EMO preview event sets the stage for latest technology trends

Around 70 international journalists, from as far afield as China, India, the USA, South Africa, Mexico, and Brazil gathered at the VDW’s (German Machine Tool Builders‘ Association) headquarters in Frankfurt am Main last month to meet industry leaders and get a glimpse of some of the innovations, and exciting new products that will be on display at EMO Hannover 2025 next month (22-26 September). The event was attended by Machinery Market‘s online editor John Hunter.

Dr Markus Heering, the VDW’s executive director, recently completed a world tour across three continents, 27 countries and 35 cities promoting EMO Hannover 2025, answering questions from many journalists, companies, exhibitors and industry representatives on a wide range of topics that included international tarrifs, the competitiveness of German machine tool manufacturers in the Asian market, as well as the latest technological trends that are likely to emerge at EMO Hannover 2025. He said the exhibition is positioning itself as the most important platform for dialogue between all international players in the industry: “Nowhere else can visitors encounter so much international expertise as at EMO.”

Pictured right: Renishaw showcased the Equator-X system at the EMO preview

Proceedings at the Frankfurt am Main press conference began with the VDW’s executive director being interviewed by presenter Sven Krause. Dr Heering was first asked about his impression of the recent EMO World Tour and emphasised how impressed he was with the manufacturing communities in many of the countries and how they were preparing for EMO. He was also very pleased with the huge anticipation the trade fair was generating worldwide, despite the current global uncertainties and challenges manufacturers are experiencing. Dr Heering is convinced that EMO will generate ’positive signals’ for industry. No matter what the focus is — whether that could be technical innovations or 24/7 automation. Dr Heering said: “Both exhibitors and visitors arrive expecting to leave the trade fair in a positive and confident mood.”

He added that EMO will reflect the current megatrends of automation, digitalisation, artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability. This was also confirmed by the 26 exhibitors who were presenting at the preview. In a series of 90-second pitches, they described to journalists what visitors can expect to see on their stands at EMO next month. An entertaining event ensued with no one allowed to over-run their slot, but it sparked various in-depth discussions during a ‘meet and greet’ session with journalists that followed and which continued on a boat trip on Frankfurt’s Main River in the evening to round off the event.

Sustainability concepts
Many of the pitches revolved around new machines and features, tools, automation and quick-change tooling solutions, as well as process optimisation and the use of robots with intelligent software or autonomous transport systems in the factory. Furthermore, sustainability concepts were discussed, with long-lasting machines and retrofitting for a second life, as well as the question of how the CO₂ footprint of machines can be reduced.

Pictured left: The ETA factory in Darmstadt

The topics of sustainability and energy efficiency were also to be addressed on the second day of the preview, during which a tour of the ETA factory in Darmstadt, a model factory of the Technical University, was on the agenda and where the focus was on research for the climate-neutral factory of tomorrow.

The innovations presented in the three pitch rounds also addressed solutions to the shortage of skilled workers, for example machines with ‘intuitive machine controls‘ to show how ‘easy high technology can be’. Great attention was paid to the announcement of a machine with an integrated chatbot which is not only used for training purposes, but also asks the operator, for example, whether he now wants to refill cooling lubricant and then immediately shows him where he can find the required cooling lubricant in the workshop.

The prospects of AI in manufacturing were also the subject of a panel discussion featuring Sebastian Heinz, founder and CEO of Statworxs, a consulting and development company for data and AI from Frankfurt am Main, and Professor Michael Zäh, chair of machine tools and production engineering at the Technical University of Munich. Both called for more attention to be paid to AI. In their opinion, European companies need to significantly increase the pace of innovation in AI in order to keep up with Asian and US providers. This is particularly true of small and medium-size companies, which have so far been very cautious. There should be good prospects in quality assurance and predictive maintenance in particular.

AI is here to stay
Both experts recognise that AI will not make humans superfluous in production. “AI makes mistakes,” Professor Zäh noted. Recognising this is a skill that is urgently needed and must be trained. Sebastian Heinz believes that the biggest advantage of AI is that it can increase the speed of innovation and generate new ideas. Both experts were convinced that there is no alternative to AI in the future. Professor Zäh said: “Not using AI is not an option. Others are already using AI and those who don't will losing out.”

With Canada being the ‘Allied Country’ of EMO Hannover 2025, Jayson Myers, CEO of NGen (Next Generation Manufacturing Canada), used the stage to introduce the not-for-profit Canadian industry organisation which is dedicated to promoting world-leading advanced manufacturing solutions. The network represents around 11,000 members, including manufacturers, technology providers, universities and research institutions from across Canada, and initiates cooperation projects. On the the topic of AI, he said: “AI is not the solution, AI is part of the solution,” and said the focus should equally on technology topics such as automation and robotics, IoT and networks, modern materials, biotechnology and nanotechnology, cyber security, and measurement technology.

NGen is organising a joint stand of Canadian industry at EMO Hannover 2025 and will be taking along 15 to 20 exhibitors to the show. In addition, NGen sees itself as a link to around 5,000 technology providers from the metalworking sector in Canada, all of which are are open to international cooperation. Mr Meyers emphasised, NGen has already invested in around 250 cooperation projects for development and commercialisation since its foundation in 2018, generating over $1 billion in project investments and more than £7.5 billion in sales.