More than 100 international journalists assembled in Hannover, Germany today to learn about Hannover Messe 2025, which is roughly six weeks away. More than 130,000 attendees and 4,000 exhibitors are expected at the 2025 event. Dr. Jochen Köckler, the Chairperson of the Managing Board, Deutsche Messe AG, Hannover, explained that Hannover Messe is looking ahead to offer solutions and competitiveness for manufacturers across the globe.
“For every company around the world, the objective is to be competitive,” he said. It’s innovation that allows all companies to compete. Köckler also encouraged manufacturers not to put all of their proverbial eggs into one basket, but to, “make sure you have different markets that you sell into.” He emphasized that this is what a horizontal trade fair like Hannover Messe helps manufacturers with. When manufacturing costs need to be reduced — while continuing to build excellent products — Köckler said that Hannover Messe’s annual gathering is the place for companies to come and find those innovations.
A few years ago, Köckler said that they all wondered if trade fairs would even continue to exist much longer. But people still want to find solutions in person, and Hannover Messe is flourishing once again. He said that this year’s fair will focus on three areas:
- AI and industry — this is increasing at “a breathtaking speed.” While he noted that AI is not a product, it is a technology that can be used to ensure that any company can become more efficient in its production.
- Smart manufacturing and production — an increasing number of exhibitors are involved here, with the idea that the visitor can get achieve better automation solutions. Digitalization in manufacturing operations will continue to grow each year, Köckler said.
- Hydrogen — some 500 exhibitors are focused on this topic, and the “hockey stick” of hydrogen usage and application has not yet gone through the roof. But, when looking at efficient industrial production, we need to ensure plants have storage when we don’t have sunny or windy days. There will be more discussions in the future about sustainability and how to treat the planet better, Köckler said. Hydrogen can play a role in electrification and storage here.
Köckler also noted the Application Park exhibition area, where exhibitors demonstrate how modern robotics solutions can boost efficiency in production. For example, robots can optimize laser welding or make battery cell production more efficient and sustainable. “Companies get valuable insights here toward optimizing their production processes — with the aim of manufacturing faster, more precisely, and in a more resource-saving manner,” he said.
This year’s partner country is Canada. While the country featured 83 exhibitors at Hannover Messe in 2024, they’re expecting more than 225 Canadian exhibitors this year as partner country — along with more than 1,000 Canadians in attendance.
Left to right, Evelyne Coulombe, Chargée d’affaires, Embassy of Canada to Germany; Jayson Myers, CEO, Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen); Christina Bilyk, Executive Lead, Canada at Hannover Messe 2025, Government of Canada.
Speaking of Canada, the winner of Deutsche Messe’s annual Robotics Award (which honors robot-based automation and logistics solutions) was, coincidentally, a Canadian company. The winning project, MARI AARS, is an AI-driven robotics platform for fast and code-free programming. This is made possible by advanced 3D scanning, automatic robot path generation, and an intuitive graphical flowchart interface that eliminates the need for coding and CAD files. In addition, the MARI platform includes features that compensate for deviations, ensuring a consistent level of quality.
“With its autonomous path planning, MARI solves one of the biggest challenges of high-mix production, namely constant reprogramming and setup. This opens up new opportunities — especially for small and medium-sized companies — that will also help to counteract the shortage of skilled workers,” said Dr. Annika Raatz from Leibniz University, a member of the jury, as the award was given out today.
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