MECSPE returns to Bari (Nov. 23-25) with a special appointment at Milan Digital Week (Oct. 6) together with MADE – Competence Center Industry 4.0, to delve into the topics of sustainability and enabling technologies for Industry 5.0.
The manufacturing industry has a positive direct and indirect effect on the socioeconomic fabric of Italy, as well as having an important impact on people’s lives.
Automotive, food, energy, aerospace, and so on, there is no sector where manufacturing companies in recent years have not brought value and innovation.
Therefore, it is important to assess the health of the industry, not only from an economic perspective but also by checking the propensity of entrepreneurs for “growth.”
In this regard, Italian business captains have a very clear idea: according to the latest MECSPE Observatory, the leading manufacturing industry trade show organized by Senaf with an extraordinary stop in Bari Nov. 23-25 at the Nuova Fiera del Levante, nearly three out of four (equivalent to 73% of the companies) are planning a path to growth within the next two years.
In particular, one-third plan to do so dimensionally, one-quarter by expanding production into new areas, and 15 percent by focusing on internationalization.
Moreover, many entrepreneurs (as many as 26 percent), again in the next two years, are looking with interest at extraordinary transactions such as mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
In terms of how to raise the economic resources, although most will draw from the capital they already have (53 percent), there are an increasing number of companies that will consider participating in public tenders (31 percent) and bringing in new partners (12 percent).
The data thus show a sector—manufacturing—that is alive and dynamic but needs guidance to help companies understand the market in all its aspects.
This is precisely the role of MECSPE, which returns to Bari with many initiatives and events to facilitate companies in this phase of development by focusing on essential themes for the entire manufacturing industry: innovation, sustainability, and training.
Incentives and investments to digitise businesses
What can motivate entrepreneurs to invest in making businesses more digital, green, and with adequate skills?
Certainly, economic aid plays a key role, but it comes with lights (many) and shadows: in fact, 55 percent of companies have already taken advantage of government Industria 4.0 incentives and four out of ten have invested more than €500K, with 13 percent having invested more than €3M.
Yet, according to entrepreneurs, the measures taken are not enough, but this is not a complete rejection: almost half rate the measures as insufficient but still important for innovation, while only 12 percent think they are totally inadequate.
Looking at the incentives that companies will apply for in 2023, the most popular is the capital goods tax credit for digital transformation (47 percent), followed by training 4.0 (37 percent) and incentives for innovation in the research and development area (27 percent).
In this scenario, MECSPE can make a difference with its exhibition platform which has been offering entrepreneurs opportunities for exchange and learning for more than two decades by following precisely the three focal themes for the entire manufacturing industry.
Macro topics that will develop starting from the new Exhibition Heart “Energy Transition & Sustainability in the Manufacturing Industry: from Transportation to Companies” a central area of the event where technology and market experts will explain the new challenges of the industry with a focus on mobility, manufacturing, and the hydrogen supply chain.
In addition, there is a novelty this year: On October 6, MECSPE, together with MADE – Competence Center Industria 4.0, will be among the protagonists of Milan Digital Week with the event “The new face of the manufacturing industry capable of combining well-being, environmental sustainability, and business economics”.
More and more enterprise 5.0
Companies and industry experts will explore the themes of sustainability and new digital-enabling technologies applied to the manufacturing industry, essential accelerators toward a new virtuous way of doing business that is increasingly 5.0 and responsive to the needs of young people and the environment.
«To support the digitization process of Italian companies, the competence centres established by the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy now play an important role» says Federico Ravasio, communications manager of MADE Competence Center. «Companies, through MADE 4.0, can access two important non-repayable financing tools. The first concerns standard services such as training courses, consulting on product and process technological innovation, intellectual property, access to credit, etc. The second is a call for innovation projects of industrial research, feasibility study, and experimental development. Entrepreneurs will thus have €14 M at their disposal and will be able to find all the right tools and skills to implement their sustainable digital transition projects.»
«Italian companies have an extraordinary ability to adapt, and the numbers of the last edition of MECSPE testify to how much these realities have understood the need to evolve» says Maruska Sabato, MECSPE project manager. «Our commitment is to propose a dynamic and comprehensive event, where companies can discover and embrace the most innovative technologies to achieve their goals in terms of growth and digitalization. We believe that by guiding companies toward adopting virtuous practices and promoting cohesion and networking, we can turn challenges into opportunities and open new paths toward a forward-looking industry.»
The figures of MECSPE BARI 2019
20,000 sq m of exhibition area, 16,243 visitors including professionals and students, 656 companies attending, 54 conferences and workshops, 10 special initiatives, 6 exhibition areas, 3 pavilions, 1 exhibition heart “Intelligent WORKSHOPS”.
