On the 15th and 16th November 2023, ARCENTECH visited the METALMadrid23, COMPOSITESMadrid23 and ROBOMÁTICAMadrid23 exhibition at IFEMA Madrid, part of the ADVANCED MANUFACTURING MADRID 2023 fair. Three different spaces with very distinct themes although they all shared an element of technological rpogress that is undoubtedly changing our present way of life.
This 15th edition had a display area of over 38 400 square meters, which allowed 600 companies and 12 000 professionals to attend the presenting state-of-the art technologies for today’s industry. In addition, several conferences and round tables on a wide variety of topics were organized. A special mention we shall made to those focused in material minimization, reutilization and recycling.
METAL Madrid23
The visit to METALMadrid23 exhibitors was very interesting and visually very attractive as a large number of participant companies showed samples of their products. A great variety of tools, personal safety equipment and large tooling machines were on display, such as milling, cutting, plying and polishing machines as well as machining centres. These machines stood out at the exhibition, as many of them were of great size and with a complex operation. As several representatives pointed out, thanks to increasingly advanced numeric control systems, these machines produced metal components that were beyond belief only a few years ago.
Furthermore, the fair included several training workshops, one of them exclusively dedicated to welding techniques. Various professionals showed part of the new welding methods as well as practical guidelines for all welding specialists.
COMPOSITES Madrid23
The stands that COMPOSITES Madrid23 displayed were dedicated to the latest products and innovations within the composite materials sector, a growing field in Spain. Most exhibitors focused on presenting different materials that currently exist in the market, although they also featured new machinery and new design and simulation programmes for the production of pieces made of these materials.
Despite the fact that it is increasingly evident how new composite materials are introduced into our daily lives, such as rackets, coatings, vehicle parts… a large part of their applications remains to be discovered. In one of the lectures, for instance, a Swiss-based company producing reinforcing bars for the construction of concrete structures uses composite materials instead of steel to reinforce bars. This offers a series of advantages, less weight, very similar structural characteristics to steel and most importantly, less exposure to corrosion.
ROBOMÁTICA Madrid23
Lastly, special emphasis should be given to the stands dedicated to ROBOMÁTICA. Although very small in number, compared to the previous ones, they displayed the latest developments in the area of industrial robotic automation and its applications, all of them, key factors in the transition towards a new model known as “Smart Factory”.
At the fair, several robots designed to load and unload freights and a multitude of control and automation systems could be seen. Another item that caught our attention were large automatized containers of up to 6 meters high, equipped with machined trays. Users can enter the item they are looking for on a screen and the computer locates it and presents the specific tray containing the item to the user.
This visit has undoubtedly been very instructive regarding the importance of innovation, covering areas such as metalworking, the development of composite materials and robotics applied to industry. ARCENTECH invites all those interested in these fields to attend the next edition. We will be there to discover first-hand the new materials and technologies.
