At a Glance:
- Hannover Messe 2022 is designed for audiences interested in Industrie 4.0 and its contribution to sustainability.
- With innovations in automation, digitalization, electrification and energy efficiency, the electrical and digital industry is steering the industrial transition to a climate-neutral circular economy.
- Portugal is this year’s partner country. An explicit goal is to encourage German companies to minimize risk by investing in Portugal for their supply chain needs.
Hannover Messe, one of the world’s largest trade fairs, will stage a physical trade show in Hannover, Germany, from May 30 to June 2, 2022.
This year’s theme, “Industrial Transformation,” places the focus on how connected production facilities can work toward sustainability by operating more efficiently and conserving resources. The theme responds to the current energy supply debate, which brings the topic of hydrogen to the forefront.
Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe, set the tone for the upcoming event by acknowledging the impact of current political events. “Today, we can really appreciate how ‘normal’ everything was before the pandemic,” Köckler said at a press preview on March 16. “Now we have learned, due to the condemnable war of aggression against the Ukraine, that we have had to return to another crisis mode.”
While this will not lead to postponing Hannover Messe, he said, the topics will be fine-tuned. “At the heart of the matter is how we can ensure security of supply and growth in a dynamically changing world—politically, environmentally and economically—while counteracting climate change,” said Köckler. “Innovative technologies will play a key role in this.”
To this end, many companies are paving the way with concrete solutions. “In Hannover, more than 200 companies—including Iberdrola, Saint Gobain, Emerson, ElringKlinger, Plug Power, Siemens, Phoenix Contact, Enapter, Bosch, Hexagon Purus, Nel Hydrogen, Hydrogenious and GP Joule—present solutions for a sustainable energy supply based on hydrogen derived from renewable energy sources,” Köckler said. As an example, Hannover Messe exhibitor Bosch created a hydrogen cycle at its Industrie 4.0 facility that produces green hydrogen for industrial processes.
In 2019, EU leaders expressed support for the objective of achieving a climate-neutral EU by 2050. This endorsement followed the commitments made by the EU and member states on signing the Paris Agreement in 2015. This means that companies have set ambitious goals and are in the process of converting their production and services.
Digitalization, Automation and AI Against Climate Change
Exhibitors at the trade fair display state-of-the-art machinery and equipment and solutions that are not only resource-conserving and energy-efficient, but boost innovation and reduce greenhouse gas emissions around the world, noted the organizers.
Recording the CO2 footprint across entire supply chains is often the first step towards climate neutrality. For example, Siemens, an exhibitor, developed software that captures emissions data along the supply chain and combines this with data from the company’s own value chain to determine a product’s actual carbon footprint, noted a conference brief.
Portugal’s Problem Solvers
An integral part of the Hannover Messe formula is to showcase a partner country. This year’s consort, Portugal, is supported by AICEP—Portuguese Trade & Investment Agency in partnership with AIMMAP—Association of the Portuguese Metalworking Industries and the Portuguese-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The Portuguese contingent will have a strong on-site presence, with product and solution displays for digital transformation, energy transition and reliable supply chains. The goal is to encourage German companies to minimize risk by investing in Portugal for their supply chain needs.
Portugal has a sizable global footing in the Engineered Parts & Solutions segment (15,277 companies and 198,698 employees in 2020), covering sectors such as mechanical engineering, metal, mobility and automobile, aeronautics, and space. This sector of Portuguese industry exported goods and services worth more than $19.6 billion (€17.8 billion) to more than 200 countries. Metal works, machinery, tooling and transport equipment represent 32% of total Portuguese goods export
At the preview event, Luís Castro Henriques, president, AICEP, made that case for Portugal’s digital ecosystem as one of the most vibrant areas for entrepreneurship and investment in Europe. Two other markers of distinction, noted Henriques, are that the country’s energy solutions rank ninth in global contribution and climate in the Good Country Index, and that Portugal is committed to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Henriques also pointed out that the country has the third-highest rate of engineering graduates in Europe, and nearly 30% of the country’s graduates are from ICT, engineering, math and science disciplines.
Coronavirus Ordinance
As of March 4, 2022, trade fairs can take place without being subjected to new restrictions. The ordinance is in effect until March 19, 2022. Thereafter, coronavirus-related restrictions are expected to be eased, barring any resurgence in infection and hospitalization rates. Hannover Messe organizers noted that participants who are vaccinated, recovered or tested have access to exhibition grounds and the exhibition halls. In addition, FFP2 masks are mandatory in indoor areas.
Exhibiting Companies
Some 2,500 companies display their technologies for the factories and energy systems of the future at the Hannover Exhibition Center. Exhibiting companies include corporations such as Siemens, Bosch, Schneider Electric, Schaeffler, Microsoft, SAP and Service Now. Medium-sized industrial enterprises include Beckhoff, Festo, Harting, Pepperl+Fuchs, Phoenix Contact, Wago and Ziehl-Abegg. Accompanying them are major research institutes, such as Fraunhofer and Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT), as well as about 100 startups that find Hannover Messe an ideal platform for networking with industry.
Four conference stages will cover topics in the following categories: Automation, Motion & Drives, Digital Ecosystems, Energy Solutions, Logistics, Engineered Parts & Solutions, Global Business & Markets and Future Hub.
The complete program will available to visitors, but will also stream simultaneously via the Hannover Messe website.