At the start of Hannover Messe 2025, leading industry associations BDI, VDMA and ZVEI described the economic situation in Germany as worrying. According to BDI President Peter Leibinger, the mood in many companies is worse than ever before.

At Hannover Messe 2025, the mechanical and plant engineering industry emphasized the need for comprehensive reforms in order to strengthen industrial competitiveness in Germany and Europe. The VDMA believes that the German government and the European Union in particular have a duty to improve economic conditions and reduce bureaucracy.

Under the motto 'On the edge of the possible - quantum technologies made by DLR' and to mark the International Year of the Quantum, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is focusing on projects and missions at the Hannover Messe that show how quantum technologies are opening up new horizons for research, industry and business.

The OPC Foundation and the International Data Spaces Association (IDSA) are working together to improve interoperability and data governance in the automation industry.

At the Hannover Messe, Meta-Level Software and Müller Manufacturing Consulting are jointly demonstrating how data from old machines can also be recorded in a standardized way and made usable for topics such as the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and the Digital Product Passport (DPP).

Just one year after its market launch, the digital temperature transmitter 'Type T38' from Wika already has all the important international approvals and is therefore available worldwide.

Despite the challenging geopolitical and economic situation in 2024, Igus was able to increase the number of active customers by 5%. With sales of € 1.105 billion, the company recorded a comparatively moderate decline in sales of 2.5%.

Although the automation of warehouse processes using robotics has long been a reality, Exotec has identified and clarified four misconceptions about robotization in logistics.

The State Development and Reform Commission of China has announced that it will set up a publicly supported venture capital fund for robotics, artificial intelligence and cutting-edge innovations. A total of around 128 billion euros is to be raised over a period of twenty years.

The '1218 SXR' and '1228 SXR' DC motors expand Faulhaber's DC motor portfolio. According to the supplier, they are characterized by higher performance as standard and a wider range of equipment options.

Sick received the VDI Logistics Innovation Award 2025 for its robot guidance system 'Pallet content Localization' (Palloc), which was presented at the 32nd German Material Flow Congress on 20 and 21 March 2025.

From the winners of the SET Award 2025, who are revolutionizing sustainable energy, to the restructuring of Siemens and the management change at Pepperl+Fuchs - the week in review.

ABB has released 'RoboMasters' - a training app that allows users to flexibly learn how to program and operate ABB robots.

Five winning start-ups were honored by dena as part of the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue (BETD). The SET Award promotes innovative ideas and solutions for a sustainable energy future. Start-ups were honored in the categories "Clean Energy & Storage", "Mobility & Transportation", "Industry", "Buildings & Construction" and "Quality Energy Access & SDG-7".

Senstronic, a French company specializing in the development, manufacture and marketing of sensors, connectors and signal processing systems, has acquired a majority stake in Metallux.

Aimtec, headquartered in Pilsen, Czech Republic, is further expanding its presence in global markets. One strategically important market is the DACH region, for which Jan Stoces will be responsible in future.

After three decades of continuity at the top of the company, Pepperl+Fuchs is repositioning itself: Dr. Gunther Kegel, CEO for many years, and Werner Guthier, CFO, are stepping down from the Executive Board as planned to make way for a younger generation.

The Munich-based group is thus reacting to the current weakness of its automation business, among other things. Charging solutions are also affected.

The open source software of the same name developed in the joint project 'AutoQML' combines quantum computing with machine learning. According to the project partners from the Fraunhofer Institutes IAO and IPA, this makes quantum machine learning algorithms usable without in-depth specialist knowledge.

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Softing Industrial has released version V1.21 of the 'FG-200' gateway. It connects Foundation Fieldbus H1 (FF H1) field devices with Ethernet-based control and asset management systems.