Industrial imaging industry gathers in Stuttgart

The 31st edition of Vision, the trade fair for machine vision, returns to the Stuttgart Trade Fair Center this year from 8-10 October.

Held every two years, the event plays host to the complete range of machine vision technology, with the conference programme designed to help visitors find out about all innovations in machine-vision technologies, both current and in-development for the future. The exhibition floor, meanwhile, will be home to exhibitors from all over the world, showcasing the latest systems and components for integrators.

Despite an admittedly challenging year for the industry, the event looks set to be bigger and better than ever. Earlier this year, Florian Niethammer, Manager of Exhibitions and Events at Messe Stuttgart revealed at a Vision/VDMA round table event in Stuttgart that the Vision show had already surpassed the exhibitor numbers experienced in 2022, with 385 exhibiting companies, which he described as “a pleasing development path with the Vision show.” The 2022 event itself saw a rise in visitor number over the previous iteration, with some 6,505 visitors walking through the doors.

Niethammer said that the organisers have been receiving more enquiries and expressions of interest every day, and he expected to break the 400 exhibitor mark and achieve a growth of at least 10% in exhibitor numbers by October. At the time of going to press, that number stands at 468. He believes that this reflects the positive expectations of the industry, despite some difficult market conditions. He said: “We see that, despite consolidation and merger and acquisition activities in the market, the imaging and machine vision field is still a very attractive field for many new companies to enter. Thus, we have accomplished around 25% of new companies that will exhibit for the very first time."

The 31st edition of Vision takes place at the Stuttgart Trade Fair Center from 8-10 October (Credit: Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH)

Some 67% of exhibitors are international this year, with around 40 countries participating. Commenting on the geographical trends, Niethammer said: “We see strong growth again from China, followed by the U.S. as the second strongest international nation and then Japan, France, and the UK."

Hot topics: AI, hyperspectral imaging, embedded and 3D vision 

During three days, the focus will be on the latest trends and product developments, development, including startup pitches, panel discussions. Some of the hottest topics at this year’s event include (as one might expect) artificial intelligence (AI), hyperspectral imaging, embedded vision and 3D.

Lars Rosenkvist Fenger, CEO of Qtechnology A/S, explained how hyperspectral imaging in conjunction with AI could open up a multitude of application areas in medical technology, the food industry and the recycling industry: "Hyperspectral imaging with a higher spectral resolution enables very precise material identification. Worldwide, less than 5% of plastics are recycled. Using hyperspectral imaging, however, we can now already separate all types of plastic polymers. This means that we have ways to recycle plastics. Qtechnology A/S has chosen a targeted approach for AI and hyperspectral cameras. We will present our new hyperspectral cameras at VISION. Since they are some of the best in their class, we want to show them to the entire world."

On embedded vision technologies, and how they can offer intelligent application solutions by enabling very compact and highly efficient machine vision systems, Jan-Erik Schmitt, VP of Sales at Vision Components said: "The influence of AI is increasing continuously through the integration of AI chips in processors. Vision is the leading event for the machine vision industry and is becoming increasingly important in the area of embedded vision. Vision Components specialises 110% in embedded vision and will present the latest trends such as MIPI connections to processors, extended accessories, innovative functionalities and various FPGA accelerators at this year's Vision."

Looking at the trend for 3D sensors in applications such as electronics and e-mobility, for example the inspection of surfaces Daniel Seiler, CEO of AT – Automation Technology said: "The highest concentration of experts in machine vision can be found at Vision. Users can find all technologies for their applications in one place. During Vision, AT will present the new 3D sensor series XCS which was developed together with electronics OEMs. The XCS detects the smallest surface details by means of high-quality laser line projection and precise optics. Since speed and software solutions also play an important role in the area of 3D, we will specifically address these topics.”

In addition to the topics covered at the event, other highlights will include the 26th edition of  the Vision Award, which is sponsored by Imaging and Machine Vision Europe. It was launched in 1996 to recognise innovation in the field of machine vision, and the winning company will be announced and presented with the prize on site.

The Industrial Vision Days will also return for 2024. The Industrial Vision Days are designed as an all-encompassing lecture forum, where professionals can learn about the hottest topics from the machine vision industry. The days are organised by VDMA Machine Vision, alongside Messe Stuttgart. Said Niethammer: “There will be 70 presentations during three days, and the focus will be on the latest trends and product development, including startup pitches, panel discussions.”

Industrial and scientific vision lecture forums

In addition, the Scientific Vision Days, a lecture series in association with the AIT Austrian Institute of Technology, will bring experts from science and applied research to present cutting-edge technologies in the field of machine vision. This year's topics include 3D vision, high-speed imaging, inline computational imaging, deep learning and the testing of machine vision systems. Both lecture series will also be available via live stream and on-demand.

Guided Tours allow visitors the opportunity to gain insights into the latest machine vision technologies and solutions for specific industries (Credit: Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH)

The popular Guided Tours feature will also make a return this year, allowing visitors the opportunity to gain exclusive insights into the latest machine vision technologies and solutions for specific industries, with each of the three days focusing on a different vertical.

The industries covered are: logistics, food and beverages, and electronics and semiconductor. Logistics is recognised as an important economic sector, which is coming under pressure to become even more economic and sustainable. Automation can be used to increase efficiency in logistics, and many processes benefit from the use of industrial machine vision, such as machine vision systems and deep learning technologies.

Machine vision makes significant contributions to efficiency for producers of food and beverages to ensure high-quality food that is economically produced; while those signing up to the semiconductor themed Guided Tour can find out about the latest technological developments and their economic potential for electronics and semiconductor manufacture.

Said Niethammer: “The selected industries will be some of the most growing and vertical markets that use machine vision. These tools will offer an attractive benefit for end users and machine builders from specific vertical markets, not only by bringing them in touch with relevant exhibitors, but also by offering them machine vision crash courses on site.”

Added Dr.-Ing. Ronald Müller, Managing Director of Vision Markets and organiser of the Guided Tours: “Machine vision enables machinery to see – just as well or even better than us ‘visual humans’. The areas in which it can be applied vary widely. We are deliberately focusing on the three key target markets, with the tours tailored to the requirements of those involved here. Taking just half a day, our Guided Tours are packed full of information and provide plenty of opportunities to make valuable contacts – with an easy-to-follow crash course, eight live demonstrations showcasing the latest innovative thinking, as well as handouts and a networking lunch.”

Special events: standards and skills

Special Show events this year include the "International Machine Vision Standards," organised by the European Machine Vision Association (EMVA), in partnerships with the associations A3 (North America), CMVU (China), JIIA (Japan) and VDMA (Germany). It is designed to provide visitors with a global insight into the world of machine vision standards.

The Career Center + Job Board Special Show event is designed for use by visitors looking to find out how best to change jobs or start a new career, or who have career questions they would like answered. Experienced HR professionals will be on-hand to answer questions, provide coaching talks and offer tips on career planning.

Meanwhile, the popular Start-up World will take place in Hall 8, to offer start-ups from sectors such as image processing and computer vision the chance to present their innovations to the industry. This, said Niethammer, is a particular highlight. “The Start-up World has been a success story during the past two editions of Vision show, and for the third time we will bring new young companies to the show to give an overview of the most innovative start-ups in the area of image processing and computer vision. They deal with the latest camera technologies, artificial intelligence (AI) and deep learning software, and also exciting machine vision systems. At the end of the show the Vision Start-up 2024 will be announced.”

This year, 10 young German innovators involved in the area of machine vision technology have been given the opportunity to internationalise their businesses and networks. They have been chosen to participate in the “Young Innovators” joint stand sponsored by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).

One start-up exhibiting at the event is PxE Holographic Imaging from Israel. Noga Barpal, Vice President Business Development said: "After years of development, we are now ready to bring our holographic imaging technology into the market. It makes it possible to acquire natively-fused high-resolution colour images, infrared images and pixel-level depth maps, all at once using a single, standard 2D camera."

Maximilian Grau, co-founder and managing director of Bavarian star-up, Medabsy added: "We’re looking forward to making many new contacts at Vision, particularly with decision-makers involved in the planning and implementation of inspection systems, so that we can better understand their needs and the market of industrial image processing.”

According to Juul Gielens, Chief Business Officer at Netherlands start-up QDI Systems: "We developed a quantum dot platform technology for image sensors. The material is solution-processable, and very versatile in terms of application possibilities in various sectors such as medical imaging, machine vision, security, inspection and non-destructive material testing. We are very excited to present our technology and our company to the specialist public and the leading companies in the industry. Vision, as the world’s leading exhibition in the sector, provides the perfect setting for this."

The Start-up World is back for its third year, offering start-ups the chance to present their innovations to the industry (Credit: Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH)

Niethammer also shared his personal expectations and wishes for the 2024 event: "I would love to see Vision developing back towards the numbers before Covid, both exhibitors and also attendees. But if developments continue at this rate, then I'm happy. Of course, we will work in the following months to attract as many new attendees, people that are new into machine vision technology, new users, to bring them to the upcoming show."

The post-Covid numbers Niethammer referred to were also reflective of the industry as a whole, as Mark Williamson, Chairman of the VDMA Machine Vision Division, explained: "For the first time only, since 2009, have we had our second down-turn year in 2023. We had a dip during Covid, in 2020, which is still very recent in people’s memories, but in 2023, we actually saw a decline of 7%. The component manufacturers got hit harder with about a -15% overall last year, with -5% with system integrators. So, it's been a tough year.”

However, the message from Williamson was still largely a positive one. He explained: “Overall, it’s still a very good industry, with 9% growth on average in the last 10 years. So, really, we’ve seen 15 years of continuous strong growth, with two dips. Vision technologies are actually outperforming the wider industry, which is really positive, showing that machine vision is a robust market to be in.”

Looking ahead, Williamson outlined more positivity to look forward to: “Having a drop in order entry in the second half of 2023 is what's causing the lower revenue in 2024. The feedback we're getting from the monthly statistics is, we expect this to start to pick up in probably three-to six months, and people are beginning to say the recovery will start in Q4. We're seeing the beginnings of this happening, so Vision is going to be a very interesting point of view by then, we will know how it's been throughout the year, and see how things are. But, we believe, moving into 2025, we should get back into a positive recovery, and we believe in our industry. The feedback is that things will remain strong. New applications are still coming along, new leads are still coming along and it is very positive. Vision will play a key part in refuelling that for future growth.”

Olaf Munkelt, Managing Director at MVTec Software echoed this sentiment: “Vision in Stuttgart showcases the technological trends in the international machine vision industry and attracts large numbers of visitors every two years. The first-rate discussions with trade visitors are what makes Vision so special. It is very exciting to become personally acquainted at Vision with the people behind the companies and technologies. It's a window because it presents, in various forums, technology markets, trends, and standardisation. So, it's a condensed view of the  market and this is unique.”

Hardy Mehl, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Basler added: “Vision is a unique opportunity to meet existing and new customers, suppliers and partners, as well as interesting start-ups. Networking and the inspiration gained through innovative products, talks and podium discussions with leading machine vision experts are extremely profitable. We are expecting a large number of innovations in the field of AI. In the area of cameras there is a trend towards more megapixels and higher bandwidths, including solutions for handling high processing loads with pre-processing "at the edge" (on-camera/on-frame grabbers). The focal points on the software side are user-friendly image analysis software solutions which are being made accessible to a wider group of customers (no-code/low-code image analysis software solutions). Vision is one of the most important shows, and for the western world, definitely the most important show for the vision industry.”

Dr. Martin Klenke, Director Business Development at Teledyne said: “Teledyne regards Vision 2024 as one of the most important events for the European machine vision market and as an important trade fair for many different market segments. Vision represents an ideal opportunity to make direct contact with existing and new customers. We are looking forward to holding many interesting discussions on different machine vision topics at Vision 2024.”

Concluded Niethammer: “The whole team is very much looking forward to welcoming the industry and the community back to Stuttgart after two years, and we are almost ready!”