IT and OT Converge at the Hanover Fair

Overview

In the wake of initiatives like Industrie 4.0 and Industrial IoT (IIoT), commercial IT continues to penetrate and influence traditional, conservative manufacturing and process industries like no other trend in the past.  This was more evident at the 2018 Hanover Fair than at previous shows and even more so than at the more focused SPS/IPC/Drives event last November.  This year, IT companies focused on the practical side of Industrie 4.0, making it clear that products and platforms are available now to support IIoT in manufacturing. Today, IT and OT are not only converging, they are being actively implemented and starting to provide benefits for technology end users and suppliers alike.

The Fair in Numbers

This year's Hanover Fair welcomed 210,000 visitors, a slight drop in attendance compared to the 2017 event (225,000 visitors), which did not include the Motion, Drive & Automation (MDA) show. It will be interesting to see if more of the traditional MDA visitors and exhibitors return next year.  Another reason for the drop may have been the absence of the Tec2you initiative, which typically attracts large numbers of young people.

More than 70,000 visitors came from outside Germany, for an international share of 30 percent.  China headed the foreign visitor statistics with a total of 6,500, followed by the Netherlands (5,300), Poland (2,700) and the United States (1,700).  More than 1,400 visitors attended from Mexico, this year's partner country.

Partner Country Mexico

Predictably, this year's partner country, Mexico, had a large exhibit.  Among the booths of 168 manufacturers and regional representatives, the booth of the state of Nuevo León stood out.  The large display showcased all aspects of the region, which calls itself the leading Industrie 4.0 state in Mexico.  The capital, Monterrey, and its surroundings are home to an impressive number of industrial parks and technology clusters.  Mexican states close to the US border have tight connections to the US industry thanks to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  However, the recent verbal attacks on NAFTA by the US president are obviously cause for concern for these states and the whole country.

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Keywords: Hanover Fair, Automation, Industrie 4.0, IIoT, ARC Advisory Group.