News and market Bright prospects for Industrial Automation North America Peter Becker Robotics and mobile solutions. Only two of the growing trends in automation that have been key topics at this year’s Industrial Automation North America in Chicago. But there was even more to discover as our editorial team saw for themselves at the fairground. The weather was great when our editors arrived at O’Hare airport in Chicago. But there were not only bright prospects regarding the weather. The forecast for the second Industrial Automation North America at McCormick Place was good, too. Industrial Automation North America 2014 and the inaugural Motion, Drive & Automation (MDA) North America 2014 trade shows and conferences were co-located with IMTS – The International Manufacturing Technology Show – providing the events with a well-known and established partner in North America. This co-location was one of the reasons for the fair’s success. But for the organizers, there were even more reasons to be happy as Larry Turner, CEO Hannover Fairs USA, points out: “We doubled our size from 2012 and sold out the show six months before the event.” Industrial Automation North America and Motion, Drive & Automation North America together attracted 194 exhibiting companies from 14 countries, covering more than 50,000 ft² of exhibition space in the East Building of McCormick Place. Together with the IMTS, the show attracted more than 114,000 total registrants. Author: Peter Becker, editor, AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES 4/2014
News and market Up-to-date and international Addressing many of the current challenges of the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, Industrial Automation North America 2014 focused on a variety of core topics, such as flexible manufacturing, network security, technology integration, worker productivity, as well as data collection and analysis. The show’s roster of global exhibitors expressed excitement about the growth of the 2014 event since its founding in 2012 and acknowledged that attending the show is a critical component of their North American brand extension and end-user marketing programs. National pavilions from Germany, Taiwan and Italy added to the internationality of the event. And the organizers are expecting this trend to grow even further. Turner paints a picture of the future of the fair: “In 2016, we already got delegations coming in from the Netherlands and South Korea. We see it even expanding from an international standpoint.” Exhibitor highlights Among the exhibitors at Industrial Automation North America were some of the leading companies in their respective branches such as Beckhoff Automation, Molex, Rockwell Automation or Weidmüller. Beckhoff incorporated Google Glass in a demonstration of a wearable Human Machine Interface (HMI) Video review of the fair Our editorial team captured the fair for you. Watch our video impressions from McCormick Place, Chicago. Video Interview with Larry Turner, CEO Hannover Fairs USA We had the opportunity to interview the CEO of Hannover Fairs USA at the fair in Chicago. Watch the full interview regarding the future of the event, trends in the North American market and the cooperation with Hannover Fairs in Germany here. for operation and monitoring. Its smart technology solutions represent the fusion of the Internet and automation technologies within the framework of advanced manufacturing. Molex presented “quick disconnect” connectors that enable the replacement of motors in production lines, eliminating costly downtime in the production process. Weidmüller launched its “u-remote” distributed I/O platform with IP 20, ensuring faster installation and setup and improving machine performance and productivity. Patty Roberts, Rockwell Automation Marketing Manager, summarizes: “Industrial Automation North America is the meeting place for advanced manufacturing innovations, strategic partnerships and product collaborations. The show gave us the ability to expand our presence in discreet manufacturing and to secure new business leads.” A look into the future The CEO of Hannover Fairs USA was pleased with the event as well – and the organizers have big plans for 2016: “Overall, attendees were very satisfied with the show and plan on returning in 2016. To that end, we expect to double our space in the East Building at IMTS 2016 and look forward to introducing additional product and service categories.” The next Industrial Automation North America and Motion, Drive & Automation North America events will be held from September 12-17, 2016. www.ia-northamerica.com Video AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES 4/2014
