5 For Friday: Hannover Messe Puts Solutions on Display, a Sustainable Future and a Look at EngineeringTV
1. Gearing up for Hannover Messe
After three years of relative silence, Hannover Messe will roar back to life next week in Germany from April 16-21. It’s the world’s largest industrial trade show, but after attending it for the better part of the last 20 years, this week really feels like more of a homecoming to me.
From a practical sense, it is the place where manufacturing innovation debuts. It is the global stage for new products and networking across the global manufacturing landscape. But it’s also a place where the excitement around the business and art of manufacturing is fully on display. It is the showcase for the technologies and strategies that will drive the world’s manufacturing—and by extension, the world’s economy—for the future.
As the world continues to change, so must manufacturing. The place to see what that change will look like is at Hannover Messe next week. I’m fortunate to be attending again, and I look forward to sharing my observations next week. We’ll have daily reports from the show, starting with the host country Indonesia’s presentation at Sunday’s opening ceremonies, and the announcement of the 2023 Hermes Award winner for innovation.
2. Solutions on Display
At the kickoff press conference April 12, Hannover Messe officials touted the growth of the show from the pandemic levels, with more than 4,000 exhibitors from 63 countries on the grounds at the event. But the size of the show will be truly measured in innovation across every current measure of public policy and global concern.
“For each of the current challenges facing the world, there will be solutions on display at Hannover Messe," said Dr. Jochen Köckler, chairman of the Managing Board of Deutsche Messe AG, at the press conference. “Carbon neutral production, artificial intelligence, hydrogen technologies, energy management and Industrie 4.0—these are the overarching themes of the world’s leading exhibition for industry. Only by weaving these technologies together will it be possible to secure our prosperity sustainably while pursuing climate change mitigation.”
3. Pointing to a Sustainable Future
If manufacturing truly is going to lead the world toward a cleaner future, it will require commitments of dollars, of course, but it will require even greater amounts of engineering skill.
In a new Machine Design video, editor-in-chief Rehana Begg discussed this concept with Iana Aranda, director of Engineering Global Development at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Aranda said the process requires engineers to create a manufacturing process “that allows us to ask the right questions, to really pinpoint those issues, those hurdles, and then start to consider where might there be workarounds, or processes, or ways for them to partner, or even approaches that may be transferred from elsewhere that they can leverage for the benefit of their venture.”
4. Hybrid Automation and Sustainability
One of the hidden benefits of automation is the opportunity to not just make processes more efficient in an operational sense, but also as an energy management tool. In a new Machine Design article, Linda Schwartzen of Emerson Automation Solutions notes that sustainability in automation is now an expectation rather than an unexpected bonus.
“There’s an increased focus on energy consumption, carbon emissions and cost savings in every industry,” Schwartzen writes. “A sense of personal responsibility, customer demand, government regulations and stakeholder pressures are fueling this focus, and many corporations are making commitments and long-term goals based on ambitious net-zero initiatives.”
She adds, “Motion control systems that use less energy and can be powered by renewable resources are key to energy-efficient equipment and are part of a sustainable corporate strategy.”
5. Somethin’ Always on EngineeringTV
In 1992, Bruce Springsteen penned his decidedly tongue-in-cheek tune, “57 Channels (And Nothin’ On)”. Ah, those were the days when you only had 57 channels.
One channel where something is always on and offers some unique insights into the processes, people and issues around modern manufacturing is our EngineeringTV on YouTube. You’ll find everything from instructional videos to one-on-one discussions with some of the top minds in manufacturing today, all told from an engineering perspective.
We’re adding new videos all the time, so take a peek at EngineeringTV. No channel surfing required.