A total of 574 exhibitors from 35 countries and over 28,000 visitors from around 75 countries took part in this world-leading trade fair for intelligent automation and robotics. The top ten exhibiting countries after Germany were Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, France, Poland, the UK and the USA. The proportion of international visitors was around 38 percent, with a high level of participation from Eastern Europe in particular.

Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Managing Director of Messe München, was very positive in his assessment: "We were able to experience the future of automation and robotics here. It is unbelievable how high the innovation density is in this industry and I am of course very pleased that automatica has once again been chosen by numerous exhibitors as the platform where innovations are presented for the first time. This is the best prerequisite for automatica to build on this success next year."

automatica - driving force for the industry

For Frank Konrad, Managing Director of Hahn Automation and Chairman of the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association, one thing is certain after four days at the trade fair: "For years, automatica, as the leading trade fair, has offered an exclusive platform for exhibiting and recognizing industry trends and innovations and developing them further in the future. Many highly qualified interested parties and customers were on site and sought the opportunity for direct contact and open communication." Wilfried Eberhardt, Chief Marketing Officer at KUKA, can only agree: "Automation, robotics and digitalization are growth drivers. automatica is an important source of inspiration for the industry in these challenging times. The trade fair days were characterized by valuable discussions with a wide-ranging audience." And Tobias Rietzler, CEO & Co-Founder at robominds, adds: "Innovative solutions from robotics are moving into completely new industries and application areas. This makes it all the more important to have a platform at automatica where technology, products and applications come together to create solutions. After a four-year break from automatica, the euphoria at robominds is great: "We have been able to generate more inquiries than expected so far. We are already looking forward to next year!"

Personal interaction is irreplaceable

However, personal interaction also plays a major role for companies after the corona break and a digital automatica sprint, as Dr. Olaf Munkelt, Managing Director at MVTec Software, confirms: "You can tell that people want to go to the trade fair again. This is not surprising, as face-to-face interaction has no equivalent in the virtual world." David Reger, CEO and founder of NEURA Robotics, also emphasizes the advantages of a face-to-face event: "Our cognitive robots have senses such as sight, hearing, touch and thinking, making them unique in the industry. The best way to understand these capabilities is to see them live in action. Industry events such as automatica are an excellent platform for this. Seeing is believing. We are overwhelmed by the positive response and the quality of the trade fair visitors."

Supporting program proves topic leadership

In addition to the trade fair business, automatica 2022 once again offered a wide-ranging supporting program with more than 150 keynotes, panel discussions, presentations and live demonstrations. Patrick Schwarzkopf, Managing Director of VDMA Robotics + Automation, emphasizes that "automatica has once again proven its leadership in terms of the quality and diversity of the supporting program. What the participants get to see here is fantastic." This also applied to the other program items, such as the TestZone in the Future Robotics Hall, which was held for the first time, or - not to be forgotten - munich_i, consisting of the AI.Society with i_space, the Robothon and the munich_i Hightech Summit.

munich_i Hightech Summit celebrates live premiere

The latter celebrated its live premiere on June 22 following its digital implementation last year due to the pandemic. In addition to robotics, the focus was also on artificial intelligence under the motto "intelligence empowering tomorrow". Dr. Markus Söder, Bavarian Minister President, emphasized the importance of these technologies at the opening of the munich_i Hightech Summit: "With this platform for AI and robotics, Bavaria is setting the benchmark for the future! Technology is changing the world for the better. We believe in the opportunities."

Anja Schneider, automatica Project Manager, sums it up: "I am thrilled with what has been on offer here over the past four days - especially in these challenging times. After a much too long break, this year's event feels like a new start for the industry."

automatica and LASER World of Photonics to coincide from 2023

automatica will be back next year. The happy reason for the change: the trade fair is changing its rhythm and will be held in parallel with LASER World of PHOTONICS in future. Both world-leading trade fairs will take place for the first time from June 27 to 30, 2023 and then every two years at the same time and under one roof.