Ko ra n e ’s O u t L o o k Ken Korane • Contributing Editor
Let’s play two! Longtime baseball fans know well of the late, great Ernie Banks. The first African-American member of the Chicago Cubs, he played 19 seasons, was a 14-time All Star, won two league MVP awards and was a first-ballot Hall-of-Fame inductee. Noted for his boundless energy and passion, legend has it that on an oppressively hot summer day Banks rallied his teammates with the famous saying, “It’s a beautiful day. Let’s play two.” Fans of fluid power might want to channel Banks’ enthusiasm and contemplate a visit to Germany this spring, as the Hannover Fair and bauma are running back-to-back. With an easy train ride, one could hit both in the span of a week. These massive, mind-boggling trade fairs are unlike any we see in the U.S. — combined, they are expected to attract more than 800,000 visitors from nearly every country worldwide — and fluid power will have an outsized presence at both. Virtually | Messe München every type of component, sensor, control, software and system imaginable will be found among 14 exhibit halls in Hannover. And it’s hard to find a mobile machine without hydraulics among the thousands that will be on display at bauma. While one show leans industrial and the other to mobile and mining, Finally, to address the shortage of skilled workers, fair both address common hot-button issues for fluid power. Consider digital organizers have arranged young-engineer events. Relatively new integration. It’s permitting more exacting control, better performance and graduates and university students can get free career-coaching higher efficiency in hydraulic and pneumatic systems across the board. sessions with industry experts, try out simulators and learn Industry 4.0/IoT is a ubiquitous theme at Hannover, with networked about internships, apprenticeships and non-traditional technical production, predictive maintenance and machine learning positioned as the professions. Special networking events for women target successful basis for “smart” factories. career strategies and novel work options. At bauma, the trend is toward cloud-integrated construction sites Well over 200 North American firms will be exhibiting, and machines equipped with sensors and communication interfaces that along with countless other European and Asian companies with improve precision, lower fuel consumption and emissions, anticipate a strong U.S. presence. To those executives attending: Consider breakdowns and manage entire fleets. Automated machine functions and bringing along one or two of your young engineers. From a careerexpanded use of driverless vehicles will drive productivity. development standpoint, the experience would be invaluable. It’s a Likewise there’s electrification. Industrial fluid-power cylinders have unique opportunity to meet key players, suppliers and competitors, been fighting neck-and-neck with electromechanical drives for years. Now learn about the newest trends and see the latest innovations. electric construction machines, while still just novelties or prototypes, The impressions will be long-lasting, foster a more broad-minded are gaining momentum in the push for zero-emission vehicles. That could perspective and, ultimately, make them more-valuable employees. profoundly affect fluid power. Hannover and bauma? Let’s play two! Other areas of emphasis include everything from new materials and coatings to virtual reality for training and servicing. R&D clusters will For more details on these trade fairs, see our accompanying glean the future with topics like cognitive systems, bionic robotics and the stories on page 58 and 62. growing importance of artificial intelligence in production. FPW
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