AUTOMATICA 2014 held in Munich during June 21-24 attracted 731 exhibitors from 42 countries, representing a growth of seven per cent, and 34,500 visitors from more than 100 countries, showing an increase of over 10 per cent growth as compared to the previous event.
Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Trade Fair Managing Director, rightly commented: “The growth rates and the high degree of satisfaction among exhibitors and visitors prove that AUTOMATICA has expanded its leading role.”
Patrick Schwarzkopf, VDMA Robotik + Automation Managing Director, observed: “AUTOMATICA provides a decisive contribution to a change in production as an innovation platform. Trade visitors from the whole world learn what the future looks like at AUTOMATICA.”
A total of 32 per cent of the visitors came from foreign countries, representing an increase of more than 15 per cent. “The motto of AUTOMATICA – ‘Optimize Your Production’ – is experiencing a boom throughout the whole world,” Hans-Dieter Baumtrog, Chief Executive Officer of VDMA Robotik + Automation, said: “It concerns the quality, safety and sustainability of products. Integrated assembly solutions, robotics and industrial machine vision are the key to success in this context! The increasing internationalization of AUTOMATICA is a clear indication of this development.”
Stefan Kapferer, Permanent State Secretary at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, quipped: “AUTOMATICA has once again demonstrated the outstanding position of Germany in robotics and automation.”
Automotive, the most important customer industry
In spite of the use of robotics and automation in many industrial sectors, automotive manufacturers and suppliers are by far the largest customer group. Almost two-thirds of the 2013 turnover of integrated assembly solutions and robotics were attributable to the automotive sector. Machine vision is more strongly diversified and to a large degree is capturing new applications outside industrial production, such as agriculture, medicine and security.
Still, the automotive industry remains the largest customer of Machine vision, with 26 per cent holding the greatest share of the turnover. The so-called general industry increasingly relies on robotics and automation. But the automotive industry is keeping pace and staying in the lead.