Inspiring and Successful Comeback of AMB

The international exhibition for metal working concluded after welcoming 64,298 visitors for five days

16:28:59 | 2022-10-02

Successful re-launch: held for the 20th time this year, AMB was an upbeat and inspiring event across the fair halls and the sector in general.  For five days, a total of 64,298 visitors frequented the fully booked Stuttgart fair grounds. The event once again put AMB at the centre of the metal working sector. The 1,238 exhibitors from around the world – with around 25 percent hailing from outside Germany– presented a variety of innovations, products, services and concepts. Despite the difficult general conditions the talks at the booths centred on specific projects, manufacturing and investments, while the current energy prices and supply chain shortages took a back-seat.

“We are back in the game! Five days of AMB. Five days filled with in-depth interactions, meeting familiar faces and making new contacts. The positive feedback of our exhibitors primarily indicates that these interactions in particular make trade fairs like AMB indispensable,“ said Roland Bleinroth, President of Messe Stuttgart. “The comeback after the long break was very much needed for the metal working industry – and a complete success. The number of visitors was impressive and for us as organizers the full halls were also very motivating.”

Future opportunities main focus of AMB

Digitalisation, Automation, Sustainability – these topics were of major concern this year. In particular, new elements such as  the Trend Lounge with its focus days on topics such as climate change, the SmartFactory with the presentation of automated processes, or the self-guided tours for an individual fair visit, were all very popular among visitors.

Gunnar Mey, Division Director Trade Fairs & Events at Messe Stuttgart, was pleased with the progress of AMB: “Following the interruption in 2020, AMB 2022 was re-launched at the right time in the right place and with the most appropriate concept. The loyalty of the sector to its leading exhibition is impressive. We would like to say thank you to all exhibitors, visitors and our partners among the trade associations and the media.“

AMB records high visitor quality

Trade visitors flocked to Stuttgart from all over Europe. Around 18 per cent came from abroad, slightly more than at AMB four years ago (17 per cent). Overall, visitors from 71 countries were registered. Following Germany, the largest presence came from Switzerland, Austria, Scandinavia, Italy, France and the Netherlands. Among German visitors, 65 per cent hailed from Baden-Württemberg plus an additional 18 per cent from Bavaria. The largest proportion was active in mechanical engineering (37 per cent), while metal working and processing (23 per cent), the automotive industry and vehicle manufacturing (18 per cent), metal construction enterprises (13 per cent) as well as tool construction and mould making (11 per cent) were also present.

Many exhibitors reported a high quality of visitors. The proof is in the numbers: 73 per cent indicated that they had essential, participating or consulting roles in purchase decisions. One in ten were members of the management board, senior management or general management of their companies. 38 per cent worked in manufacturing, production or quality assurance, another 10 per cent in development and 8 per cent in construction design.

In terms of machinery, more than half of all visitors (53 per cent) were interested in milling machines, 41 per cent also in lathes and automatic lathes. Add to this those interested in grinding machines and tool grinding machines (19 per cent), drilling machines (15 per cent) as well as flexible manufacturing cells, systems and machining centres (14 per cent).

When it comes to products and services, CAD/CAM/CAE at 32 per cent and machining tools (29 per cent) were the most sought after. They were followed by chucking tools (25 per cent), mechanical engineering and manufacturing software (22 per cent) and robots, workpiece and tool handling (22 per cent).

Promotional supporters of AMB positive about the outcome

All promotional supporters of AMB were very satisfied with the outcome of the fair. In particular the personal contact after the long break and the intense exchange were great advantages of the event according to the Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau e. V.( VDMA – German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association) and the Verein Deutscher Werkzeugmaschinenfabriken e.V. (VDW– German Machine Tool Builders’ Association).

Markus Heseding, Managing Director, VDMA Precision Tools Association and VDMA Measurement and Testing Technology: “The success of AMB 2022 proves that it is precisely the right format for exhibitors and trade visitors. The fair presents innovative manufacturing technologies for the manufacturing of tomorrow. Our members are very satisfied with the quality of the meetings at their booths.”

Prof. Claus Oetter, Managing Director, VDMA Software and Digitalisation: “This year’s AMB was a complete success – we have seen full halls as the visitors flocked to Stuttgart. Seeing this, especially after four years of draining times without the fair is all the more pleasing to us at the VDMA, as a promotional supporter of the fair. In Hall 2 we could see that innovative technologies and software are also important drivers for the metal working sector. The demand among exhibitors and visitors was great, proving that software is a key element and driver for metal working.”

Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, Managing Director, VDW: “Thumbs up! This week we have witnessed the successful re-launch of AMB. Everyone looked happy and satisfied, whether exhibitors or visitors. It was mainly about seeing each other again and picking up the personal business relations after a very long time of virtual contacts. AMB was the right platform at the right time for this.”

AMB Start-up 2022 awarded in the Trend Lounge

AMB also focused on youth and junior entrepreneurs: In addition to the special show for young people aimed at gaining young professionals, start-ups and young companies presented their innovations in the start-up area and at the collective booth sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK). Additionally, on Saturday the “AMB Start-up 2022” was chosen in the Trend Lounge by a high-profile jury, who declared unanimously: “The format with the 15-minute pitches is excellently suited to AMB. There were some great ideas. The presented solutions were all very good. The topics were matched to the machinery and companies present at AMB, it was very entertaining to listen to. Surely several in-depth meetings will follow.”

After the pitches, gemineers GmbH with its “Digital twin technology for the shop floor” was chosen as the winner. Vincent Gerretz, co-founder and managing director, was very pleased with the recognition:  “For us as young start up, this recognition is truly helpful. In this early stage it is important to establish contacts with the sector, to generate awareness and to interact with others. We are incredibly happy about this award.”

AMB can build on excellent feedback

With a new visitor share of 47 per cent, AMB once again welcomed many new guests to Stuttgart. In 2018, this number was similar at 45 per cent. For 40 per cent of visitors, AMB is the number one information platform and they attend only AMB and no other trade fair. On average, the visitors stayed 1.3 days at AMB, international visitors stayed a bit longer, on average 2.0 days. Overall, the trade visitors gave the fair a very positive evaluation with a collective grade of 1.8. A high percentage of 76 per cent plan to also attend the next AMB in two years, while 88 per cent would recommend AMB.

The next AMB will take place from 10 to 14 September 2024.

About AMB

AMB has presented highlights from the international metalworking industry since 1982. The last AMB in 2022 attracted over 64,298 trade visitors and more than 1,200 exhibitors to Stuttgart. On an exhibition area of around 120,000 square metres, the exhibitors showcased innovations and further developments for metal-cutting and metal-removing process machine tools, precision tools, measuring systems and quality assurance, robots, workpiece and tool handling, industrial software and engineering, components, assemblies and accessories. AMB is backed by the promotional supporters VDMA Precision Tools Association, the VDMA Software and Digitalisation Association, and the German Machine Tool Builders’ Association (VDW).

Further information is available at https://www.messe-stuttgart.de/amb/en

Comments from exhibitors on AMB

In conclusion, we would like to provide you with a collection of statements by AMB exhibitors  for your individual article creation.

Michael Merkle, Managing Director, Agathon AG: “We are glad to once again meet with customers and partners here at AMB and in the meetings we are experiencing a positive investment climate. Our innovations are well received, whether machines or standard parts. The visitors have very specific inquiries regarding our innovations. Even though we talk a lot about crises, we can see that much is being invested in the future. We are looking optimistically to the future. One trend we have noticed here is, in addition to hybrid vehicles, a strong focus on electric mobility. Another trend is energy supply itself and the infrastructure that must be created. We feel ready with our machines to provide the needed solutions for this purpose.”

Lisa Petit, project manager international networking and start-ups, Allianz 4.0 Baden-Württemberg:  “For us as a network, the fair offers an ideal opportunity for directly and easily meeting our target group (SMBs). Here we can talk to the companies directly and discuss digital transformation. In addition, the fair offers us and the SMBs  excellent opportunities to get in touch with start-ups who are important partners for transformation.”

Michael Blank, Director Marketing & Communication, CERATIZIT: “After the Covid break attending AMB and the personal interaction with customers were a true highlight. Despite all formats and new possibilities of digital sales the personal contact at a trade fair remains essential to create and foster mutual trust. The fact that this also applies to customers was proven by the high visitor frequency at our booth and the many interesting talks. It was important to us that we continue to present ourselves as the solution provider in the chipping sector. In addition to many technical topics, “sustainability” was the highlight theme for us. The meetings at AMB have shown us that the path we have chosen in this regard is absolutely correct.”

Matthias Rapp, Head of Marketing Global, CHIRON Group SE: “AMB is one of the most important fairs to get in contact with our customers. The excellent quality of interaction and the liberated mood after four years of an enforced break noticeably felt good for all participants. We are also happy that with the Mikro5 we have captured the spirit of the present times. A  milling machine that requires less energy than a coffee machine was an absolute highlight for many of our customers.”

Irene Bader, Executive Officer Global Marketing, CMO, DMG MORI: “We – and I  personally – have witnessed at AMB more than ever how important personal meetings are. For us it was the first larger fair of the sector since 2019. This is why I am more than pleased by the many visitors, primarily from the German speaking countries, to our booth. Their feedback also confirmed how essential personal interaction is. Our aim was clear: Making technology accessible. Within the scope of our “We love automation“ campaign, we want to offer our customers and partners not only high-end machines but also automated manufacturing solutions.”

Dr. Stefan Hansch, CEO, EMCO: “Following the enforced stop of trade fairs due to Corona, it was a matter of course for us to participate in the leading trade fair of the machine tool sector. However, to EMCO AMB is much more – with the EMCO technology centre in the immediate vicinity of the fair grounds, AMB is the perfect communication platform to connect to EMCO in Wendlingen. The visitor numbers are at a very high level and we are pleased by complex and interesting requests. However, at the same time and due to the economic developments and lack of qualified staff, a certain cautiousness and hesitation, especially when it comes to large investments, can be felt.”

Stefan Euchner, Managing Director, EUCHNER GmbH + Co. KG: “We are very pleased with the course of this year’s AMB. As pioneering innovators in the area of industrial safety and automation, we are happy that we were able to present our most recent product innovations to our visitors in person again. There was particular interest in our “Smart  Safety” solutions and our protective door system MGB2 Modular, which was recently also made available for EtherCAT P.”

Alexander Grau, Managing Director, FERG S.L.: “We are very pleased with the quality of visitors that we are meeting. They are not only from Germany, but  also from China, India, Türkiye and some other Asian and European countries. Existing and potential customers come to us with specific questions and many new projects.”

Dr. Sebastian Schöning, CEO, FFG Europe & Americas and Managing Director MAG IAS GmbH: “This year, AMB is a particularly important trade fair for us, because it deals with key issues such as CO2 neutrality in machine tool manufacturing. On the other hand, digitalisation is also very important: For example, when discussing with visitors the correct technology for their applications when converting the drive chain from a combustor to an electric actuator.”

Günter Redhammer, Managing Director, Fill Gesellschaft m.b.H. Maschinen- und Anlagenbau: “We are very positively surprised by the large number of interested visitors and existing customers. Many interactions focused on our new product, a double spindle machine with a 1500 mm spindle  distance and we are happy how well this innovation is received by the visitors. We can identify two major trends, automation and the lack of workers. The latter in particular will force us to automate processes, become more dynamic and think about new concepts that will help us improve ourselves. An added challenge is the cost pressure due to the energy crisis.”

Katja Herwanger, Managing Director and partner, Franz Kessler GmbH: “The first two days have shown us that AMB was again very well received. As the market leader in the spindle sector we had many visitors and interesting interactions at this year’s AMB again. You can tell that the sector is being revived, we could not see any trace of the predicted downswing.”

Christian Jung, Managing Director, GF Machining Solutions GmbH: “Already halfway through the fair we could tell that we had many leads at our booth. There was much interest in our new machine Mikro Mill P 800, which manufactures, for example spherical shapes with a high accuracy of 2 to 4 micrometres. The customers also reacted very positively to the digital solutions that are incorporated into our machines, providing customers, for example, with access to engineering times. I am of course especially pleased that we already sold machines at the fair. The customers made the purchase decision right here at AMB. Everyone is happy and satisfied and we look forward to the remaining days.”

Jasmin Herter, Press Spokeswoman, Gühring KG: “Personal contact, direct interaction and valuable conversations – everything we missed for so many years feels like a get-together of friends. The fact that Stuttgart has developed into the venue of the most important international sector event pleases us all the more as we are a tool manufacturer from the same region. For Gühring AMB 2022 was hugely successful!“

Martin Hochmuth, Managing Director Product, E-Sales and IT, HAHN+KOLB Werkzeuge GmbH: “For HAHN+KOLB, AMB 2022 is all about digitalisation and automation. Our tool management software with various digital solutions and our system work stations are particularly well received – with which we are very pleased. The terrific interaction with the many customers and business partners were a true highlight!”

Michael Rössler, Deputy Manager, Handwerk International Baden-Württemberg:  “We are happy that AMB took place once again in this form, our exhibitors are very satisfied with the progress. We had excellent, qualified meetings that went beyond an initial interest and already contained definite requests. For the craft trade sector, AMB is an important meeting place and it was definitely worth being part of it.”

Frank Ilg, Managing Director, and Sebastian Stelly, Head of Sales, ILG+SULZBERGER GmbH: “We are truly satisfied with AMB in this year, the mood and the number of visitors are similar to the ones before the Corona break. The quality of visitors is excellent and the visitors from the German speaking countries are particularly interesting to us. People are more confident than may be assumed from the general situation and want to continue to invest.”

Rainer Gondek, Head of Global Marketing, INDEX-Werke GmbH & Co. KG Hahn & Tessky: “From the first day of this year’s AMB our expectations were already exceeded. We already had many very specific project requests and are accordingly optimistic about the after-fair business. Everyone was happy that we were finally able to meet again on location at AMB to directly and personally interact with each other.”

Günter Szerencses, Vice President and Head of Sales Germany, ISCAR Germany GmbH: “AMB is one of the key exhibitions for us, especially for the German market. The Stuttgart location is perfect and the traffic connection is outstanding. This year’s event was excellent. Nearly all industries and company sizes were present, many visitors came with very specific requests to our stand. In addition to topics such as productivity, supply chains or new technologies, we were also asked about the contribution of our tools to lowering CO2 emissions. To us, not participating in AMB was not an option.”

Holger Röhr, Editor-in-Chief mav, Konradin publishing house R. Kohlhammer GmbH: “We have attended AMB for many years with our campaign “Art meets technology.” Interest was huge again. This was certainly due on the one hand, to the fact that the exhibition was generally well attended and on the other, that our campaign is specifically targeted at apprentices and young employees. This time we asked them, in line with the fair theme of “Back in the Game”, to develop gamer ideas and creatively implement them. We thought it was fantastic that AMB provided the perfect setting for showcasing the enormous creative potential and technical know-how of the young professionals.”

Andreas Enzenbach, Vice President Marketing and Corporate Communications, MAPAL Präzisionswerkzeuge Dr. Kress KG: “AMB is the trade fair highlight of this year, especially for us as a company from the local region. We have noticed a very positive mood, our stand was well frequented and we had many in-depth interactions. The visitors are curious to know what we have been doing in the past few years – especially in terms of e-mobility and fluid technology. In times of so many negative news, these positive signals felt really good.”

Steffen Nagel, Managing Director, Nagel Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH: “At our stand we had a large number of excellent specialist visitors, who, as opposed to the general trend portrayed by the media, come to our stand with sincere interest and the need for problem solutions and information and who want to seriously invest in machines. Of course, energy expenses are also an area of concern, but the focus is on questions regarding handling and automation of processes due to the scarcity of skilled workers. We therefore noticed a trend towards buying machines with handling systems,”

In his capacity as member of the trade fair advisory board, Nagel added: “The international AMB exhibitors clearly indicate their desire to exhibit at less trade fairs, while AMB remains established. Many describe it as the world’s most effective trade fair for the machine tool industry. This is primarily due to the expert quality and large number of visitors.

Sven Dombrowski, Branch Manager, Nicolás Correa Deutschland GmbH: “The focus of visitors of this year’s AMB was especially on our patented drilling sleeve replacement system that is powered by a Correa direct drive of 90kW and 3,438 Nm (S1). A technological solution that offers unique added value.”

Stefan Vielsäcker, Managing Director, Okuma Deutschland GmbH: “For the first time we had a direct presence as Okuma Deutschland at AMB. In general, the trade fair was exceptionally successful for us. This is because more visitors attended than we had hoped for. Add to this: The ones who attend are very positive regarding their order situation. The readiness to invest is very high and we received noticeably more definite requests than at similar events. Power supply and gas supply played a minor role in conversations. However, many emphasized the scarcity of skilled staff. Since we offer an integrated control, we only recently introduced training co-operations in Germany. In this regard we also foresee a clear trend towards increased automation. If the workpiece allows it, the turning and milling is preferably automated within a machine. Where this is not possible, the demand is gradually shifting towards individual systems, i.e. Machines that only turn or mill.”

Markus Horn, Managing Director, Paul Horn GmbH: “Exceptional, excellent, really good. These are the terms we are getting as feedback from our visitors as well as our own staff. I share this sentiment. The time is absolutely right and we are happy about the many personal contacts with our customers and partners. The interactions are highly professional and target-oriented, which makes us very optimistic. Mastering the current situation always focuses on the topics of cost optimisation, i.e. costs per part and process adjustments. HORN offers innovative solutions for this. The positive signals from AMB are particularly important, especially after the long time without events on location, without personal contacts or handshakes.

Our new exhibition concept is particularly closely related to production. In addition to new products, solutions and processes we of course show at our stand live chipping on a total of three machines. In addition to interesting technology components, we also manufacture a “Spätzle” pasta press, as a sort of symbol of our heritage, our commitment to the location in (southern) Germany and Messe Stuttgart. AMB is our trade fair highlight of the year.”

Marco Merlino, Stand Manager, Siemens AG: “AMB proceeded really well this year. Our stand was always full of visitors, we had good interactions and many highly qualified visitors, Despite problems in the industry, such as interrupted supply chains, the mood was constantly positive, the visitors wanted to discuss future projects, specific products and sustainability – we are simply happy that AMB took place again”.

Michele Tajariol, Vice-Chairman, TAJMAC-ZPS: “It is great for a Czech company to get an insight into the German market here at AMB. To understand how the trends are developing now and until then end of 2023 is very important to us. The changes in the automotive industry, power supply and general cost development have a great effect on our world. I think there is no better place in Germany to understand how things will develop in the next few years than here at AMB. The following topics are the focus of AMB this year: Automation, Industry 4.0, energy consumption of machines and their performance, which is a main concern of customers during the current inflation.”

Armand Choquin, Export Director, Topsolid: “We are very happy to be here, It is an excellent opportunity to meet our customers as we have many stakeholders in the German speaking countries. We see a changed style of communication and different interests of customers regarding our software and service offers: We are increasingly discussing Industry 4.0, integrated digital factories, software that is directly connected to the factory halls and machines to assess the situation within factories in detail.”

Ludger Ignaszak, Managing Director, Utilis AG: “Direct discussions with our customer resulted in projects that would not have been possible via web meetings. We will continue to rely on AMB in the future. The quantity has slightly decreased, but in our opinion the quality of contacts has improved, We notice a trend that the diameters to be processed by straight turning have increased. We will take this trend into account in the future.”

Chris Schmidt, Managing Director, Whizcut of Sweden AB: “From the first day of AMB we had excellent customer interactions all day. It is clearly noticeable that there are more international visitors than in previous years. One in three customers at our stand is from abroad.”

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