A huge success for MECSPE, the trade fair held by Senaf at the Parma fairground from 22 to 24 March, a benchmark event for those who want to be currently involved in industry 4.0 in Italy. Last Saturday, the 17th edition ended with excellent results: 53,442 visitors (+17% compared to the 2017 edition), 2,260 companies attending and 110,000 sqm of exhibition space, which show that this event is constantly evolving. The importance of MECSPE, as an effective opportunity to showcase the systems that contribute to designing the industry of the future, lies in the outstanding results obtained by the “Digital Factory 4.0”, which brought together in a single pavilion nine supply chains and more than 50 partners who discussed systems and innovations in digital integration, showing the key role of enabling technologies 4.0 in the various sectors and application contexts. The themes at the centre include connectivity and tools for small business, collaborative robotics in a context of parametrised production and/or small batches, product development with method 4.0, simulation of products and processes, traceability, maintenance, additive manufacturing and logistics 4.0. The 400 companies in the sub-supply sector, making it the second largest show at MECSPE, were once again one of the focal points of the entire exhibition. In addition, the key elements of this year’s edition were non-ferrous materials and composites, with a special focus on plastic materials, as well as Additive Manufacturing. Once again, this year, a very large area was dedicated to training, with 58 conferences and workshops held during the three-day exhibition and the final stage of the “DIGITAL FACTORY MECSPE LABORATORIES, the Italian way to Industry 4.0”, which offered a debate on “people at the centre of the digital factory”. This central role can be facilitated by digitisation and automation processes, allowing people to switch from routine tasks to tasks with a high added value. To better understand the role of humans in the factory of the future, on the opening day of the trade fair Senaf signed an agreement with the Design Department of Milan’s Polytechnic in order to conduct a research project in the field of new environments for the contemporary factory called “Workspaces 4.0”. MECSPE’s 18th edition will be back at the Parma Fairground from 28 to 30 March 2019.
