“Every good business relationship begins with a personal conversation,” says trade fair director Michael Ruchty. From April 25th to 27th, there should be ample opportunity for over 1,500 exhibitors at the Stuttgart trade fair grounds, which are completely booked out with 125,000 square meters (+7% compared to 2022).
As the world's largest logistics trade fair, the organizers of LogiMAT are firmly established as a working trade fair for direct business deals within the intralogistics industry. Digitalization, automation, and flexibility, along with sustainability and resource efficiency, will be the dominant themes – both for developers and plant manufacturers, as well as for companies in industry, trade, and services. This is reflected in the current demand for intralogistics investment projects. "In a volatile environment," says Markus Schlotter, Managing Director Central Europe of the robotics developer Exotec, "intralogistics companies are preparing for the future with resilient, flexible, and resource-saving solutions." Order books are full. "The industry as a whole is doing well."
M. Ruchty
Against the backdrop of the global economic situation, the degree of internationalization at LogiMAT is clearly increasing. According to Euroexpo, the proportion of international exhibitors has grown to well over a third this year. Further evidence of this increasing internationalization: among the approximately 200 new exhibitors coming to Stuttgart for the first time this year, international companies account for almost 70 percent. "With 25 new exhibitors from Asia alone, 20 of them from the People's Republic of China, overseas companies make up an overall share of 25 percent," summarizes Ruchty. "We are also pleased with slight increases from Africa and South America." This development is further supported by successful LogiMAT spin-offs in China and Thailand.
Photos: Euroexpo
In an effort to maintain "short distances" despite the now enormous size of the exhibition, the ten halls have been newly organized according to exhibitor groups. The largest exhibitor segment, system integrators, machine and plant manufacturers, will present their current product and solution range for efficient material flows in Halls 1 (including the gallery), 3, 5, and 7. "Given rising prices, energy efficiency is increasingly coming into focus in material flow and logistics," says Ruchty. "In all halls, exhibitors will demonstrate how sustainability and the responsible use of resources can be combined economically and successfully through investments in the latest product developments and solutions."
Logistics and intralogistics are often among the pioneers in energy saving and resource conservation – for example, as "pioneers of the circular economy," as Johannes Fottner, Chair of the Institute for Materials Handling, Material Flow and Logistics (fml) at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), described it in the LogiMAT 2023 program. Even before the onset of the now prevalent shortage of skilled workers and municipal and legal requirements, such as those governing the designation of industrial and logistics areas, the sector had already comprehensively considered sustainability and resource efficiency. Its range of solutions incorporates not only recycling and retrofitting, circular systems, and energy consumption reduction, but also personnel deployment and land use.
Among the aspects highlighted are compact storage and order picking solutions with energy recovery systems, sleep modes for periods of reduced order volume, and low energy consumption thanks to lightweight construction. The use of supercapacitors ensures energy savings for shuttle robots and industrial trucks. Energy recovery systems and high-frequency charging technology will be showcased by nearly all manufacturers. New, energy-efficient identification solutions, as well as the integration of sensors and AI-supported industrial image processing, increase transparency and support resource and process efficiency. Furthermore, at LogiMAT 2023, manufacturers will present their latest developments in the integration of alternative drive technologies such as lithium-ion and hydrogen/fuel cell technology.
Hall 7 is shared by system integrators, machine and plant manufacturers, and exhibitors of complementary products and new developments in the areas of handling, cranes, fire protection and safety, loading technology, and gates. There, trade fair visitors can learn all about the latest crane sets, turnkey systems, transfer cars and platform lifts, lifting and handling systems for a wide variety of loads, and drive systems for unidirectional, bidirectional, or omnidirectional maneuverability.
In Halls 9 and 10 on the opposite southern axis of the exhibition grounds, as well as in the outdoor area between Halls 8 and 10, the international material handling equipment industry presents its latest innovations and future-oriented concept studies. This year, almost the entire roster of leading manufacturers is once again present in Stuttgart. The presented range of new developments extends from the latest forklifts, order pickers, and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) to new features such as innovative alternatives to the steering wheel, as well as new developments in driver assistance and fleet management systems, and on to "Green Performance" and alternative drive technologies, including battery and energy management. Premieres are announced in areas such as reach trucks, electric counterbalance and multi-directional forklifts, vertical order pickers, narrow-aisle trucks, and pallet trucks.
Controlling and analytical information technologies (IT) are the enablers for fulfilling the requirements of process automation and digitalization. The providers of software solutions for intralogistics, the second largest exhibitor group at LogiMAT 2023, will present numerous advancements in innovative functionalities for warehouse and transport management systems in Hall 8. In addition, they will showcase, among other things, new high-performance material flow computers, analysis modules for business and performance data, an EDI portal solution for document exchange without an ERP system, new cloud applications, and AI-supported technology for real-time analysis in image capture.
AGVs and Robots:
Another new feature at LogiMAT 2023 concerns the area of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and robotics. "This segment is currently developing so dynamically that we have expanded the exhibition space for it," explains Ruchty. "We have moved this area to Hall 6." There, more than double the exhibition space compared to last year, totaling 10,500 square meters, is available for mobile material handling equipment and robots. Among the exhibits are the latest stationary and mobile picking and collaborative robots with AI-based image processing software, as well as the first fully autonomous AGVs for both internal transport and outdoor use. AGVs are also on display as exhibits.
Last but not least, exhibitors from the RFID/Auto-ID, labeling, and packaging/container sectors will be showcasing their latest developments in Halls 2 and 4, as well as along the entire south side of the East Entrance. Visitors can expect a diverse range of products and services, from advanced plastic and new battery-free smart labels to on-the-fly code scanning systems, Airpop packaging for the transport and shipping of temperature-sensitive products, and newly developed, fully automated packaging machine systems for paper bags.
The East Entrance also features an exhibition area for young, innovative companies, supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action. A comprehensive and engaging supporting program will complement the event, including lecture series by experts from industry and academia, informative exhibitor presentations, live events on load securing, and the AIM-D Tracking & Tracing Theatre (T&TT).
