There is a lot of 4.0 in the country’s future. The Government has further strengthened the tools for companies focusing on innovation, allocating an additional 10 billion Euro in the 2018-2020 three-year period to the fiscal decree, the 2018 budget law and the lapsed funds of the Italian Ministry of Economic Development. Hyper-amortisation is confirmed, with modifications and extensions, while the expected tax credit for training expenses, equal to 40% of the expenses incurred for personnel trained on 4.0 technologies, is also on its way. In particular, according to the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, the extension of hyper and super-amortisation is worth 7.8 billion, while 250 million have been allocated for investments in human capital and skills.
I-4.0, innovation and training
Industry 4.0, innovation and training will be among the protagonists of the next edition of MECSPE, the manufacturing 4.0 trade fair promoted by Senaf (Parma Fairground, from 22nd to 24th March, 2018). An increasingly immersive experience for those who will be able to take part and that will offer all the innovations in the field of digitalisation and innovation, with new initiatives from a 4.0 perspective, aimed at making the experience of visitors, companies and exhibitors and 12 thematic Shows even more synergic and active, with a better layout inside the trade fair centre, featuring the construction of a new hall to ensure smoother exploration and greater orientation.
Starting from the South Entrance, which will feature the beating heart of the trade fair, the “Fabbrica Digitale 4.0” (Digital Factory 4.0), with 8 supply chains and 52 partners, ready to discuss systems and innovations in the field of digital integration that contribute to designing the industry of tomorrow, showing the decisive role of the enabling technologies 4.0 in the various sectors and application contexts. The themes at the centre include connectivity and tools for small business, collaborative robotics in a context of parametrised production and/or small batches, product development with method 4.0, simulation of products and processes, traceability, maintenance, additive manufacturing and logistics 4.0 .
Among the supply chains featured in the area, many are specifically dedicated to the world of mechanics, swarf removal, machine data analysis and predictive maintenance; in fact, of the eight supply chains set up in the hall, four are representative of the machine tools world. Among these, a holistic factory project deserves a visit, involving over 15 companies and which aims to represent the manufacturing factory of the future, from machining to assembly, as a place where machines, automation and the logic of 4.0 are in balance with the centrality that man and his deepest characteristics must maintain. The next edition therefore promises to be even more dynamic, thanks to initiatives such as the G2-iolty- Comau supply chain: in fact, when signing up at the desk, the first names extracted from the QR-codes of the ticket and displayed on the monitor, will turn visitors into players in the G2-iolty-Comau stand, where they will become operators-maintenance technicians. Through the G2 iolty system, providing a program which makes the robot cover a route according to three areas (production, maintenance, alarms), the participant can control the robot from the Comau Pick-app installed on a tablet and perform the operations indicated. He/she will have to pick up and move “pieces” or “tools” according to the area of intervention and the route required. Once the route is complete, by crossing comparing the obtained results, the visitor will find himself/herself in a ranking that includes all the participants of the day, and will finally receive a free Comau and G2-iolty gadget.
Subcontractors galore!
Mechanical subcontracting which, with 400 companies, is the second largest show at MECSPE, exhibited in halls 7 and 8 and remains one of the cornerstones of the entire trade fair. In Hall 7 in particular, the contractors are represented within the main Associations of the sector, such as Confartigianato and API which, for small production companies of excellence, are important groups and promoters of initiatives aimed at developing innovation and partnerships.
Instead, the new hall, 4.1, which stands between no. 3 and 5, will feature the Digital Factory show, presenting the new frontiers of digitalisation for the factory (applications, devices, instrumentation and intelligent components for the interpretation and connection of processes), while hall 5, with 300 companies, is confirmed as the hall dedicated to factory automation. It shall feature the shows dedicated to robot manufacturers and major Italian system integrators (Motek Italy), power transmissions and mechatronics (Power Drive), Logistics and Electronic Subcontracting. Great attention will then be paid to “Smart Manufacturing”, showing two different design techniques through the production of a single piece for the motorsport industry: traditional mechanical design and generative design combined with additive metal processing.
Halls 2, 3 and 4.1 shall host the Machine Tools shows (halls 2, 3 and 4.1), Surface Treatments (hall 2), Control Italy (hall 3) and Digital Factory (4.1). Even the Ascomut Village, which has always been the heart of the Machine Tools show with the exhibition with 35 of its member companies, is changing its historical location and moving into hall 3 to act as a trait d’union between the Machine Tools and Control shows.
The Piazza delle Nanotecnologie e dei Nuovi Materiali (Nanotechnologies and New Materials Square) changes location this year to hall 6, a space dedicated to innovation with a demonstrative, informative and educational approach on the opportunities of nanotech in the industrial field. The “nano2Start” contest will be organised inside the area, with the participation of start-ups and spin-offs operating in the nanotech and advanced materials industry, which offer innovative solutions applicable to manufacturing.
A lot of meetings
But MECSPE is also a lot of training: after the successes of Modena and Brescia and the event in Naples on the 5th of February focusing on “Industry 4.0 and Aerospace”, the story for an Italian alternative to the industry 4.0 model continues with the last stage of “LABORATORI MECSPE FABBRICA DIGITALE, La via italiana per l’industria 4.0” (MECSPE DIGITAL FACTORY WORKSHOPS, The Italian way to industry 4.0): the final event of this series will involve a debate on the topics of training and new professional figures within the factory 4.0, with the presentation of national data from the MECSPE Observatory on Italian SMEs operating in the mechanical industry. In addition, on Friday 23rd March, two round tables will be held in the Digital Factory 4.0 arena: within “Power Drive Innovation”, the players in the industry will discuss topics ranging from “functional safety” during production to the management of Big-Data generated by the automated design/production flow. The second one, dedicated to industrial robotics, will include practical cases of man-machine conflict resolution in the company and of the training required today for professionals.
The numbers of MECSPE 2017
45,817 visitors, 105,000 m2 of exhibition space, 2,051 companies in attendance, 10 Squares of excellence, 58 Demonstrative units and processing islands, 7 product areas, 11 thematic shows, 75 training events organised by companies, universities and associations.
MECSPE the trade shows
Machines and Tools – machine tooling, tools and equipment; Digital Factory – IT technologies for smart factory management; Motek Italy – factory automation; Power Drive – Systems – Parts – Mechatronics; Control Italy – metrology and quality control; Logistics – logistics, machines and equipment management systems; Mechanical Subsupply – outsourced industrial processes; Electronic Subsupply – design, electronic processing and components and accessories; Eurostampi, Machinery and subsupply of plastic materials – moulds and moulding; plastic material and rubber processing; Additive Manufacturing – rapid prototyping and 3D printing; Surface Treatments – machines and systems for surface treatments and finishes; New exhibition of non-ferrous materials and alloys – aluminium, titanium, magnesium, composites and technologies.
