For our special print issue of MVPro Magazine, Florian Niethammer, Head of Exhibitions and Events at Messe Stuttgart, joined us to reveal the plans for VISION 2024.
The highly anticipated bi-annual trade show will take place from the 8th-10th of October in Messe Stuttgart, welcoming more than 450 companies and many thousand visitors to delve into the latest innovations in machine vision.
Florian outlines the plans for this year’s VISION event and reveals how it will differ from previous VISION shows.
Q: How many exhibitors and visitors do you expect to attend?
“The figures are already very promising: we have exceeded the 450-company mark and there are still companies signing in. Compared to the previous event, we will grow by more than 20 percent in terms of exhibiting companies.
“We have seen a positive trend in visitor numbers recently. Together with the rising exhibitor numbers, I am sure that this indicates that we are moving in the right direction. Machine vision technology has by no means arrived in all industries and applications where it will provide enormous benefits in the future and the potential is great.
“After two VISION trade fairs at extraordinary annual intervals, VISION 2024 is now once again the first edition with a lead time of two years. This will also affect the interest and demand of potential visitors, who will once again have the opportunity to experience the latest products and trends live and on-site in October after a two-year break.”
Q: What are you most looking forward to seeing/doing at VISION this year?
“First and foremost, there is the anticipation of welcoming the VISION community, many friends, old and new faces here with us in Stuttgart. I am particularly pleased to see that VISION is developing positively in the direction of the figures we saw before COVID-19.”
Q: What are the plans for the technical programme?
VISION, the world‘s leading trade fair for machine vision, brings the technology of the future to life. Visitors to VISION will discover the innovations, trends and new products in machine vision and learn all about the technologies of tomorrow such as embedded vision, 3D, hyperspectral imaging, AI and deep learning. In addition to key players in the industry from all over the world, there will be numerous innovative start-ups to discover as part of our Start-Up World.
“The world‘s largest lecture forum for machine vision technology, the Industrial Vision Days, will be expanded this year with the Scientific Vision Days. This will focus specifically on research topics. In short, I would say that probably nowhere else will you find such a comprehensive overview of what is possible with camera-based solutions.”
Q: How will VISION 2024 differ from previous events?
There will be even more new companies and start-ups at VISION 2024. There will be more than 30 start-ups showing their innovations at the VISION Start-up World and the joint stand Young Innovators sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). Despite consolidation and M&A activities, we can see that the market for image processing and machine vision is a very attractive field for many new companies.
“We count one-third of new companies exhibiting at Vision for the first time which is a new record mark. Also, the international relevance of Vision is still rising: Exhibiting companies travel to Stuttgart from 37 countries and, even more impressively, 68% of all exhibitors come from abroad – more than ever before in the history of the trade fair.
“Again this year: we will offer our Guided Tour concept which focus on some of the most exciting user industries of machine vision technology. This time, the focus is on food & beverage, electronics, semiconductor and logistics and we address especially end-users and machine builders that are not so familiar with imaging technology yet. The aim is to establish contacts with relevant players and solution providers in the industry.
“Last but not least, Visitors to VISION will find additional parallel events taking place on Stuttgart’s trade fair grounds, for which their tickets are also valid: BondExpo for bonding technology, hy-cell for hydrogen and fuel cell technology, IN.STAND for maintenance and services, Motek for automation in production and assembly, as well as Quantum Effects for quantum technology. So more than just one reason to travel to Stuttgart for VISION!
Q: Are there any plans in place already for VISION 2026?
“For now, it is most important to focus fully on the upcoming event. The final phase of preparation is a very special time for us: we do everything we can to make the trade fair appearance as uncomplicated as possible for our exhibiting companies and to be a good host for the machine vision industry companies from all over the world.
“However, we also already have the next show in mind. We offer companies the opportunity to rebook their stands right after the show for VISION 2026 and we constantly collect and discuss ideas on how to further develop VISION into the future.”
Q: Lastly, do you have a message for our readers before this year’s show?
“Please do not miss VISION from the 8th to the 10th of October. It will be the largest and most international VISION show ever, showing everything that is possible and all that is new when it comes to camera-based solutions for industries and applications.
“With the 4 trade shows in parallel, there are just too many good reasons to plan your trip to Stuttgart today! Please make of the following ticket code for your free day passes VISIONARY2024 and register on the Messe Stuttgart website!”
Florian Niethammer holds a degree in business administration from Tübingen University. He joined Messe Stuttgart in 2007, and has enjoyed organising the VISION show in Stuttgart ever since.
As Head of Exhibitions & Events at Messe Stuttgart, together with his team, he is also responsible for the trade shows EXPO 4.0 and Moulding Expo of the Messe Stuttgart portfolio.
