Fair advance report The pulse of the times: Euroblech focuses on digitisation

This year’s Euroblech takes place in Hannover from 23^rd to 26^th October and is keeping fully abreast of the times, for not only do exhibits include lightweight construction, hybrid production and additive manufacturing, but also – and above all – concentrate on networked production.

Around 1550 exhibitors from 40 countries demonstrate their expertise along the process chain of sheet-metal and pipe processing. Under the motto “Sensing the pulse of the times”, this year’s 25th edition of the fair, organised by Mack Brooks Exhibitions Ltd., puts the focus on the topics which are moving the sector.

“The technological developments currently impacting the global sheet-metal industry are Industry 4.0 and the Factory of the Future. Due to networked production, firms can implement new technologies in production processes in order to raise efficiency and achieve competitive advantages,” says Stephen Brooks, CEO of Mack Brooks. “At the moment, the digital transformation is playing an important role in the sector. With innovations in production control and predictive maintenance, the whole process chain in sheet-metal processing is changing; automated manufacture enables optimisation of production processes. At the Euroblech, visitors can find solutions and business partners in order to integrate these new systems into their processes.”

Predictive Maintenance

Predictive Maintenance: Efficiency in industry 4.0

The entire technology chain in sheet-metal processing

Visitors this year can expect the whole bandwidth of intelligent solutions and innovative machines for modern sheet-metal production, presented in the form of live demonstrations at the fair booths. The fair profile of the Euroblech comprises 15 technology areas, thus covering the entire technology chain in sheet-metal processing: sheet-
metal, semi-finished products, component supply, handling, separating, forming, flexible sheet-metal processing, pipe/section processing, joining, welding, additive production, processing of hybrid structures, surface processing, tools, control and regulation technology, CAD/CAM/CIM systems, quality assurance, operational and warehouse equipment, and also research & development.

The around 1550 exhibitors in Hannover occupy a net exhibition area of 89,000 m², already surpassing the previous record of 87,800 m² set in 2016. Once again, Halls 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 and 27 are full. The most important exhibiting countries, after Germany, are Italy, Turkey, China, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, Austria, and the USA.

To help visitors organise their stay at the fair as easily as possible, there will be a range of interactive tools – from the third edition of the online competition and an electronic visitor information system to an online fair preview, with a completely new feature in the form of the Euroblech App for Android and iOS, available from September.

Gallery

For the third time, firms performing outstandingly in the sheet-metal processing industry are invited to take part in the Euroblech Online Competition with a total of five categories. Firms will be assessed for Best Practice, innovations, excellence and exceptional performance. The five winners will be chosen during September by experts in the sheet-metal processing industry via an online voting system.

This year’s motto for the competition, “Sensing the pulse of digitisation”, forms a thematic basis covering digital and automated processes. The five categories stand for current topics in the digital context of the sheet-metal processing industry.

Survey

Digital manufacturing in the aluminium industry on the rise

The first category, “Digital Transformation”, is open to firms with excellent applications of networked production methods. The second, “25 Euroblech Fairs”, is looking for the funniest Euroblech anecdotes from almost the past 50 years. “Cyber Security”, the third category, is for pioneers in secure data exchange within a production environment in sheet-metal processing. The fourth category is “Best Start-Up”, and recognises outstanding achievement among new firms in the sector. Pioneers in lightweight construction and component design can compete in the fifth category, “E-Mobility”.

A further highlight is the presentation of the “Awards at the Euroblech”, with winners selected by the specialist magazine MM Maschinenmarkt and its sister journal Blechnet. This will already be the ninth time that the two specialist magazines from the publishing house Vogel Communications Group have awarded this prize for the most innovative exhibition pieces at the fair. Entries can be accepted up to 25^th September 2018.

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