"Information technologies and automation are growing ever closer together," says Sylke Schulz-Metzner at the start of the pre-press conference for this year's SPS IPC Drives. The Head of SPS IPC Drives at Mesago Messe Frankfurt continued: "In recent years, we have already noticed a growing demand for software and IT exhibitions, which we are now bundling in Hall 6."

Martin Roschkowski, Mesago Managing Director, and Division Manager Sylke Schulz-Metzner are convinced that the newly designed Hall 6 will become a magnet for visitors.

© Mesago

Martin Roschkowski, Managing Director of the company, adds: "Providers from the IT world such as Microsoft Germany and SAP Germany will be presenting exhibition topics such as industrial web services, virtual product development and design, digital business platforms, IT/OT technologies as well as fog/edge and cloud computing. Cyber security solutions will also be on show at numerous trade fair stands, for example from Kaspersky."

The "Industry 4.0 Area", previously located in Hall 3A, is also moving to Hall 6 and will be incorporated into its exhibition focus "Software & IT in Manufacturing". The trade fair theme "Mechanical Infrastructure", which was previously represented in Hall 6, will in future be located in Hall 2 and Hall 10.1 together with suppliers of industrial communication technology. Hall 10.1, the upper level of the two-storey Hall 10, will be included for the first time, whereas the lower level, known as Hall 10.0, has already been part of SPS IPC Drives in previous years. Around half of Hall 10.1 will be occupied, which will increase the gross exhibition area of the trade fair from 122,200 square meters to around 124,000 square meters.

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The Guided Tours on the topics of IT security in automation, smart production and smart connectivity are also making their debut this year. These guided tours provide trade visitors with targeted and focused information on important innovations and exhibits in these special subject areas. The tours take place twice a day in English, last around two hours and are limited to 20 participants.

The hall layout of SPS IPC Drives 2017.

© Mesago

The forums of the ZVEI association in Hall 3A and the VDMA association in Hall 3 as well as the joint "Automation meets IT" forum in Hall 6 will offer specialist presentations and panel discussions on the top topics in automation.

The accompanying Automation 4.0 Summit will once again supplement the information on offer at the trade fair on the first two days of this year's event and will address four topics in the Industry 4.0 environment. On the first day of the trade fair, the topics "TSN and OPC UA in industry" and "Sensor technology for Industry 4.0" will be on the agenda. The second day is dedicated to the topics "Embedded Vision" and "Raspberry Pi & Co in Industry". To enable day visitors to SPS IPC Drives to attend both the trade fair and the congress, the congress is designed as a half-day event (from 10.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.). Further information on the accompanying congress can be found at www.automation-40.de.

SPS IPC Drives 2017 will take place from November 28 to 30 in Nuremberg.