Record crowds at robotics exhibition

Nearly 9,000 visitors in search of ‘next level’ innovation attended this year’s ever-popular Robotics & Automation Exhibition and two collocated shows – IntraLogisteX, the industry showcase for warehouse and logistics management solutions, and a highly anticipated Sustainable Supply Chain Exhibition.

The two-day exhibition’s record crowd was treated to spectacular displays of on-show technologies designed to offer a practical response to time-consuming, costly operational practices. Held on March 19th and 20th, a number of the robotics demonstrations took place within a mock-up workplace, with the ‘bots’ revealing their beguiling capability to revolutionise logistics and warehouse productivity.

More than 250 exhibitors took a stand at this year’s three-part exhibition. Their dazzling array of future-ready solutions was accompanied by a captivating conference programme involving more than 60 influential industry speakers.

An additional initiative at this year’s event saw the best-of-the-best on-show products included as part of an intriguing Innovation Trail. A true journey of discovery across all three shows, the Innovation Trail gave visitors a bespoke shortcut to people and products set to revolutionise warehouse and logistics operations.

Furthermore, ‘Meet the Buyer’ provided pioneering exhibitors with a unique, connective space to engage directly with solution-seeking buyers.

Stephen Brooks, Managing Director at event organisers Akabo Media, said: “We had our biggest-ever crowd attend our biggest-ever event. Having three shows under one roof added a new level of excitement to the Robotics & Automation Exhibition, which is established industrywide as an awe-inspiring showcase of technologies that will revolutionise the way businesses work. The success of this year’s event proves the manufacturing, warehousing and logistics sectors’ thirst for innovation is greater than ever.”

Global brands’ transformative product lines
This year’s Robotics & Automation Exhibition saw a number of global brands exhibiting their digitally-driven product lines to a large, expectant audience. Ocado Intelligent Automation (OIA) celebrated its inaugural year at the show with a live demonstration of its Ocado Storage and Retrieval System (OS/RS).

Previously hidden away within Ocado’s grocery warehouses, the fully functional ASRS grid – which is fitted out with real-life mobile robots – thrillingly showcased the Group’s aim to expand its technology into other commercial areas such as pharmaceuticals, fashion and ancillary automotive components. Also on display was Ocado’s battery swap unit, breakout technology that streamlines the charging process and improves an automated system’s product picking efficiency.

Speaking of the Robotics & Automation Exhibition’s impact on business, Jamies Spencer, VP of sales for Ocado Intelligent Automation, said: “The show was excellent for us. It gave us good value and we’ve had some fantastic feedback. We’ll definitely be back next year, with perhaps an even bigger and better product showcase.”

Siemens Digital Industries’ exhibitor space was used to promote its solutions for digital automation and transformation. As transfixed exhibitor attendees discovered, its Radio Frequency Identification System (RFID) system is capable of scanning all items packaged within a box as it journeys along a conveyor. Siemens provided live demonstrations of this inspired technology throughout the exhibition. As items pass through the conveyor, the RFID reads the product type and amount stored within a box. This incredible facility is set to significantly reduce operative costs in logistics warehouses.

Speaking of Siemens’ debut appearance as a Robotics & Automation exhibitor, Paul Billingsley, the company’s Sales Manager, said: “We can’t big the show up enough. It’s all about the quality of the leads, not the amount. We just had all the right people coming to see us. It’s a target vertical for us and it really couldn’t have gone any better.”

Other game-changing solutions launched at this year’s exhibition included ‘Grab’, a mobile picking robot produced by ERP software specialists, Solwr Robotics. With its 18 hours per day picking time, the plug ‘n’ play system meets the challenge of recruiting qualified labour for the
logistics and warehouse sector by reducing the total amount of manually picked weight by up to 60%.

Also debuting at the exhibition was a full range of innovative, labour-saving ‘bots’ by Locus Robotics. Locus Origin, Locus Vector and Locus Max had their first public outing at the show, with the high-tech trio providing a running demonstration of their trailblazing picking ability in a simulated warehouse environment.

Of the exhibition’s stimulating conference sessions, Dr Esyin Chew’s presentation, which dissected the role of Eureka Robotics Centre’s development of work social and educational humanoid robotics, drew an attentive audience. During her address Dr Chew, Director at the Cardiff-based Eureka Robotics Centre, one of 11 specialist robotics centres in the UK, highlighted current trends in mobile and humanoid robotics. More than 100 robots have been customised and designed by the centre, 14 of which have been successfully integrated within ‘real life’ environments. Dr Chew’s invigorating talk focused on how the centre’s thrilling automation has benefited logistics and warehouse sector operations.

Stephen Brooks continued: “The sense of excitement amongst crowds about what they experienced over the two days was unprecedented. From the fantastic feedback we’ve had from attendees, it appears next year’s show can’t come soon enough. We look forward to seeing you all again in 2025, when we anticipate a footfall of more than 11,000 attendees and 350 exhibitors will make for an even bigger, more impactful event.”