Leipzig Trade Fair awards prizes at Intec and Z

For the 15th time, Leipziger Messe awarded the Intec Prize to innovations or further developments from the trade fair's entire portfolio. In addition, the Intec Prize for Young Talent recognized exemplary ways of recruiting and promoting young talent. The 36 entries submitted were evaluated by an independent jury of experts from science, business, politics and the media. "The Intec Award impressively illustrates the enormous innovative strength of the exhibitors at Intec. Once again, new processes, solutions and products were awarded prizes that show a leap in innovation and advantages compared to the state of the art and promise great potential for the future," says Dr. Deliane Träber, Business Unit Director of Leipziger Messe.

The Supplier Fair Z Award, which was presented by Leipziger Messe for the first time and whose winners were also announced at the trade fair gala, celebrated its premiere. "We created the Z Subcontracting Fair Award to explicitly showcase the diverse, innovative offerings of suppliers. And the response was very good: 14 applications were submitted by the exhibitors," says Division Manager Dr. Deliane Träber. The criteria used by the jury to evaluate the entries were specially adapted to the supplier industry.

Winner sets new standards in laser measurement technology

Blum-Novotest was the winner in the "Companies with over 100 employees" category of the Intec Award. The manufacturer of measuring and testing technology received the prize for the LC50-Digilog laser measuring system, which, according to the jury, sets new standards. This system makes it possible to measure tools without contact at maximum speed and precision under the harshest conditions. The new generation of machines represents a unique selling point for the machining of rail vehicle wheels. In addition to the trophy, Blum-Novotest received 5,000 euros in prize money from sponsor LBBW Landesbank Baden-Württemberg.

Ceratizit Germany took second place with its new development "High Dynamic Turning". For the first time, a movable milling spindle is used during turning to dynamically generate the angle of the 360-degree rotating multi-cutter tool to the workpiece. The cutting edge can be changed without interruption by rotating around its own tool axis. According to the jury, this innovation increases productivity by up to 200 percent.

Kasto Maschinenbau was awarded third place. The reason: VisualAssistance, a pioneering solution for remote maintenance and repair of machines and systems. Using augmented reality technologies via tablet, smartphone or smart glasses, users can send live videos to Kasto's service staff. In the event of faults or maintenance work, they receive visual assistance in real time. According to the jury, the new application can reduce maintenance costs and also increase the productivity and availability of machines and systems.

Saxon company successful with pioneering solution

The winner in the "Companies with up to 100 employees" category of the Intec Award is Metrom Mechatronische Maschinen. The company from Hartmannsdorf in Saxony was awarded the prize for an innovative and pioneering solution for the "additive and subtractive production of plastic components in a high-speed process". By combining a 3D printing process with subsequent surface processing in a single clamping operation, a new type of additive manufacturing of plastic parts has been developed. According to the jury, this solution is an important contribution to the further development of additive processes for the effective production of complicated workpieces.

The prize in this category was supported with 5,000 euros by the Competence Center Mechanical Engineering Chemnitz/Saxony, the Office for Economic Development of the City of Leipzig and Leipziger Messe.

Spring Technologies took second place with its enhanced NCSIMUL software. The release published in 2018 integrates virtual machine models - so-called "digital twins" - in a virtual machine park. The software therefore meets the ever-increasing demand for Industry 4.0 solutions. The results include increased manufacturing flexibility, increased productivity and optimized plant availability.

Third place went to CAD/CAM Systeme Datentechnik Reitz. The company from Hesse was recognized for an additive process with 3D printing. The product developed, Centum 3D, enables industrial robots to constantly switch between additive and subtractive manufacturing processes without changing tools. As the jury explained, this enables complex plastic parts to be manufactured with high precision and surface quality in a single clamping operation.

Two first places in the Intec prize for young talent

Two of the submissions for the Intec Prize for Young Talent particularly impressed the jury with their very different approaches, with the result that two companies were awarded first place: BAM GmbH and Niles-Simmons Industrieanlagen. The prize money of 1,500 euros each was sponsored by Leipziger Messe.

The company BAM from Weiden in der Oberpfalz impressed the jury with its revised concept for junior staff development. Among other things, this includes the appointment of a technical training manager and increased work on social media. As a result, the proportion of trainees increased to twelve percent in 2018 with 14 new trainees. In addition to a modern training workshop, the concept also includes BAM TechDays, an open day and teacher training programs.

Niles-Simmons Industrieanlagen secured the prize thanks to the wide range of measures that the Chemnitz-based company implements in its work with young talent. According to the jury, the 32 trainees and dual students currently employed receive strong support. High performers are involved in specific research projects according to the principle of "support and challenge" - in the case submitted, in the optimization of polygon production on CNC machines by polygonal cutting. The individual promotion of young people and the company's broad-based work with young talent are two sides of the same coin - as are the recruitment of young talent and customer orientation.

The company Helmut Diebold from Jungingen in Baden-Württemberg was awarded third place for its creative search for young talent. Pupils from the region come into contact with the company's modern CNC production during taster days, trade fairs and internships. The special feature: Helmut Diebold's trainees take the initiative and inspire their successors with special offers. The strategy works: 70 percent of the employees were trained in the company.