4.0 - Saxony - Poland - Czech Republic - Romania" on February 7.