Hannover Messe
Hannover Messe 2015: “Integrated Industry – Join the Network!” The key challenges of the fourth industrial revolution can only be mastered through collective endeavor in networks. That is the message of this year’s Hannover Messe slogan “Integrated Industry – Join the Network!” What this means for the industry and which approaches were already taken, visitors can experience at the fair in Hannover, Germany, from 13 to 17 April 2015. The world’s leading trade fair for industrial technology is staged annually in Hannover, Germany. The next Hannover Messe will run from 13 to 17 April 2015 and feature India as its official Partner Country. Hannover Messe 2015 will comprise ten flagship fairs, among others: Industrial Automation and Motion, Drive & Automation (MDA). The upcoming event will place a strong emphasis on Industrial Automation and IT, Power Transmission and Control, Energy and Environmental Technologies, Industrial Subcontracting, Production Engineering and Services and Research & Development. Working together is the key to success “The trend towards digitization that is sweeping the economy is a powerful force for transformation in the world’s manufacturing industries,” said Dr. Jochen Köckler, a member of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe, the organizer of Hannover Messe. “Factories and energy systems are digitally networked, product development and release cycles are getting shorter, and new business models are popping up at an ever faster pace. In this environment, manufacturers who turn their backs on collaboration and try to do everything in-house will ultimately lose out. Increasingly, the companies that get their products to market the quickest and hence stay ahead of the competition will be those which are able to form close networks with all stakeholders in their production processes. The guiding theme chosen for Hannover Messe 2015, ‘Integrated Industry – Join the Network!’, reflects this trend and will help create forward momentum.” The message behind “Integrated Industry – Join the Network!” is that the key challenges of the fourth industrial revolution – such as achieving universal standards for machine-to-machine communication, maintaining data security and finding new business models – can be mastered only through collective endeavor in networks. Köckler: “It’s not about whether industrial or IT companies should take the helm. It’s about working together. Only by working together can companies make the most of the opportunities offered by the fourth industrial revolution. This requires strong networks between the mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and IT sectors. Hannover Messe 2015 will showcase the great innovative power that all sectors of industry can unleash if suppliers, manufacturers and customers join together to form networks of communication and collaboration with the common goal of optimizing products and solutions.” Highlights of the fair Exhibitors will showcase digitally networked production plants, ingenious 18 MDA Technologies 1/2015
NEWS AND MARKETS dialogue with their manufacturing-industry customers. The participation of major international IT companies – including Microsoft – shows that the lead theme of ‘Integrated Industry – Join the Network!’ resonates strongly with the industrial sector.” new production processes, and nextgeneration industrial robots – collaborative robots with sensor systems that can work alongside their human counterparts without any safety barriers. Visitors will see IT-based automation solutions that will bring fundamental change to all in-factory organizational processes. Another focal point of the fair will be additive manufacturing systems – or 3D printers, as they’re better known – make individualized products right before their eyes. “3D printing is an important part of the fourth industrial revolution and opens multiple possibilities for new business models and cross-company collaboration,” said Köckler, noting that subcontractors may one day no longer need to sell finished components directly to downstream manufacturers. They may instead be able to make 3D print datasets available as downloads and simply supply manufacturers with cartridges of the necessary raw materials. The manufacturers could then print the components in their own factories. In addition to long-time exhibitors like SAP and Dassault Systèmes, next year’s Hannover Messe will feature newcomers like Microsoft. That’s because, as Dr. Köckler explains, “smart factories are where mechanical engineering merges with information technology. IT companies are a core part of the integrated industrial network and therefore use Hannover Messe to Integrated energy supply chain The slogan is also highly relevant to the energy sector. “With its transition to more sustainable forms of energy, Germany leads the world in the search for a more futureproof energy system,” said Köckler. Smart grid technology has a vital twofold role to play in this energy transition. First of all, grids need to be intelligent if they are to be able to handle steadily growing in-feeds of renewably generated electricity in a way that is both efficient and commercially viable. And second, smart grid technology enables all energy networks – i.e. power, gas and heat networks – to ‘talk’ to one another so that capacity can be balanced and optimally deployed across the entire energy system. No country can achieve a truly sustainable, future-proof energy system unless it has in place IT-based networks that intelligently manage and integrate the entire energy supply chain, from generation and storage to transmission and right through to the end consumer. www.hannovermesse.com MDA Technologies 1/2015 19
