Industry in the digital age MSV

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THE DIGITAL AGE

The Brno International Engineering Fair (MSV) is the largest and most important engineering exhibition in central Europe and each year includes a cutting-edge supporting programme of conferences, seminars and workshops on current technical, business and economic topics. The main topic of this year’s jubilee 60th MSV is a theme concerning manufacturers across all sectors: Industry 4.0.

IN the first week of October the jubilee 60th MSV will take place at the Brno Exhibition Centre together with five other specialised trade fairs: the 11th IMT International Trade Fair of Machine Tools and Forming Machines, the 17th FOND-EX International Foundry Fair, the 24th WELDING International Welding Technology Fair, the 7th PROFINTECH International Trade Fair for Surface Treatment Technologies and the 6th PLASTEX International Trade Fair of Plastics, Rubber and Composites. The organisers expect more than 1600 exhibitors and at least 80,000 professional visitors to attend.

In addition to other important anniversaries, Brno also marks 90 years since the opening of the exhibition centre and the organisation of the Exhibition of Contemporary Culture in Czechoslovakia. On the occasion of MSV 2018, an exhibition will be held to commemorate all these anniversaries, but above all, the 60-year history of engineering fairs.

Six decades of business promotion

The largest and most important domestic fair will celebrate the jubilee in excellent form. The Czech economy is doing well, the industry is moving at full speed and participation in MSV has been increasing dramatically in recent years. More than half of the companies are coming from abroad and MSV is attracting more and more professional visitors from both the surrounding and more distant countries. This year’s trade fair should be equally busy – projections for 2018 assume continued economic growth, which will be reflected in exhibitors’ presentations.

The main theme of MSV 2018 is ‘Industry 4.0 – Automation, Robotics, Digitisation’. No surprise there, since the Brno Fair has been focusing on the upcoming fourth Industrial Revolution since 2015, when the National Industry 4.0 Initiative was announced here. Over the past few years, Industry 4.0 has been increasingly moving from conference rooms to expositions that show specific labour-saving solutions to increase work productivity and add additional value. This year, more innovative solutions for large manufacturers but also for small and medium-sized businesses are expected to be showcased.

The cross-section AUTOMATION project also focuses on this topic; it will be held for the eleventh time at this year’s MSV. Last year, approxi-

mately 300 companies took part, presenting the use of industrial automation, information technology and production process management across all trade fair sectors.

FoND-eX 2018 – new trends in foundry production

Together with the 60th jubilee International Engineering Fair, the 17th International FOND-EX Foundry Fair will also take place this year. A showcase of the latest technology will show trends in the industry, with constantly improving casting quality and manufacturing productivity. Foundries struggling with the shortage of workers will be looking for innovative solutions linked to the arrival of Industry 4.0.

The foundry industry, as a traditional industry in the Czech Republic, has been undergoing a significant change. Casting manufacturers respond to growing demand from customers for higher quality castings, whether in terms of material composition, precision or physical properties. Grey cast iron is increasingly replacing ball-grain cast iron, and trends in the automotive sector call for thin-walled pressure-cast aluminium castings. Facing imminent lack of labour, foundries have to invest more intensely in new technologies that increase the quality of production, reduce physical labour, and replace workers to some extent.

Automation, robotisation, and digitisation of production are the orders of the day, opening new opportunities thanks to advances in 3D printing of both sand moulds and metal parts. There is a material shift in structural components, through which ferrous metals are increasingly replaced by non-ferrous, but also by plastics, carbon fibres and composites. All these changes call for growth in workers’ skills, which, together with new production facilities, can offset a steady decline in the total number of foundry staff.

The FONDEX Foundry Fair traditionally enjoys special attention and the number of registered exhibitors in 2018 suggests it will be a very busy week in Brno in October. n For more information please refer to https://www.bvv.cz/en/msv/