Q&A: What did we think of Hannover Messe 2023?
I caught up with Associate Directors, Kimberley Wellen and William Adamthwaite, to hear their thoughts after attending Hannover Messe 2023!
As one of the most important dates in the calendar for the industry, Hannover Messe is a firm fixture in the FMC diary each year! Following an insightful trip in 2022, our Smart Industry team were looking forward to heading back to Hannover to meet with some of the biggest names in the space.
Associate Directors, Kimberley Wellen and William Adamthwaite, headed to Germany last week – I’ve caught up with them to see how they got on:
Overall, how did you find Hannover Messe this year?
Kimberley: It was a great event, bigger and better than 2022! Hannover Messe is always an amazing opportunity to meet so many of our customers in one place and network with new prospects; some companies we were already aware of but there were a lot of new prospects too. It’s also good to see the tech on display and see some demos from our clients showcasing their solutions.
William: As Kimberley said, it was a great event and it’s so advantageous for us to see so many of our clients and candidates in one place – the value of meeting face-to-face really is unbelievable!
Did you notice any market trends?
William: The main focus of the event was Digitalisation and Decarbonisation and we certainly saw a lot of new tech surrounding this. Some of the most notable trends we saw were Wearables, Additive Manufacturing and SaaS vs. On-Prem Solutions – all things I’m going to discuss in another blog so keep your eyes peeled for that!
Kimberley: There was also a lot of buzz around the industrial metaverse, where companies are able to create virtual copies of their physical products and showcase them digitally via VR headsets, smart glasses, laser scanning tech, gloves with sensors etc. That was really interesting to see.
And what about any recruitment trends?
Kimberley: Diversity, equity and inclusion and female leadership quite rightly remain huge topics of discussion in the market – we’re continuing to see a big emphasis on women in manufacturing which, of course, is great!
William: There’s a big push in demand from candidates for broader benefits and good onboarding processes – both of which are becoming key in securing top candidates. We also heard a lot of discussion surrounding hiring in geographic locations such as DACH and Southern Europe, and found that organisations are still hiring commercial talent but are being slightly more reserved.
What do you think the future looks like in the space?
William: Very positive! There are a lot of big developments going on as we’re seeing a race to get to enterprise level rather than just the shop floor which is going to be very interesting to see play out.
Kimberley: The industry is continuing to go through lots of transformation, to keep up with this, companies in the space really need to push on with digitalisation and automation to help achieve sustainability goals.
To finish, what did you enjoy most about the event?
Kimberley: Touching on what I said earlier, the best part was 100% being able to meet face-to-face with so many of our clients, both old and new, and getting to see their tech demos in person. Some particular highlights were Litmus Automation showcasing alongside Google, Sight Machine alongside Microsoft and GE Digital alongside AWS.
William: There’s no question about it that the best part of Hannover Messe each year is the sheer volume of people we get to meet with, it’s invaluable to meet again with clients we’ve known for years and to put faces to new names! Meeting with Sight Machine and GE Digital and seeing how their tech works first-hand were some highlights for me, I also really enjoyed speaking with iTAC about their tech and how the growth they’re experiencing.
How did you find the show? We’d be interested to hear your feedback!
If you’re in the digital transformation space and are looking to grow your team this year, or want to discuss trends in the market, get in touch with FMC Smart Industry on kimberley.wellen@fmctalent.com or wda@fmctalent.com.