Hannover Messe, the industrial technology trade fair, has been postponed from April until July, while Logimat in Stuttgart has been cancelled because of the coronavirus outbreak.
It is the first time Hannover Messe has been postponed in its 70-year history.
‘Today's [4 March] decision by Deutsche Messe to postpone Hannover Messe comes at the right time,’ commented Wolfgang Weber, chairman of the German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association, the ZVEI, a partner of the event. ‘As an internationally important industrial trade show, its USP is the gathering of people from all over the world. This can only happen if there are no health risks.’
Logimat, the logistics trade fair scheduled for 10 to 12 March in Stuttgart, has now been cancelled. A statement from the show read: ‘The risk of infection has become more acute due to the increased and accelerated spread of the coronavirus in Germany, with the region of Stuttgart among those particularly affected. The responsible Office of Public Order in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, acting on the urgent recommendation of the responsible Office of Public Health for the region of Esslingen, instructed organisers at 5:17pm today [4 March] to cancel Logimat 2020.’
Christoph Huss, managing partner of event organiser Euroexpo, commented: 'This is bitter, given the overwhelming importance of Logimat Stuttgart for the global intralogistics industry. The cancellation of Logimat 2020 for external, unforeseeable circumstances is unprecedented in the event’s 18-year history. Despite tremendous efforts working with Messe Stuttgart, we were unable to find a later date to host the event in 2020, so it is with great regret that we have decided to cancel Logimat 2020.'
Speaking at a London press conference on 2 March for Automatica, Dr Martin Lechner, a director at Messe München, commented that 'the Munich shows are moving ahead, but it's a difficult time.' Automatica will take place in June in Munich.
SPIE Photonics Europe, which was set to held in Strasbourg at the end of March, has been postponed.
Image Sensors in London is also continuing from 10 to 12 March, although the organisers are asking anyone who has travelled to China, South Korea, Northern Italy or Iran in 2020 to contact them regarding their participation at the conference.
Embedded World in Nuremberg at the end of February was held although with lower visitor attendance and some exhibitors cancelling – Basler was one of the imaging firms that did not exhibit or attend the event.
Deutsche Messe, in postponing Hannover Messe, was following the advice of the Robert Koch Institute, which includes measures to safeguard health when hosting major events, such as fever measuring stations at entrances and not allowing people from risk areas or those who have had contact with people from risk areas to enter the exhibition centre.
Deutsche Messe said that it would be unable to implement the proposed measures while fulfilling the event’s purpose.
Thilo Brodtmann, chief executive of the German Engineering Federation, the VDMA, a Hannover Messe partner, commented: ‘The VDMA supports the decision of Deutsche Messe. In regards to the current challenges caused by the coronavirus, postponing Hannover Messe until July is the best possible option. We assume that the situation will calm down in the coming months and that the mechanical engineering industry will then benefit from a reviving business situation.’
Vision China Shanghai and Laser World of Photonics China, which were scheduled to take place in Shanghai from 18 to 20 March, have also been postponed.
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*Hannover Messe has now been postponed until 12-16 April 2021.
