AMB 2024 closes with an increase in visitors

AMB 2024, the international exhibition for metalworking, which was fully booked despite the current difficult economic environment, was opened on September 10 by Roland Bleinroth, Managing Director of Messe Stuttgart, and Dr. Florian Stegmann, Minister of State and Head of the State Chancellery of Baden-Württemberg. After five successful trade fair days, it closed its doors on September 14. "For 42 years, AMB has proven anew every year how important this platform is for international exchange in the metalworking industry, especially in economically challenging times like these," summarizes Roland Bleinroth. "The International Gallery was a great success this year. Many interested parties came to make contacts and position their companies globally. We were also able to welcome a delegation from India - an important market where Messe Stuttgart has been represented by its own subsidiary since last year." 1,244 exhibitors from 28 countries, 30 percent of them from abroad, presented their innovations, products, services and concepts in a total of ten exhibition halls. Both the major manufacturers of metal-cutting machine tools and precision tools as well as leading medium-sized companies and innovative start-ups were represented. AMB is both a marketplace and a central hub for contacts and ideas in the metalworking industry. This is why Messe Stuttgart attaches great importance to the ongoing development of attractive networking opportunities at AMB.

The importance of AMB goes far beyond the technology location of Baden-Württemberg, as the trade fair proved again this year. Around 20 percent of the trade visitors came from abroad, with the most strongly represented nations being Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, the Czech Republic, France and Turkey. A large proportion of non-European visitors came from India. The majority of AMB visitors are active in mechanical engineering (36 percent), as well as in the metalworking and metal processing industries, in the automotive industry and vehicle construction, in metal construction companies and in tool and mold making. Many exhibiting companies praised the quality of the discussions at the stands and in the networking areas. They were pleased with the high number of decision-makers and the potential associated with downstream business. A visitor survey confirmed this impression: 69 percent stated that they were involved in purchasing and procurement decisions. Overall, the feedback from trade fair visitors was very positive with a score of 1.8. More than a third only visit AMB and no other trade fairs similar to it. AMB 2024 was strongly characterized by the topic of Industry 4.0. At many exhibition stands and at the special show of the umati (universal machine technology interface) initiative, interested visitors were able to find out about intelligent networks, interfaces, collaborative robotics and AI. In a 100 square meter special area in the East entrance area, visitors to the SmartFactory were able to experience first-hand how machines communicate with each other. Several companies used the live production of a multi-tool to demonstrate how systems interact via interfaces. The extent to which the topic of AI is occupying the industry was also demonstrated on the AMB Stage as part of the "Expert talk AI in the manufacturing industry" followed by a Meet the Experts session.