VISION 2024: Sector is ‘growing despite negative market conditions’

11 Oct 2024

Organizer Messe Stuttgart claims new exhibitor record and increase in visitors, this year.

by Matthew Peach in Stuttgart

Messe Stuttgart and the organizers of this week’s VISION 2024 expo stated that the show “is and will remain the global center of machine vision”.

Between 8 to 10 October, Messe Stuttgart hosted the presentation of novel vision technologies and applications. The 31st edition of the trade fair for machine vision set a new exhibitor record and saw a significant increase in the number of visitors – “up 23 per cent”, said the organizer’s statement: “VISION 2024 featured no fewer than 483 exhibitors from 38 countries and welcomed more than 8,000 visitors, 49 per cent of whom came from abroad.”

Florian Niethammer, Head of Exhibitions and Events at Messe Stuttgart, said “In spite of challenging market conditions, VISION continued on its successful course and reflected both current and future opportunities in the machine vision industry.”

He added, “In the full exhibition halls it was confirmed that there is still interest in machine vision solutions across every industry and that trade visitors are relying on further development and new investments for the future. The exhibitors were able to generate valuable leads and forge new contacts.”

The German Engineering Federation (VDMA), the professional and promotional supporter of VISION, concurred: “VISION 2024 generated new positive impetus and proved that there is still interest in machine vision,” commented Anne Wendel, Head of the Machine Vision Department in the VDMA Robotics + Automation Association section.

“Machine vision occupies a key position in the global automation trend. New AI technologies and approaches are also increasing the market potential. The long-term outlook for European machine vision therefore remains positive,” Wendel said.

The 2024 edition of VISION saw its net exhibition area increase by 16 per cent compared with the 2022 event. The number of exhibitors rose by more than 25 per cent, setting a new record. The show also saw the highest ever share of first-time exhibitors (33 percent), while the volume of foreign exhibitors (67 percent) was also a record.

Knowledge transfer and competitions

Conference forums “Industrial VISION Days” and “Scientific VISION Days” were well received, according to Niethammer. These forums were jointly organised by the VDMA Machine Vision Association and the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT).

In more than 100 presentations and talks the forums offered concise know-how transfer relating to important trend topics such as 3D imaging, embedded vision, hyperspectral imaging and artificial intelligence. The entire talk programme could be followed in a live stream during VISION and is available after the event as a video-on-demand offer.

The concurrent VISION Award and VISION Start-up Pitch Sessions drew the crowds and demonstrated what the future holds, added Niethammer. Toshiba Teli won the VISION 2024 Award for its development of OneShotBRDF, a technology that revolutionizes surface flaw detection on glossy and flat materials.

The VISION 2024 Start-Up Award was presented to the French company Viziotix, which has developed a revolutionary barcode software. “Competitions are a yardstick for the innovative capacity in an industry,” said Niethammer.

After the challenges of the past two years, which were characterised by “a continuing rebalancing of trade relations between the USA and China”, ultimately, by a “volatile geopolitical environment,” Dr. Chris Yates, President of the European Machine Vision Association, also sees some positive signals for the industry.

The EMVA is expecting market growth in the medium term: “In view of the large number of market entries by new companies, continuous innovations, great interest among strategic finance investors and an ecosystem of companies which offer high-quality products for critical needs, it is expected that the vision technology market will also remain a very attractive line of business in future,” he said.