65th MSV was about the future of industry and intensive business

October 11, 2024 / 4:15 PM

Technological innovations were presented at the Brno Exhibition Centre by 1,386 exhibiting companies from 42 countries around the world. During four days of the expo, their stands were seen by more than 55 thousand visitors, mainly technicians and businesspeople who need to introduce innovation into practice rather quickly.

Industrial production is undergoing digital transformation, and this year's MSV International Industrial Fair once again provided an opportunity to observe this transformation first-hand and from a broad multidisciplinary perspective. Rapid development of innovations was also reflected in the lively atmosphere in the exhibition halls, which was much appreciated by the exhibitors. The technical details of the exhibits on display and new orders were intensely debated in the stands. "The International Industrial Fair has always been and continues to be a reflection of its period and therefore of the latest technological advances, in which, in addition to automation, the key concepts are digitalisation, artificial intelligence, additive manufacturing, energy demand reduction, or sustainability and recycling. These are the areas that present new challenges for modern industrial production of the 21st century, and the International Industrial Fair brings the answers. That is why, even as the longest serving industrial fair in Europe, it continues to enjoy great interest," said Jan Kubata, CEO of BVV Trade Fairs Brno, about this year's expo.

Global dimension boosted Czech exports

Half of all exhibiting companies came from abroad; Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Slovakia were represented most extensively. China, France, India, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Poland, Taiwan, Slovakia, Taiwan and Ukraine had official expositions at the fair, sponsored by the government or a pro-export institution. Numerous trade delegations also arrived, three of them from the USA and others from Malaysia, Morocco and India. The successful Contact Ukraine project, which connects Czech and Ukrainian companies, continued. A Memorandum of Cooperation was signed at the expo by the Czech and Moroccan electrical associations ElA and FENELEC, as well as by BVV Trade Fairs Brno and the Indian-Czech Joint Chamber of Commerce.

Czech National Exposition opened for the fifth time at the International Industrial Fair, bringing together the services of the state to Czech entrepreneurs, and exporters in particular. The offer of 13 institutions was concentrated under the banner of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the exposition included an interesting extra programme, which culminated on Thursday with consultations with directors of CzechTrade foreign offices.

The expo was visited by the Czech President and Prime Minister

"I consider the International Industrial Fair not only a prestigious event that deserves the attention of constitutional authorities, but for me personally it was also extremely motivating and refreshing in the sense that I see a lot of companies here going in exactly the direction we would like them to go. That means innovation, new technologies, networking, sharing between academia, business and with each other mutually," said President Petr Pavel at a press conference after having toured the exhibition halls and seen some of the progressive exhibits during his visit that took several hours.

The traditional Assembly of the Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic was held at the expo, where government representatives exchanged views with industrialists and entrepreneurs. Prime Minister Petr Fiala was also present and discussed with Czech businesspeople during his subsequent tour of the expo stands. "This expo is a great opportunity to meet, build contacts, sign contracts, exchange ideas and get inspired for your own work," Petr Fiala summarised his impressions in his speech delivered at the MSV gala opening ceremony in the evening.

Immediately after his appointment and inauguration, the new Minister of Industry and Trade, Lukáš Vlček, headed to the International Industrial Fair, which was greatly appreciated by the representatives of Czech industry. The Minister of Transport Martin Kupka and the Minister of the Environment Petr Hladík also arrived to see the trade fair stands.

Under the sign of digitalisation

Automation, digitalisation and the possibilities of using artificial intelligence in industry were mentioned in all the different contexts at the International Industrial Fair. For the fifth time, the Digital Factory 2.0 project took place, which this year was attended by more than 40 companies led by the golden partner – the National Centre for Industry 4.0. "This year we had a really big stand, which we put together in collaboration with ten partners. We managed to invite a really large number of visitors and introduce them to our technologies and services. Our stand also attracted attention thanks to attractive exhibits such as a robotic tap, drone systems or a robodog with live image transmission to the studio," said Alena Nováková, communications manager and spokesperson for the National Centre for Industry 4.0.

New 3DEXPO PRO section was dedicated to additive manufacturing

For the first time, the International Industrial Fair included the largest showcase of professional 3D printers, 3D scanners and related services on the Czech market. On an area of more than one thousand square metres, products from fifty brands were presented by a record number of 26 exhibitors. Together with the expert conference Additive Manufacturing Forum, attended by leading Czech and international specialists, it was an extraordinary opportunity to learn about the latest news and trends in the market of 3D printers. "Despite the tense situation in the industry, we managed to achieve record-breaking levels in all indicators during the 10th edition of our conference and exhibition dedicated to 3D printing. The beautiful premises of the Rotunda gave us some glamour, and the event was a level above anything we had done in previous years. The exhibitors are satisfied, and I have never received tens of grateful messages from people who visited us," said Jan Homola, the organizer of both events, about this year's session.

Dozens of events – conferences, workshops, seminars and panel discussions – were held as part of the specialised extra programme. Inherent to MSV is the matchmaking project Contact-Contract, which this year facilitated hundreds of meetings of business partners. The traditional Kaletech Packaging Live project showed a demo packaging line, and many visitors were attracted by the new Technology Exposition, which presented the experience of Czech manufacturing companies with the deployment of new productive technologies in the form of case studies.

MSV 2024 Gold Medal and for the first time the MSV Industrial Design Award

Once again this year, exhibits competed for the prestigious MSV Gold Medal award. The expert evaluation jury awarded six Gold Medals to innovative exhibits. For the eighteenth time, the Gold Medal for lifelong creative technical work and innovative achievements was awarded, this time to Prof. Přemysl Janíček, who worked at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of Brno University of Technology.

In the Innovation in Materials, Components and Propeller Drives in Mechanical Engineering category, the Gold Medal was awarded to the exhibit Tandem Three-shaft Eight-speed Sequential Gearbox, presented by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Košice. In the category of Innovation in Production Machinery, the winner was the exhibit Innovated CNC Educational System for Secondary Vocational Schools by the manufacturer DynamiTech and the exhibitor Siemens. In the category of Technology Innovation for Sustainable Manufacturing, the jury appraised the exhibit of High-capacity Battery Storage AEE, ECOGI-BU1S from the Slovak manufacturer and exhibitor M-D-J. The Gold Medal in the Innovation in Industrial Automation, Digital Technologies and Industry 4.0 category went to the exhibit Renishaw AGILITY S12129 Coordinate Measuring Machine from the exhibitor Renishaw. In the Innovation in Transport and Logistics category, the winning exhibit was the Flexible Modular System for Building Cycle Paths on Decommissioned Railway Lines, which is the result of Czech-Slovak cooperation and was exhibited by the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava. A novelty of the year was the awarding of the Gold Medal of the Chair of the Evaluation Jury for an exceptional result of cooperation in research and development between academia and industry. This award went to the exhibit Electrochemical Polishing of Surface of Additively Manufactured Metal Parts from the manufacturer ONE3D and the exhibitor Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology.

This year's MSV featured Industrial for the first time the Industrial Design Awards were also presented, staged by the Design Centrum CzechTrade. The aim of the new competition is to popularise industrial design as a tool for creative solutions in the fields of mechanical and electrical engineering. The evaluation jury selected from all exhibits on display and awarded first place to the company Prusa Research for its Delta kinematic 3D printer PRUSA PRO HT90. Second prize went to the company Pegas-Gonda for the design of its 540 HORIZONT X double-column band saw. The company JC – Metal won the third prize for its sets of quick fasteners and clamps.