ITM 2019 – the world trend arena for industry [summary]

ITM Industry Europe 2019, which took place from 4 to 7 June, was the venue for the latest trends in industry, logistics, 3D printing, cooperation and occupational health and safety. Visitors had a chance to explore the potential of modern products. The events were loud and offered lots of inspiring ideas, but most of all they focused on business.

“Our dealer, Polteknik, has been coming to Poznań every year since the very beginning of the trade show. As Mitsubishi, we have been in Europe since 2013. We have been seeing the trade show grow. Customers benefit from the fact that every company makes sure that salespeople are present here. However, the trade show itself is a different event from the one in the past; it is no longer a sales-facing event, but rather a presentation of the latest products. It is much easier to reach the end customer today and it is much easier for customers to reach the manufacturer because everything can be found on the Internet. So you have to approach the fair in a different way, but you have to be there. It is necessary to be here“ – this is how Tomasz Słoboda, sales manager of CEE Central & East Europe in Mitsubishi Electric concluded the full potential of the ITM fair in a few sentences.

As in previous years, the exhibitors tried to be more creative than others in arranging their stands. The best ones were awarded with the Acanthus Aureus statuettes. A total of sixteen stands at the ITM fair were honored, and one of the awards went to Europa Systems – an exhibitor at Modernlog. “We are very glad that this award was granted to us, because this year the competition at Modernlog was very strong. Under Innovation for intralogistics, our stand has been designed to show the marketing strategy of Europa Systems. The idea is to present the latest technologies in intralogistics. We are glad that both Modernlog and ITM are growing, which can be seen in the number of exhibitors and visitors,” said Ilona Miziewicz-Groszczyk, Marketing and Business Development Director at Europa Systems.

It was also worth looking for seventeen products awarded with the prestigious MTP Gold Medal and several dozen new developments of the entire block of the June fair.

Smart trends at ITM

The ITM Industry Europe trade show attracts professionals who want to get to know the best market offerings for machinery and innovative solutions in the field of Industry 4.0 or Smart Factory. It is not surprising that crowds of visitors travelled all over the exhibition area located in the halls of the Poznań International Fair. Where else to look for the latest trends or the most important information in the field of Industry 4.0 if not at ITM?

“Certainly we can’t imagine not being here. It is always a perfect means of promoting our company and our products, especially the latest products. ITM is the number one for us and we regularly come here. If a company wants to be recognizable and wants to matter on the market, it must absolutely participate in this fair,” is how Paweł Matejczyk, Head of Sales Department at Stigal, talked about their participation in the ITM fair. “Business talks never stop, it is actually one of the main elements of our work at the fair. Some visitors come to get to know our brand, see what we do, but there are also customers who are already in the process of choosing a machine. They want to see a demonstration of cutting in real time, discuss technical issues, adjust the configuration of the machine to the needs of their production plants and sign the order,” added Matejczyk.

A lot of attention at ITM Industry Europe, Subcontracting, Modernlog, 3D Solutions and Industrial Safety Exhibition was given to an interesting range of accompanying events and thanks to that, all professionals visiting the trade show could find something for themselves.

New look of the ITM trade fair

The ITM 2019 trade fair has changed its visual identity; its full name is now ITM Industry Europe, and the new logotype was officially unveiled at the opening ceremony. The new layout and the new message will definitely strengthen the position of the ITM trade fair as the largest and most prestigious industrial trade show in this part of Europe and will allow it to remain fresh in the dynamically changing market. Moreover, since that the whole world is within our reach, we act in accordance with the principles of the future strategy; we are hungry for more, we plan to successively develop the event with new topics and new exhibitors, focusing on foreign companies.

“The name ITM – Innovations-Machinery-Technologies which was created a few years ago still reflects its fresh approach, because – as the market shows – this search for new technologies is now reflected in the name Industry 4.0 or intelligent production” – this is how Tomasz Kobierski, Vice-President of the Management Board of the MTP Group, signalled the change in his speech. “This is what this year’s edition is like. It attracted nearly a thousand exhibitors who took up almost the entire area of the Poznań International Fair. There are many guests coming to us from abroad, hence the new name ITM Industry Europe; because as the Poznań Fair and MTP Group we hope that this event will become one of the most important events in Europe. This is how we see the potential of the Polish economy today.”

ITM dominated by discussion panels

A series of discussion panels about the industry MM Speakers Corner, organized by the editors of the MM Magazyn Przemysłowy, was one of the events accompanying this year’s ITM Industry Europe 2019. This time MM Speakers Corner was split into four thematic panels. The first one is ‘Industrial globalization’; the second one is ‘Support instruments for Industry 4.0’, the third one is ‘The latest technological trends in industry’ and the fourth one is ‘Industrial organization and management’. The discussions were participated in by experienced specialists such as managers of leading manufacturers and distributors operating on the Polish market, who shared their knowledge and experience in issues of key importance to our industry.

Another interesting event was the conference titled “The fourth revolution in Polish factories – current state and expectations” prepared by the Polish-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry AHK Poland and the MTP Group. The speakers included Jarosław Gracel, Member of the Management Board and Director for the Industry 4.0 at ASTOR, as well as Katarzyna Nosalska from the Ministry of Enterprise and Technology, who is also a Member of the Management Board of the Future Industry Platform Foundation. In their speeches, they discussed the challenges that are faced by Polish factories. In particular, they focused on why the industry of the future is an opportunity for domestic investors. The panelists who spoke in the panel called “ Through the practitioner’s eye” were Przemysław Wlazeł (STILL), Andrzej Janiszewski (TRUMPF), Anna Szczeblewska (PwC), Cezary Tadej (VOLKSWAGEN) and Tomasz Nowak (KUKA). They all stressed that the development of industry is not only about robots and automation. They also referred to the thesis that Industry 4.0 is not visible to the naked eye, and that this change in the Polish industry takes place mainly due to the Internet of Things and digital twins.

The agenda of the events featured lectures and demonstrations related to surface treatment and powder coating and wet painting within the Varnishing Testing Grounds, promoted by the magazine Lakiernictwo Przemysłowe. Workshops organized by Mitsubishi Electric entitled ‘The Future of the Company’ were also very popular. ‘First steps with CNC Mitsubishi Electric control’ and a lecture on ‘Thermal Spraying Academy’ prepared by the Welding Laboratory at the Faculty of Machine Construction and Management of the Poznań University of Technology.

Business Meeting Centre

The aim of Subcontracting was to show the potential of companies operating in the industry. Subcontracting service providers from Poland and abroad presented their capabilities in hall 7. By participating in Subcontracting, exhibitors established new business contacts, gained valuable experience and were able to broaden their knowledge in the field of industry development.

As a substantive partner of the Subcontracting exhibition, the Metalworking Cluster – the National Key Cluster marked its presence at the June event and was also involved in the organization of discussions within the Smart Factory zone. On the first day of the exhibition, Sebastian Rynkiewicz, Janusz Poulakowski, Dr Mariusz Citkowski discussed how to get 10 million for international promotion. Clustering – exotic or measurable benefits, Promote together or separately, Sources and possibilities of financing internationalization, European experience – these are the main issues raised. In addition to that, June 5 saw a lecture entitled ‘How to develop future competences in industry?’, ‘Awareness of challenges – practical knowledge about 4.0, information chaos, tools for gaining competence, networking’ – these were the topics discussed at the stage in the Linden Avenu by Marek Karabowicz, the coordinator of the Advanced Cooperation Group for KOM’s Technologies, Krzysztof Toczydłowski, a certified official partner of Siemens and Intelitek (USA) in Poland in the field of vocational training, and Robert Orłowski, a KOM’s expert.

Conversations combined with cooperation

The Subcontracting exhibition featured matchmaking meetings known as Subcontracting Meetings. A lot of interest, a record number of B2B meetings and satisfaction of participants proved that such events addressed for representatives of the industry, and above all the subcontracting industry, are needed. The 2019 edition can be summed up as follows – 353 meetings for 138 participants from 14 countries (Belgium, Belarus, China, Finland, Holland, Lithuania, Germany, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary). This two-day international event shows that pre-scheduled cooperation meetings make it much easier to find potential clients from Poland and abroad.

“The Subcontracting exhibition gave us an opportunity to appear as a new company in the industry. It is the first time we have taken the opportunity to be on the market immediately, and I think it was the right choice. We took part in b2b meetings, we had a dozen or so of them arranged, all of them were very positively received by us. We were very warmly welcomed by all our interlocutors, which enabled us to be seen more personally on the market. I think it was a good time to meet and talk about the possibilities of cooperation with our potential customers” – this is how Jolanta Korzeniewska from Kraft-Box described the b2b meetings. “The form of these meetings is very interesting. It is not only about machines, not only machine manufacturers, large companies, corporations, but also us – smaller manufacturers and partners, who are able to appear here to present our capabilities.”

Business is like war

Clausewitz said that war is a continuation of policy by other means. It’s true. Where there is no more room for diplomacy, the military comes into play. Resources change, but the goal remains and it is victory! What does this have to do with business? A lot indeed! As in politics, in business we cooperate, form alliances and reach compromises. When that is not enough, we will arm ourselves with new management methods, create strategies to combat competition and launch an attack. We train our staff, improve tools and acquire new sales areas. On the first day of the fair, General Roman Polko talked about all this in a lecture ‘Beat your competition. Proven strategies for commanding, motivating and winning’. The talk by the former commander of GROM was highly looked forward to; the participants were keen to listen to the advice and apt military remarks. The lecture was a joint undertaking of ITM Industry Europe and Subcontracting and the Metalworking Cluster – National Key Cluster.

A walk towards innovation

It was the second time that guided tours had been organized during the ITM trade fair. In addition to the Towards Industry 4.0 and 3D Printing in Industry tours, this year saw one more guided walk – Logistics 4.0. The routes were developed by Magdalena Żukowska from the Poznań University of Technology, who was also a guide on the routes that took approximately two hours. The participants walked in small groups of 20 people, so they had direct contact with suppliers of the latest technologies. They also saved time because they visited only the stands of selected companies whose offer corresponded to the theme of the route.

Modernlog, time for logistics 4.0 is coming

The Smart Warehouse conference was a hit of this year’s Modernlog trade fair. It was here that more than 200 participants learned how to improve warehouse processes in their companies. Instead of classic presentations, there was a discussion panel participated in by manufacturers, suppliers and beneficiaries of warehouse automation solutions as well as representatives of the most important professional Polish magazines. The discussion focused on the Internet of Things and the direction of logistics in this area. Experts emphasized that Polish companies cope well with human resources that are available in companies, but employees are becoming increasingly scarce. They pointed out that Internet of Things and a ‘smart warehouse’ can be excellent solutions to this problem. A lot of attention was also paid to transport technologies.

“It is customers who set trends in transport technology. They are the ones who know best what they need. As specialists, we have to help them materialize this idea so that it is reliable and efficient or simply smart,” said Mikołaj Ruta from WDX. Experts emphasized that storage systems rely on speed. However, the key to the development of intralogistics is software, integrated system and control. They tried to prove that developed computing allow to identify warehouse problems remotely, which facilitates the maintenance of supply chain flow. The fairs had to feature a space for AGV Robots, still a relatively new trend in warehouses. As the panellists pointed out, the demand for these solutions is constantly growing and the market is developing rapidly.

Those interested in specific solutions and presentations of individual devices could evaluate them during the spectacular shows under Innovations for Logistics Industry. The In4Log 2019 was based on innovations in industrial logistics, modern techniques of completing goods and organizing internal flows. This unique active presentation is a reflection of the critical activities that take place in the area of internal logistics, and it is not a coincidence that 10 technological partners participated in the whole process.

3D – from workshops and theory to return on investment

Workshops that complemented the exhibition were a big attraction for the visitors of 3D Solutions fair.

According to experts, non-contact methods save time, help accelerate processes and digitization and thus make it possible to market a product more efficiently. Quality control in factories and reverse engineering in industry – these are the topics of the workshops organized by Smarttech.

“The average time of return for the purchase of such equipment in industry spans from 6 months to a year, which is very quickly. Here is where we give the idea and we show how modern equipment can automate and improve work. Many people tell us that after these workshops they will encourage their superiors to purchase such equipment,” said Anna Gębarska, Managing Director of Smarttech 3D.

Everyone interested in the potential of 3D printing could also participate in the presentation and open consulting session prepared by 3Your Mind. As shown by Kornelia Duczmal, currently only 0.01% of all created goods are printed using 3D. Radosław Fiołek from AMEexpert, on the other hand, tried to make it clear that while trying to persuade manufacturing companies to introduce incremental technologies, it is worth finding several parts that can be manufactured in this way.

Safety in the first place!

Human health and safety, new regulations regarding professional qualifications and psychology in managing safety culture in companies – these topics dominated the agenda of conferences, lectures and debates that accompanies the biannual Occupational Health and Safety in Industry Exhibition. Crowds of participants gathered at the conference entitled ‘Professional qualifications as a pillar of safety’ organized by the National Labour Inspectorate and the Office of Technical Inspection. Additional qualifications for the operation of machinery and equipment in the light of recent legislation changes were taken under scrutiny by experts. “Regardless of automation, the key thing should be to reduce the risk of accidents as man and his safety are the most important. Sometimes it is enough to change the work organization and optimize production processes,” convinced Jarosław Filipczak from Safety Group J&J in a specially designated conference zone in hall 6 at the Poznań International Fair. As the participants could learn, companies that perform well in terms of safety also do well in business. “Spendings on safety significantly exceed the minimum obligatory costs related to safety and health at work,” concluded Paweł Rolewski from SafeStart. The exhibition was also accompanied by “FIRE DAY – Become a hero in your company”, a fire-fighting training organized by Safety Group J&J. Despite the really hot temperatures, experts used a fire-fighting trainer and modern equipment. Thanks to the use of real fire, the participants were able to train in real-life conditions.

The next edition of the ITM Industry Europe trade shows
will be held June 2-5, 2020
at the Poznań International Fair.