EMO MILANO2021: The Post-Pandemic Era Begins with a Hit

The world manufacturing industry of machine tools, robots, and automation systems responded enthusiastically to EMO MILANO 2021, ushering in the post-pandemic era. From October 4-9, the world trade show dedicated to the metalworking sector was held at the Exhibition Centre of fieramilano Rho.

Promoted by CECIMO, the European Association of Machine Tool Industries, and organized by the operational structures of UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, the Italian machine tools, robots, and automation systems Manufacturers' Association, EMO MILANO 2021 attracted over 60,000 visitors from 91 countries.

Luigi Galdabini, General Commissioner, EMO MILANO 2021, stated, “The exhibition data confirms the value of the event, considered as the appointment of reference for the worldwide manufacturing industry of machine tools, robots, and automation systems.”

Citing that in such a complicated, historic moment, where the public health emergency is not yet completely over, Galdabini added, “EMO showed its importance, drawing all those operators to Milan, who could have the green light to move from their countries of origin. Moreover, the participation of the operators, coming not only from Europe, but also proves the attractiveness of Italy, regarded as one of the most interesting and promising markets, as well as a leading manufacturing country in the sector”.

Alfredo Mariotti, Director of the Exhibition, and General Manager, UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE, pointed, “A very large number of exhibitors have expressed their full satisfaction with the results achieved over these six exhibition days. ‘Qualified and very motivated visitors,’ ‘A duly organized trade show in all its details and not least those related to safety’: these are the most common expressions of appreciation received both from habitual exhibitors of the world metalworking trade show and from companies who did not have particular previous participation experience.”

Mariotti further concluded that the work carried out by the EMOteam has been appreciated by Italian and foreign operators, who also expressed their satisfaction on social media, thus supporting the climate of trust that characterizes the sector and is regarded EMO MILANO 2021 as the event launching the post-pandemic era.

International character

Despite the continued mobility restrictions, EMO MILANO demonstrated its international character on this occasion. Foreign exhibitors accounted for 60 percent of the total, while foreign visitors made up 30 percent of the overall number.

The wide product offering on show, representing all segments of the sector, expression of the production proposal of over 700 enterprises, exhibited within 6 halls completely set up for the event and covering 1,00,000 sq mt of overall exhibition area, was an absolute attraction for the operators of the world manufacturing industry.

Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Austria, Slovenia, Turkey, Poland, Russia, and Denmark were the most well-represented countries at the trade show, which also drew a large number of operators from Finland, Croatia, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the USA, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Ireland, and Egypt.

Over 30 qualified foreign operators participated in business missions organized by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE in collaboration with MAECI and ICE-Italian Trade Agency, as well as 30 members of an autonomous Turkish delegation. The matching activity conducted by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE resulted in 1,200 meetings held at the stands of the exhibitors who participated in the initiative.

Aside from generating user interest, EMO MILANO 2021 also drew the attention of the international press: approximately 400 accredited journalists, 40 percent of whom were from abroad. Students have also expressed an interest in attending the event. There were 1,300 young visitors, including students from Technical High Schools, Universities, and ITS-Higher Technical Schools, who came with their teachers to the exhibition. 450 of them were escorted on guided tours by UCIMU-SISTEMI PER PRODURRE tutors.

Numerous initiatives

Besides the technology offering, EMO MILANO 2021 featured a number of initiatives, such as EMO Digital, the exhibition area dedicated to digital technologies; EMO Additive Manufacturing, dedicated to one of the most promising fields of manufacturing production; and EMO Start-Up, which provided an overview of new enterprises working on the development of products and projects related to the world of production systems and metalworking.

The Speakers Corner, an arena set up in Hall 5, was a first for the trade show, offering over 80 speeches as well as in-depth analyses and discussions by exhibitors and organizers. Furthermore, AITA-ITALIAN ASSOCIATION OF ADDITIVE TECHNOLOGIES arranged 20 meetings within the EMO ADDITIVE area. Over 2,000 attendees registered for the meetings, in addition to nearly 3,000 remotely connected users (for an average of 500 users per day) who were able to follow the events at the trade show via the live streaming service over the six exhibition days.

Digital footprint

The exhibition’s interest is also highlighted by the exhibition website’s consultation statistics. Over 8,00,000 views were recorded on emo-milano.com, with the majority coming from Italy, Germany, and Switzerland, followed by the United States, France, Spain, and Japan.

These figures are in addition to the 6,00,000 views registered on the Smart Catalog, the exhibition’s official catalogue, which was mostly viewed on mobile phones. EMO MILANO’s social community grew dramatically, from 2,770 users in 2015 to 9,440 followers on October 10, 2021.

LinkedIn had the most activity out of all the exhibition profiles (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn). There were over 23,000 page views (+809 percent) and approximately 7,500 single users for 3,30,000 views of the posts published on the trade show's official profile between September 13 and October 10, 2021.

EMO MILANO’s next edition will take place in October 2027.

Image Source: UCIMU