The machine vision industry is developing dynamically and is becoming increasingly important," says Roland Bleinroth, Managing Director of Landesmesse Stuttgart. "The prospects for Vision 2022 are therefore very promising and expectations are high. After numerous restrictions due to Covid-19, Vision 2022 is the first own event of Messe Stuttgart, which once again has a special international significance."

Anne Wendel, consultant in the VDMA Machine Vision department of the VDMA Robotics+Automation Association, reports on full order books in the machine vision industry: "According to the VDMA market survey, the European machine vision industry recorded a 17 percent increase in sales in 2021. The forecasts for 2022 are positive despite lower expectations due to disrupted supply chains." The VDMA forecasts predict an increase of 5% and a turnover of EUR 3.2 billion for the German machine vision industry. Growth of 6 percent to 14.4 billion euros is expected for robotics and automation as a whole. "This gives us a positive outlook for the upcoming Vision 2022."

Over three days, Vision will bring together visitors from all over the world with start-ups and key players in the field of machine vision. More than 300 companies had already registered for Vision 2022 at the beginning of July - last year there were around 300 in total under 3G conditions (vaccinated, tested, recovered). "Overall, we expect exhibitor numbers to grow by around 25 percent by October compared to last year," predicts Florian Niethammer, Head of Trade Fairs & Events at Messe Stuttgart.

In addition to national and international key players, Messe Stuttgart will be able to welcome many new players: Around 17 percent of the registered companies are taking part in Vision for the first time this year. The increasing number of exhibitors is also reflected in the space occupied: Vision will once again take place in the Paul Horn Hall (Hall 10) and the Alfred Kärcher Hall (Hall 8); however, at 25,000 square meters, the two halls are around a quarter more occupied than in 2021.

The great international importance of Vision is reflected in the high proportion of international exhibitors: After the ratio of national and international exhibitors was almost balanced in 2021, the proportion of foreign exhibitors for 2022 is currently 56 percent. Exhibiting companies from the USA are particularly well represented this year, followed by Japan, China, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Anne Wendel, VDMA: "The VDMA forecasts predict an increase of 5 percent and a turnover of 3.2 billion euros for the German machine vision industry."

© VDMA

The trends in image processing will of course also be evident at Vision. Artificial intelligence, for example, has become indispensable. "At Vision 2022, it will be exciting to see what new possibilities the topic of hyperspectral imaging offers, where the trend topics of AI and deep learning are heading and what new developments in the field of embedded vision and 3D will be on show," explains Florian Niethammer.

The exhibiting companies will be demonstrating the opportunities that machine vision offers for various sectors - including the medical and pharmaceutical industries, the food and beverage industry, transport technology and infrastructure, retail and retail trade, the automotive and supplier industry, mechanical and plant engineering and logistics. In addition to components, high-performance image processing systems will be presented at Vision, i.e. the complete spectrum of image processing technology will be covered.

Together with the VDMA Machine Vision department and the VDMA Start-up Machine network, Vision offers young companies the Start-up Pitch Sessions as an additional presentation opportunity. As part of the Industrial Vision Days forum, four companies can present their innovations on the large forum stage on each day of the trade fair to trade visitors at the trade fair, but also to viewers worldwide as part of the broadcast live stream. At the end of each day of the trade fair, the Startup of the Day will be chosen from the four companies. Finally, the Vision Start-up 2022 will be chosen on the last day of the trade fair.

Young innovative companies from Germany can receive funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) to participate in the joint stand at Vision. Eleven companies have already registered for the sponsored joint stand two months before the trade fair - from providers of AI-supported image processing to hyperspectral providers, lighting manufacturers and system providers. This means that the joint stand at Vision has reached a new record number of registrations this year.