EMO Hannover 2019: The Smart exhibition
Sep 16, 2019
‘Smart technologies driving tomorrow’s production’ will be the theme at the 22nd EMO Hannover exhibition taking place from 16-21 September 2019.
Dave Tudor attended a press conference at the Gherkin in London recently to find out more.
Without question, EMO is one of the largest (if not the largest) international production technology showcases in the world. With 27 halls – equivalent to 130 full-size football pitches, the 2019 show builds on years of innovation – more than 2,000 exhibitors across 47 countries occupying more than 175,500m² of net exhibition space have signed on the dotted line.
It will also be breaking new ground in terms of infrastructure. For the first time at an industrial exhibition in hall 16, EMO will host a 5G arena. 5G, facilitating the next generation of mobile technology, will be an essential ingredient to the success of Smart factories and Industry 4.0 moving forward. At the show, several halls will be usable for 5G-powered showcases.
Notable exhibitors at EMO Hannover include DMG Mori, FFG, Mazak, Siemens, Grob, Doosan, Fanuc, Okuma and Makino, not to mention Index, GF Machining Solutions, Chiron, Trumpf, SLM, Stratasys, Paul Horn, Iscar, Sandvik and KUKA – as well as a host of other companies all experts in their respective fields.
66% of exhibiting companies are from Europe, with 30% from Asia and 4% from the Americas. Emphasising EMO’s international status, 64% of exhibitors will be from outside Germany.
Closer to home – at the time of writing, 25 companies had registered from the UK such as Matrix Machine Tools, Castrol, M.A. Ford Europe, Holroyd Precision and Filtermist International.
The international flavour also extends to visitors. At EMO Hannover 2017 a total of 130,000 trade visitors attended the trade fair from 160 countries. Almost half travelled to Hannover from outside Germany.
Stay Smart
Speaking at the press event, Christoph Miller, director, exhibitions at VDW, the German machine tool builders’ association said: “More than any other show in the world, EMO is a true international innovation forum, providing a global platform for companies to introduce new products and services. In fact, at the last EMO Hannover in 2017, 72% of exhibitors showcased innovations specifically developed for the show,” he affirmed.
With Industry 4.0 and connected manufacturing technology gathering momentum by the day it seems, it’s not surprising that it will feature prominently in Hannover.
“This year, EMO Hannover is addressing one of the biggest challenges facing the industry with its ‘Smart technologies driving tomorrow’s production’ theme,” Mr Miller explains.
“What is decisive for intelligent factories is the comprehensive networking of people, plant, machines and business processes along the entire value chain – largely because of the greater processing power that is now available. We can now process much more data, more quickly than ever before.
“According to estimates from the International Market Research Institute, around 30 billion private industrial endpoints could be networked by 2020,” he continues. “Smart technologies are the key to greater productivity, better quality and more flexibility.
“Digitalisation and intelligent factory networking also facilitates new functions such as process monitoring, predictive maintenance and self-learning machines based on smart data and data analysis. These create the basis for new business models, allowing manufacturers and providers to reach the next level of efficiency.
“The top priority of every exhibitor at EMO is to offer new, creative solutions to their customers’ manufacturing challenges. New Industry 4.0 concepts are emerging in all areas – machines, components, controls, measuring systems and material flowlines. EMO Hannover will be a hotbed of new solutions for a Smart factory. ”
Focus on digitisation
Whilst Industry 4.0 will integrate and underpin the entire show and evident across many exhibits and products, a new IoT in Production area will feature at the 2019 event which will be reserved for exhibitors in the fields of control, software and automation technology such as Beckoff, Bosch, Fanuc, Siemens and Heidenhain, and IT specialists like GE, IBM, SAP and Microsoft – as well as engineering consortiums like Adamos and Axoom that exhibited in 2017.
IoT in Production will provide a complete overview of the key aspects of digitisation, including industrial security, data analytics, industrial cloud services, process monitoring, predictive maintenance, artificial intelligence and machine learning and Big Data management.
In addition, a special ‘Industry 4.0 – Smart solutions for your business’ area will feature companies and renowned research institutes presenting intelligent solutions aimed at boosting their customers’ business success in the Industry 4.0 arena.
These include intelligent components for process monitoring or operator support, solutions that ensure smooth data flow with maximum data security and more. The special show will also feature representatives from the field of research who will be presenting the current state of scientific development.
The importance of connected manufacturing is further evidenced with the Industry 4.0 Trend Forum. The VDW will join forces with the software association of the VDMA (German Engineering Federation) at EMO to facilitate a high-calibre forum on the latest Industry 4.0 and machine learning trends, including presentations and panel discussions which will run throughout the show.
Umati, a common language for Industry 4.0 and based on OPC UA – a machine to machine communication protocol – will also be presented at EMO Hannover 2019. It provides neutral and open connection of machines to higher-level IT systems and is a prerequisite for the success of Industry 4.0.
Only then can data from different machine manufacturers with different control systems be transferred to ERP and MES’ or into the Cloud where it is processed further and evaluated – forming the basis of new services and functions.
Launched a year ago, umati (universal machine tool interface) is a collaborative initiative between eight prominent machine tool manufacturers, all major control system suppliers and the VDW enabling machine tools and peripherals to connect to customer-specific IT ecosystems securely and seamlessly.
It’s an open standard for machine tool users throughout the world and serves to exploit new potential for manufacturing of the future. This connectivity is the key to all the added value and business models that global economies hope Industry 4.0 will yield.
Of course EMO wouldn’t be EMO without it’s wide scope of technologies on display. The 2019 programme certainly won’t disappoint with just about every discipline associated with modern day manufacturing represented.
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a rapidly developing technology and EMO will cover the application of the AM in key customer segments such as aerospace, automotive, mechanical engineering and medical. Exhibitors include system providers, material suppliers, software developers and production services providers.
Other technologies covered by the show include machine tools and turning centres, CAD/CAM, automation, coolants and lubricants, industrial electronics, cutting tools, manufacturing software, quality, inspection and metrology equipment, metal forming and sheetmetal technology and grinding and surface finishing machines.
Exciting times
James Selka, CEO of the MTA, was also a guest speaker at the press conference and began by reflecting on the truly meteoric changes that are affecting modern day manufacturing: “In our industry, we are living in incredibly exciting times,” he enthused.
“Technology is advancing and accelerating phenomenally, providing opportunities for new business models and productivity leaps that are completely unprecedented.”
It would always be difficult for Mr Selka not to mention Brexit but he was pragmatic: “Despite the political uncertainty that’s hanging over the UK at the moment, industry is still operating at relatively healthy levels,” he stated.
“I’d like to reiterate that regardless of the outcome, we will continue as an active and positive member of CECIMO – the European Association for the machine tool industry and related manufacturing technologies – and will wholeheartedly continue to support EMO, Europe’s flagship manufacturing exhibition.
“The MTA will also continue to press the UK Government for as close a relationship to the single market as is possible. Representing 54% of our total machine tool exports, it’s our biggest market.”
Source: PES Magazine