Good Atmosphere At VISION 2009

There were only a few signs of an economic crisis at VISION 2009. The trade fair attracted around 5,900 visitors, i.e. only five per cent fewer than in 2008. This figure therefore exceeded the expectations of the 293 exhibitors who had been prepared for a rather quiet period from 3 to 5 November 2009. The proportion of visitors from abroad increased substantially from 28 per cent in 2008 to 33 per cent this year. They came from more than 30 countries, primarily from Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Spain, the USA, Italy, Belgium, the United Kingdom and France, but also from Korea, Taiwan, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Brazil. The visitors were predominantly interested in machine vision systems and components, but also in services and machine vision applications.

It was very pleasing to see the great and specific interest among visitors in the exhibited products. There was a marked rise in the number of visitors who have a direct influence on investment and purchase decisions in their company. This figure rose from 76 per cent in 2008 to 86 per cent this year. We also saw a decrease in the number of first-time visitors to VISION, which has otherwise been equally high for many years. This is an indication that companies are obviously only sending their most important employees for this area to the trade fair. This fact was also confirmed by exhibitors who met very well-informed trade visitors with clear project inquiries and specific ideas. It was interesting to note that 60 per cent of these trade visitors are planning new investments, i.e. 7 per cent more than in 2008. It is obvious that the investment backlog in companies is slowly being reduced. "VISION 2009 was still popular, featured technical innovations and provided the market with growth impetus for 2010. There was little sign of a mood of crisis and the large number of discussions during the trade fair focused on new projects", said Dr. Olaf Munkelt, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the VDMA Machine Vision Group.

Visitors came from a wide range of manufacturing industries, e.g. mechanical engineering, electrical engineering/electronics, precision mechanics and optics, medical technology, the automotive industry and its supplier industries. There was a pronounced increase in the proportion of visitors from the mechanical engineering industry from 18 to 25 per cent and from medical technology from 6 to 14 per cent. At present, there obviously appears to be growth in both industries and, thus, more interest in machine vision components and systems.

The accompanying programme of VISION 2009 was more extensive than ever. This proved to be an invaluable advantage for visitors who were able to obtain additional information during events ranging from the Industrial VISION Days talk forum, the special show entitled "Application Park", the VISION Integration Area and the Beginners' Workshop of the VISION Academy through to the special shows entitled "Jugend forscht" (youth research competition) and "International Machine Vision Standards".

"The further increase in the number of foreign visitors underlines the importance of VISION as the world's leading trade fair which, especially in times of economic uncertainty, provide important momentum for the industry. The exhibitors and represented German and foreign associations show in Stuttgart the direction which machine vision will take in future and present here the latest innovations and important advances in international standardisation questions", said Thomas Walter, Head of the Industrial Solutions Business Division of Messe Stuttgart .

VISION 2010 will be held again at the New Stuttgart Trade Fair Centre next door to Stuttgart Airport from 9 to 11 November 2010.

SOURCE: VISION 2009