New trade fair concept for "manufacturing services"

Munich trade fair MAINTAIN is to team up with Fraunhofer IAO for a second time to showcase manufacturing services. Europe’s leading trade fair for industrial maintenance will be opening its doors from June 3-6, 2014, giving trade visitors the opportunity to learn about service trends and service innovations in mechanical and plant engineering from a pavilion dedicated to the topic.

Service activities within German industry are taking a whole new turn. Increasingly, traditional service and maintenance tasks are being supplemented by a complex range of services that aim to optimize customers’ production processes. Not only that, but new technologies such as augmented reality, voice control and tablet-supported information systems are transforming the way industrial services are delivered.

Collaboration between Fraunhofer IAO and MAINTAIN – Europe’s leading trade fair for industrial maintenance – began with last year’s exhibition on manufacturing services and has since developed into a lasting partnership. This is reflected in the plans to expand the trade fair concept next year, with a larger display area featuring more exhibits for visitors to see.

The new trade fair concept will give visitors the chance to test out new technologies “live”. Fraunhofer IAO in Stuttgart is currently in the process of building an application center for technical services that will implement selected technologies such as voice control, video support, and systems for automatically documenting services. “MAINTAIN is about us showing how manufacturers will provide their services in the future and demonstrating the technologies they will use to do it,” says Bernd Bienzeisler, who heads the team coordinating the activities.

MAINTAIN also benefits from the collaboration. “In our opinion, complex services in particular have great market potential and significant scope for development,” says Karin Hilf, MAINTAIN project manager at the Munich Trade Fair Center. As well as the themed pavilion, there will also be opportunities to discuss manufacturing services and to listen to speakers who are experts in the field. This will include Fraunhofer IAO’s head of institute, Prof. Dieter Spath, who was himself managing director of a machine tool manufacturer for many years and who will be addressing the topic in a keynote speech.

Contact:
Alexander Schletz
Fraunhofer IAO
Nobelstraße 12
70569 Stuttgart, Germany
Phone: +49 711 970-2184
Email: alexander.schletz@iao.fraunhofer.de