Trade fair review AMB 2024 elevates metal working to new heights in a digital age

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With impressive exhibitor and visitor numbers, this year’s AMB reaffirmed its importance as a key industry hub. Held at Messe Stuttgart, the event left exhibitors, visitors, and organizers highly satisfied, solidifying the event’s role as the go-to platform for everything about metal working.

Important updates from the industry, numerous events and intensive discussions: 65,584 trade visitors from 78 countries used AMB to find out about the latest technologies and trending topics and to establish or expand business relationships. The AMB 2024 was therefore even more successful than the 2022 event. The international exhibition for metal working, which was fully booked despite the current difficult economic environment, was opened on 10 September by Roland Bleinroth, President and CEO of Messe Stuttgart, and Dr Florian Stegmann, Minister of State and Head of the State Chancellery of Baden-Württemberg. After five successful days of the trade fair, it closed its doors on 14 September.

1,244 exhibitors from 28 countries, 30 percent of them from outside Germany, presented their innovations, products, services and concepts in a total of ten exhibition halls. The major manufacturers of metal-cutting machine tools and precision tools were represented at the exhibition, as well as leading medium-sized companies and innovative start-ups. AMB is both a marketplace and a central hub for contacts and ideas in the metal working industry. This is why Messe Stuttgart attaches great importance to the ongoing further development of attractive networking possibilities at AMB.

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The importance of AMB extends far beyond Baden-Württemberg as a centre of technology, as the trade fair proved once again this year. Around 20 percent of the trade visitors came from outside Germany, with the most strongly represented nations being Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Czech Republic, France and Turkey. A large proportion of the non-European guests travelled from India. The majority of AMB trade fair visitors are active in mechanical engineering (36 percent), as well as in the metal working and metal processing industry, in the automotive industry and vehicle construction, in metal construction enterprises and in tool construction and mouldmaking. Many exhibiting companies praised the quality of the discussions at the stands and in the networking areas. They were delighted by the high number of decision-makers and the potential for doing post-exhibition business. A visitor survey confirmed this impression: 69 percent of visitors stated that they were involved in purchasing and procurement decisions. Overall, the feedback from trade fair visitors was very positive with a grade of 1.8 (= B+). More than a third of visitors only visit the AMB and no other industry-related trade fair.

Artificial intelligence and networked machines

AMB 2024 was strongly characterised by the topic of Industry 4.0. Interested parties were able to find out more about intelligent networks, interfaces, collaborative robotics and AI at many trade fair stands and at the special show organised by the Umati initiative (universal machine technology interface). In a 100 square metre special area located in the Entrance East area, visitors to the Smart Factory were able to experience at first hand how machines can communicate with each other. Several companies used the live production of a multi-tool to demonstrate how systems can interact via interfaces. The extent to which the topic of AI is occupying the industry was also demonstrated at the AMB Stage as part of the "Expert talks on AI in manufacturing" followed by a “meet the experts” session.

Première of the AMB Award

One highlight of the exhibition was the AMB Award, which was presented for the first time to honour outstanding new and further developments in the field of metal working. The award went to Qo CAD in the software and digitalisation category, to Liquidtool Systems in the components, assemblies and operating materials category and to Mahr in the measuring systems and quality assurance category. Hainbuch won the AMB Award in the precision tools category, while Sodick Deutschland impressed the jury in the machine tools and production systems category and Exo IQ received the AMB Award in the automation and handling technology category. The special sustainability award went to Vito and Ceratizit.

Pretzels 'n' Pitches select start-ups

Start-ups were also able to prove themselves at AMB — namely at the Pretzels 'n' Pitches, a joint event organised by the Allianz Industrie 4.0 Baden-Württemberg, the Stuttgart Region Economic Development Corporation and Messe Stuttgart. On two days of the trade fair, companies from the Start-Up Area and the Young Innovators joint stand presented pioneering innovations in metal working in five-minute pitch sessions. The winner of the first day, Tetralytix, impressed the jury with its innovative simulation software, which enables users to optimise their cutting tools and processes virtually. The winner on the second day was Plasmotion. The company has developed a jet polishing process that combines plasma physics and electrochemistry in a single technology, offering the quality and flexibility of manual finishing in a fully automated process for the first time.

Messe Stuttgart and the promotional supporters were highly satisfied with the success of the event and the results of AMB 2024, concluding that AMB, as one of the most important international trade fairs for metal working, is an important driving force for the transformation of the industry as it heads into a digital future. Markus Heseding, Managing Director of VDMA Precision Tools and VDMA Measuring and Testing Technology said: “The many good discussions and the high quality of visitors at the stands of the manufacturers of cutting tools, clamping technology and length measuring technology in Halls 1, 3 and 7 have once again proven that AMB is the leading technology trade fair for metal working in Europe.”

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