Hannover/Beijing. IAMD–Integrated Automation, Motion & Drives BEIJING 2018, which ran 9–11 May at the Beijing Exhibition Centre, hosted 200 exhibiting companies and more than 18,000 visitors. Five main exhibit sectors – control technology, mechanical infrastructure, sensors and connectors, digital plant and an application park – covered a display area of 20,000 square meters. Roughly 100 buyer delegations attended the show.

China’s transition to a modern manufacturing nation, as indicated by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the 19th CPC National Congress, is dependent on new concepts, products and services. At IAMD Beijing 2018, companies such as Beckhoff, Cognex, Eplan, Grantech, ifm, Nanda, Pilz, Rittal, Rollon, and Schmalz displayed their latest solutions for smart manufacturing in China. Hot topics included Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, big data, the Industrial Internet of Things, and smart logistics.

"For 2018 we updated our program to include power transmission and fluid technologies. This enables us to provide a more comprehensive overview of current topics and trends in manufacturing. We want to help stimulate new economic growth by promoting new industrial drivers," said Gary Liu, managing director of Hannover Milano Fairs Shanghai.

The International Intelligent Manufacturing Conference ran parallel to IAMD BEIJING. In line with the conference’s motto – New-Generation Intelligent Manufacturing – China’s minister of industry and information technology, Miao Wei, emphasized that China is accelerating adoption of smart manufacturing in order to improve quality and efficiency.

Hannover Milano Fairs Shanghai Ltd., Deutsche Messe’s subsidiary in China, organizes IAMD BEIJING. The Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society is sponsor. IAMD BEIJING belongs to Deutsche Messe’s global portfolio, which includes events in Australia, Canada, China, Indonesia, Italy, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States. The next IAMD Beijing is scheduled for May 2019.