With estimated sales in excess of €80bn (2012) China has the largest intralogistics sector in the world and now dwarfs its nearest competitor, the USA, which has a turnover of €25.5bn. Germany, the third biggest market for intralogistics products, accounts for €19.1bn. Automation is also a major trend in China. This trend is being driven by China’s rising wage costs and an increasing shortage of labour, especially in the country’s coastal regions.
It is against this dynamic and fast-changing background that Deutsche Messe will stage this year’s CeMAT ASIA (from 27th to 30th October). It has long been the biggest and most important trade fair for intralogistics on the Asian marketplace. “CeMAT ASIA enjoys an international name and for many manufacturers it represents entry to the Chinese market. This year we expect the number of exhibitors to top the 500 mark for the first time”, reported Wolfgang Pech, senior vice-president at Deutsche Messe.
The trade show will take place from 27th to 30th October at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). The exhibitors include numerous manufacturers of forklift trucks and handling equipment – such as Crown, Heli, BYD, Ruyi, Goodsense and Jungheinrich – as well as systems providers such as the Stuttgart-based viastore, which makes complete automated intralogistic plant, warehouse management systems and SAP logistics solutions. Philipp Hahn-Woernle, CEO at viastore systems, explained: “We advise clients, implement solutions and provide full support to ensure that the systems and software provided can always be used flexibly and adapted to meet changing requirements. Visitors to CeMAT Asia will receive full information and advice on precisely how this works. To this end we offer an important tool in the form of our ‘Warehouse Designer’ app , which visitors to our stand can easily download to their iPad to obtain an initial impression of the various plant configurations and possibilities afforded by our technology.”
Numerous German companies have recognised the potential of using automated intralogistics systems, together with flexible warehouse management systems, to improve the efficiency of their processes, progress-chasing and stock-keeping, as well as to reduce warehousing costs. In China too, many companies are investing in automated solutions. The VDMA – the German industry association for mechanical and plant engineering – is confident that demand here will continue to grow in the years ahead.
The trade show CeMAT ASIA will be augmented by a conference program highlighting best-practice examples from various areas of industrial use. Within this program Deutsche Messe, in cooperation with partner associations, will be staging the first “CeMAT ASIA Innovation Salon”, which is scheduled to take place on every day of the trade show. On the first day, visitors will be offered insights into the various characteristics of the logistics markets of Europe, China and Japan. Day two will address the whole area of e-commerce and feature some prominent keynote speakers, not least Brian Xue, vice-president, Amazon Global, and Wang Yulei, vice-president, Tmall. On the third day, the focus will shift to logistical challenges in the consumer goods industry, while on the fourth and final day the program will be dedicated entirely to forklift trucks.
