JANUARY 12, 2009--Messe Stuttgart has released the results of attendance at VISION 2008. According to Messe Stuttgart, VISION 2008 maintained "high standards" in both visitor numbers and knowledge/expertise -- as well as the level of interest in exhibitor products and systems, the message taken from the 292 exhibitors after the trade fair. With 6266 trade visitors, the 2008 show surpassed last year's figure of 6142 visitors. A satisfying development was the proportion of visitors (86%) attending the trade fair with specific intentions to invest or buy (84% in the previous year). Over 90% of these intend to invest over the next 12 months. Almost a quarter of all visitors with investment objectives intend to invest more than EUR 50,000. 53% plan to make new investments, 49% follow-up investments, and 14% replacement investments (with some of those questioned in more than one category).
Two unexpectedly positive results were the high number of investment intentions, which showed no signs of diminishing, and the continued high level of demand -- in spite of overall uncertainty arising from the economic downturn. "Our members are delighted with the positive feedback they have received and are more than satisfied with the knowledge and interest of visitors," summarized Dietmar Ley, chairman of VDMA Industrial Machine Vision.
Almost every second visitor (45%) made a journey of more than 300 km to attend the trade fair. The proportion of visitors traveling from abroad was 28%. Visitors came from a total of 47 countries, primarily from Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, France -- but also from Japan, USA, India, Israel, and Brazil. 58% of visitors expressed a particular interest in machine-vision systems, 54% in machine-vision components, 36% in machine-vision applications, and 14% were interested in machine-vision services (with some of those questioned in more than one category). The focus of the trade fair remained clearly on industrial machine vision (65%), comfortably ahead of non-industrial machine vision. 24% of visitors were interested in both areas. In addition to the machine-vision sector (35%), which covered the waterfront of new products at VISION 2008, visitors also came from electronics/electrical engineering (23%), mechanical engineering (18%), precision engineering and optics (17%), the automotive and supply industries (11%), as well as other sectors. Almost every second visitor (43%) worked in development, and virtually every third was involved in research (29%). 76% of trade visitors questioned said that they played a decisive or significant role within their organizations with regard to purchasing and acquisition decisions.
The number of new visitors to VISION 2008 remained high (58%). 58% of visitors stated that they expect the significance of VISION to grow within the industry. 39% were of the opinion that its significance would remain equally strong.
In numerical terms, 83% of exhibitors said they were either "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with the number of potential customers who visited their trade fair stand. 94% assessed the success in business terms of their trade fair participation as "very good" to "satisfactory." 96% of exhibitors rated the level of specialist knowledge of visitors to the trade fair as "very good" to "satisfactory." Accordingly, 93% expected a "very good" to "moderate" level of business after the trade fair.
The lecture forum "Industrial VISION Days" organized by VDMA Industrial Machine Vision showed a high level of attendance. Around 2700 visitors -- significantly more than the previous year -- attended the forum. During the three-day trade fair, companies from 13 nations took part in 44 lectures and presentations covering the latest trends, technologies, and applications in machine vision. There was particular interest in the podium discussion "Big Brother is Watching You: Machine Vision and Security." Designated experts in machine vision and security technology from Siemens Building Technology, Panasonic Systems Solutions, L-1Identitiy Solutions, Basler Vision Technologies, Bosch Security, and from the "Innovationscluster Sichere Identität" (the "Secure Identity" innovation cluster developed with the cooperation of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft) led discussions on how machine vision can help to set new standards in the security sector. The general conclusion was that systems and technologies must be developed that are capable of not only recording large volumes of data but also storing and processing data in response to "suspicious circumstances."
VISION 2009 will be held Nov. 3-5, 2009 at the Messe Stuttgart adjacent to Stuttgart Airport.
