Exhibitors at HANNOVER MESSE, along with the event organizers at Deutsche Messe, have reached a strongly positive conclusion about this year’s event, saying that the world’s leading industrial trade fair demonstrated that the technologies for competitive and, at the same time, climate-neutral industrial production are already available. The next step, they said, involved the need to make consistent use of all the available solutions.

The core topics at HANNOVER MESSE included artificial intelligence, hydrogen, energy management, connected and intelligent production, and the new Manufacturing-X data ecosystem.

“A spirit of optimism permeated the halls at HANNOVER MESSE,” reported Dr. Jochen Köckler, Chairman of the Deutsche Messe Managing Board, at the closing press conference for HANNOVER MESSE 2023. “Our event managed to exceed the already high expectations of exhibitors and visitors,” he said. More than 4,000 exhibitors presented their solutions for a digital, connected, sustainable industry, welcoming 130,000 visitors from around the globe in Hannover. “The past five days of the trade fair have made clear that the technologies for competitive and climate-neutral industrial production are available – now it is just a matter of developing the necessary speed and determination in their implementation,” asserted Köckler.

At the same time, he said, it was clear that climate protection required the help of industry in the form of a supplier and user of technologies that enable CO2-neutral production. According to Köckler: “HANNOVER MESSE is the global platform for networking among industry, government, research and society as a whole. And it has never been more important than today to share knowledge and ideas. The technological solutions for climate-neutral production are already present. However, in order to secure the competitiveness of industry and our prosperity in the long term, bureaucratic obstacles need to be overcome, opportunities fueled and transnational cooperation agreements concluded.” The rate of international attendance was commensurately high: 43 percent of visitors came from abroad to find out how they can make their production fit for the future. After Germany, the top visitor nations were the Netherlands, China, Korea, Poland and the United States.

“Visitors were able to see the process of industrial transformation live, in practice, in the exhibition halls,” Köckler explained. Visitors were treated to displays of high-end industrial products for climate-neutral production, new hydrogen technologies, inspiring ideas for connected production processes incubated by startups, voice-controlled robots using AI, solutions for efficient energy-management and the launch of the new Manufacturing-X data ecosystem, which is intended to pave the way for digital business models, especially for industrial SMEs.

ZVEI President and Chairman of the HANNOVER MESSE Exhibitor Advisory Board Dr. Gunther Kegel summed up the view of exhibiting companies as follows: “Electrification, digitization and automation: these three trends have shaped this year’s Hannover Messe and are already leading to solutions for achieving effective climate protection. And it is precisely the interplay of these trends that demonstrate that the energy turnaround must also usher in a turnaround in energy efficiency. This tradeshow confirms our optimism for the electrical and digital industry and our forecast of 1 to 2 percent real production growth this year. At the beginning of the year, we were still assuming a lateral trajectory, even if at a high level. But now, industry is on the upswing.”

“Climate protection and sustainability are now at the top of the industry agenda throughout the world. In order to achieve the targeted climate neutrality, new, intelligent technologies and solutions are needed for resource conservation and efficient production across all areas of life,” said Thilo Brodtmann, Executive Vice President of VDMA. “Here at HANNOVER MESSE we have sensed the great interest of customers in the solutions that the mechanical and plant engineering sector is providing for this. That’s why this year’s show was a complete success for our industry and an important sign that intelligent and connected production can solve the major challenges of our age.”

Köckler recapped: “For the companies who exhibited here, HANNOVER MESSE is a WIN-WIN-WIN tradeshow. First, they are able to meet visitors from all over the world. Second, they benefit from doing business with the other 4,000 exhibitors. And third, they have access to more political decision-makers and delegations than at any other show.”

More than 100 political delegations from over 50 nations visited HANNOVER MESSE this year – first and foremost, the visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, along with Indonesian President Joko Widodo and German Economics Minister Robert Habeck, who spent the entire Tuesday touring the HANNOVER MESSE halls. Representatives of the European Union in Brussels were present like never before. Other delegations came from other parts of Europe as well as Argentina, Mexico, Canada, Japan, China, the USA and India. This year’s Partner Country, Indonesia, presented itself as a highly attractive and dynamic location for investment and partnerships.

In addition to the 130,000 visitors on the exhibition grounds, the fair was able to count another 15 000 registered visitors who participated digitally in the event. They followed the conference program, informed themselves in digital product presentations and took part in hybrid visitor tours.

The next HANNOVER MESSE will be hosted from 22 to 26 April 2024.