Robots, the Internet of Things, virtual simulation systems and control by means of artificial intelligence – this year's MSV confirmed the massive advent of digital technology into industrial practice. All covered areas of the exhibition grounds were sold out and the whole Brno lived with the largest Central European trade show. The exhibits of 1,662 exhibiting companies from 30 countries were seen by more than 81 thousand visitors in five days. The companies were satisfied with both the number and quality of visitors and their interest in the exhibited products.
The attractiveness of the Czech market was confirmed by the exceptionally high participation of foreign companies and experts. 829 companies came from abroad, which means one half of all exhibitors, with the highest representation being had by Germany, Slovakia, China, Italy and Austria. To a large extent, overseas countries such as China, India and Taiwan were represented by collective displays. Japanese and South Korean companies exhibited through their European offices. The fair was visited by a number of foreign delegations and trade missions that came from India, South Africa, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Slovakia, Northern Macedonia and Bavaria.
Already last year's 60th MSV brought a record-breaking number of 79 supporting events and this year we managed to raise the bar even further. In five days, an incredible 91 meetings – conferences, workshops, seminars and panel discussions – took place in a total of 206 hours, which was almost five times more than the total opening hours of the fair. MSV thus confirmed its role as a key discussion platform for promoting innovation and establishing business contacts between Czech and foreign entrepreneurs. Hot topics such as 3D printing, industry digitization and circular economy were addressed. The three-day Contact-Contract B2B project with 289 companies from 23 countries and 500 business meetings was of great interest. The one-day MSV Job Fair and the third year of the MSV TOUR project of organized and guided tours of the expo were also successful.
Digital factory – transformation of industry through your own eyes
The main theme of the Digital Factory 2.0 resonated throughout the fair and solutions aimed at digitizing the industry were on display in all halls. The involvement of robots in manufacturing and automated solutions have long been standard at MSV, but this year's innovation was a shift from purchasing individual technologies to interconnecting them. A special exhibition named Digital Factory was built in Hall A1, where partners, led by Microsoft and ABB, demonstrated the digitization of manufacturing in practice. Autonomous control through artificial intelligence, mutual communication of production facilities and the use of digital twins as operational agents – the future of industry has been viewed and tested by visitors through virtual reality. Škoda Auto exhibited here its prototype of the ŠKODA VISION iV electric car. The project was followed by an all-day conference Digital Factory 2.0 – Czech Republic as an industrial power, where leading experts presented phenomena such as machine self-learning or blockchain.
The 62nd International Engineering Fair will be held concurrently with IMT, PLASTEX, FOND-EX, WELDING and PROFINTECH on 5 to 9 October 2020.
