Monday 12th February 2018 – The biennial co-located events; Drives & Controls, Smart Industry Expo, Fluid Power & Systems, Plant & Asset Management, and Air-Tech Exhibitions – are once again set to return to Birmingham’s NEC (Halls 8, 9 and 10) from 10th -12th April 2018, alongside MACH 2018.
New to the co-location of DFA events for 2018, is the inaugural Smart Industry Expo.
The new event will give exhibitors the opportunity to communicate directly with senior management across the whole of the UK industrial spectrum, from managing directors, financial directors, and owners to process/control and IT/ automation management, plus many more who are all seeking guidance in order to prepare for this smart engineering transformation.
The 2018 co-location will be at least 1000m2 bigger than the 2016 exhibition, thanks to the addition of the new Smart Industry Expo event.
The entrance to the Smart Industry Expo will be dominated by a double-stand occupied by Schneider Electric, covering around 150m2 – twice the area that the company had at the previous Drives show in 2016. Another exhibitor transferring to the new event is the sensor-maker ifm electronic, which has also increased its stand space, by 20m2.
The Smart Industry Expo has also attracted Festo (which has not appeared at the Drives Show for many years), as well as other well-known names such as Universal Robots, Harting, Panduit, Sigmatek, Senseye, Codra, Exor and Applied Automation.
Smart Industry Expo will be one of the UK’s most comprehensive dedicated events focusing on the Fourth Industrial Revolution and transforming to a smart manufacturing era.
Co-location of events
Drives & Controls Exhibition will once again bring together key suppliers of state-of-the-art equipment representing the multi-tasking culture of today’s design engineer, covering critical areas such as energy efficiency, machine safety, drives, motion control, robotics and automation plus much more, all under one roof. With the advent of the smart factory, Drives & Controls Exhibition is an essential source of technological and engineering information.
More than 100 companies have already signed up to exhibit at the Drives Show, with a further 25 booking stands for the new Smart Industry Expo event, which is dedicated to the factory of the future.
First-time exhibitors in the Drives & Controls Show will include Charter Controls, Wiska, ETA Enclosures, Eldon, EBM Papst, Finder, Elmo Motion, Procentec, Fischer Connectors and Infranor. TEC Motors is returning with a 128m2 stand that is 60% larger than the one it had at the 2016 show. Phoenix Contact is more than quadrupling the size of its stand from 16m2 in 2016 to 72m2 in 2018.
Other returning exhibitors include Beckhoff, B&R, Rittal,Siemens/ HMK, Weidmuller, Danfoss, WEG, Eplan, Beijer, Wago, Mitsubishi, Radwell, IGE-XAO and KEB.
Gambica and the European Transmission Distributors Association will again be hosting pavilions where members will be promoting their activities.
Following the success of the inaugural robotics demonstration zone at the 2016 show, this feature is returning with working displays of the latest in robot technologies, including collaborative devices. Elsewhere, visitors will be able to test their driving skills on a Formula 1 simulator on the Megadyne stand.
Other co-location of events running alongside Drives & Controls Exhibition and Smart Industry Expo, includes; Plant & Asset Management 2018, the UK’s premier event for plant, asset, maintenance and works management engineers and directors, showcasing the very latest in condition monitoring, CMMS, outsourcing/contract maintenance, energy efficiency, boilers/burners/combustion, handling and storage plus much more.
Industry spends huge sums of money maintaining its plant, machinery and building assets and, because of constantly increasing business and financial pressures, there is an on-going need to achieve the maximum performance from those assets. The combination of a highly focused exhibition with numerous leading companies showcasing their technologies and concurrent seminars really is a one-stop shop for all industrial engineering professionals to source solutions to these problems.
Fluid Power & Systems 2018
While Fluid Power & Systems 2018, is the only event in the UK that is 100% focused on a comprehensive range of hydraulic and pneumatic equipment, together with products that facilitate better electro-mechanic system design and application for improved process automation, control, monitoring and analytics.
Fully supported by the British Fluid Power Association (BFPA), Fluid Power & Systems comprises the largest gathering of world-class companies displaying and demonstrating the latest in mechanical and electro-mechanical equipment.
Chris Buxton, CEO of the British Fluid Power Association, commented on the Association’s decision to exhibit again at Fluid Power & Systems: “There is no better event for the fluid power market than Fluid Power & Systems; thus, BFPA will be present at the 2018 outing with a larger than normal pavilion augmented with a dedicated Distributor pavilion co-located in the centre of Hall 8.”
Whatever your industrial sector, whether engineering, construction, offshore/marine, oil & gas, agriculture/farming, automotive, aerospace etc., Fluid Power & Systems – with free entry for visitors – offers a convenient one-stop shop for all your fluid power and system requirements, including:
- Hydraulics: industrial and mobile, including pumps and power packs, cylinders, valves, motors, heat exchangers, and accumulators. Filters and sealing technologies.
- Pneumatics: valve and valve islands, linear and rotary actuators, air motors, FRLs and other treatment technologies.
- Systems: Electro-hydraulic & pneumatic systems design; CAN bus technology; process automation; monitoring & control; modelling & simulation.
- Instrumentation: Sensors, switches and controls as applied to fluid power: Temperature, flow, pressure, liquid level, position.
Air-Tech 2018
In addition Air-Tech 2018 is set to highlight current key themes related to the very latest in air compressor and related technology from companies from around the globe. The event is supported by the British Compressed Air Society (BCAS), and is the UK’s only dedicated event for the compressed air and generators market.
Vanda Jones, the British Compressed Air Society’s executive director, commented on its presence at the key industry event: “As the UK’s only dedicated exhibition for the compressed air, generators and vacuum market, Air-Tech is an ideal chance for visitors to keep up to date with all the latest developments in our industry. For BCAS, it is an ideal opportunity to engage with manufacturers, distributors and end users alike, and for us to provide impartial advice about legislation, standards and technical issues Events like Air-Tech are more vital than ever over the next two years because it brings our industry together to understand issues that affect us all; such as Brexit.”
Visitors to Air-Tech will be able to see a wide range of equipment and solutions, including the following:
- Accumulators, actuators, air delivery systems and air motors.
- Compressors, cooler tools and cylinders.
- Vacuum systems and generators.
- Displays & meters.
- Filters, fittings, heat exchangers and hoses.
- Instruments, lubricators, manifolds and mobile compressors.
- Pumps, regulators, sensors, software and valves.
Collectively the co-location of exhibitions will be the largest manufacturing and engineering events of 2018, and will create an unmissable event.
Seminar programme
At a time when engineers are under increasing pressure, and time out of the office for attending exhibitions needs to be balanced against heavy workloads, one growing justification is attending a well-balanced and focused seminar programme where gaining further industry knowledge is at the core.
Located at the heart of the 2018 co-location is The Knowledge Hub, sponsored by Gardner Denver, which will feature a free comprehensive programme of seminars and panel discussions, with speakers offering expert insight and practical advice on important and topical issues.
As part of the ongoing global transformation to the smart manufacturing era, The Knowledge Hub’s theme for 2018 is Smart Factory – Concept to Reality, the journey to a smart future.
Global initiatives and the technological paradigm shift associated with the Industrial Internet of Things, shows that there is a growing opportunity for industry to take advantage of the creativity and entrepreneurial nature of UK companies.
The uptake of smart technologies in the industrial sector will be central to our future, by improving our national productivity, creating higher value jobs, and arming our workforce with the digital skills required in the decades ahead.
The Knowledge Hub fully reflects this and will provide a fascinating insight into the potential plants of the future, with high profile panel discussions and seminars from leading figures in the industry, including:
- Lynne McGregor – Innovate UK
- Chris Richards – EEF
- Steve Brambley – GAMBICA
- Dr Susan Scurlock – Primary Engineer
- Dave Atkinson – Lloyds Bank
- Chris Buxton – BFPA
- Lina Huertas – HVM Catapult
- Sam Turner – HVM Catapult
- Jeremy Hadall – MTC
- Paul Brooks – Santander
- Mike Wilson – BARA
Plus many more.
Over the course of the three-day seminar programme, visitors will have the opportunity to experience a complete smart roadmap, with each day of the Knowledge Hub representing a different stage of the smart journey covering all aspect of the digital transformation:
- Day 1: Concept
- Day 2: Transition
- Day 3: Implementation
The UK manufacturing sector has the potential to be a global leader in the industrial digital technology revolution. This year’s Knowledge Hub theme Smart Factory – Concept to Reality, the journey to a smart future, will help ensure visitors seize the opportunities that exist and promote the benefits of adopting emerging digital technologies.
The variety and scope of the seminar programme for 2018 is extremely exciting, adding real value. The combination of leading manufacturing events, with a highly focused seminar programme, will give visitors a genuine opportunity to keep abreast of the latest industry developments.
For the full Knowledge Hub seminar programme, including session synopses, and to register, please visit:
www.fluidpowersystems-expo.com
www.airtech-expo.com
www.drives-expo.com
https://www.smartindustry-expo.com
www.maintenanceuk-expo.com
Maintenance Seminar Theatre
In addition to the Knowledge Hub, and complementing Plant & Asset Management 2018 will be a full programme of free technical seminars in a dedicated seminar theatre – The Maintenance Seminar Theatre – with speakers offering expert specific insight and practical advice on important and topical issues concerning today’s maintenance professionals.
The Plant & Asset Management 2018 free seminars will include a cross section of topics including; the economic benefits of condition-based maintenance; Maintenance 4.0; improving maintenance and managing plant availability & lifecycle costs; oil sampling and analysis; maintenance, repair and overhaul of rotating equipment, plus much more. These are just a few of the seminar topics being presented in The Maintenance Seminar Theatre at the 2018 Plant & Asset Management Exhibition.
For the full Maintenance Seminar Theatre seminar programme, including session synopses, and to register, please visit: www.maintenanceuk-expo.com
Press contacts:
Julia Sivakoff
First Friday Club
0207 043 8847
[email protected]
Aaron Blutstein
DFA Media Ltd
01732 370340
[email protected]
