For trade fairs, success is commonly measured in terms of bringing exhibitors and their specific target visitors together. But this is only part of the picture. HANNOVER MESSE is living proof that you can generate a lot more benefit for all concerned by clustering multiple industries. HANNOVER MESSE’s Industrial Supply show, for example, features industrial subcontractors. And for them, fellow exhibitors from other industries are just as important a target group as trade visitors. As the world’s leading trade fair for innovative subcontracting solutions and lightweight construction, Industrial Supply is the only such event staged under the umbrella of a much larger showcase for industrial technology: HANNOVER MESSE. With its strong focus on industrial automation and IT as well as energy and environmental technologies, HANNOVER MESSE gives its exhibiting industrial suppliers unrivalled access to potential customers from key user industries.

Located right next door to Industrial Supply, Digital Factory showcases key enabling technologies for Industry 4.0 – everything from computer-aided engineering and manufacturing execution systems to product lifecycle management solutions, right through to the latest additive manufacturing technologies. The multiple thematic overlaps and interfaces between the two shows are supported by the layout of the exhibition halls, with Digital Factory and Industrial Supply merging seamlessly at the southern end of Hall 6 for maximum ease of interdisciplinary dialogue.

At HANNOVER MESSE 2016, Industrial Supply will once again showcase the full range and diversity of competing and complementary industrial processes and materials. And in so doing, it will provide users with the best solution for each application. This is especially true of the show’s lightweight construction section, given the growing importance of multimaterial design as a way of achieving weight savings in a whole range of applications. The Industrial Supply show’s visitors come from all walks of life, including vehicle engineering (automotive, rail and aviation), mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and electronics, wholesale trade and medical technology as well as other key industries such as metalworking, steel, plastics/rubber and chemicals. The show also features all key processes for metal casting, forging, and sheet-metal working, and for producing machined parts and components, nonmetal products and joining and fastening products.