Automation suppliers at 2010 Drives & Controls show

With four months to go, the number of exhibitors that have booked 'space-only' stands is already at least 50 per cent up on the total number at the previous show in 2008. And many returning exhibitors - including Danfoss, Leuze Electronic, Phoenix Contact, Rockwell Automation and SEW Eurodrive - have booked larger stands than they had last time.

According to the exhibition's sales director, Doug Devlin, the number of companies bringing their own stands to the show demonstrates their confidence in the future and their commitment to the event. He describes the level of interest so far as "extremely encouraging" and predicts that "we are heading for a bumper show."

Many of the companies attending the show are either first-timers (including Alldrives, Kroy, Micro-Epsilon and SITI/Alphadrive) or have not taken part in Drives & Controls exhibitions for many years. Examples of returning exhibitors include Baldor, HMS Industrial Networks, Motovario, Schmersal, Sick, Synatel, Trio Motion Control and SS White.

The Austrian automation supplier B&R will be returning to the show after a long absence and will have one of the largest stands booked so far, covering an area of 112m2.

All sectors of the industry will be represented at the exhibition, including automation (with names such as Horner, ILME, Lamonde, Beckhoff and Schneider Electric), drives (including Gefran and Lenze), motors (Lafert, Marelli, Motor Technology and WEG), safety (Pilz, Schmersal and Steute), mechanical and actuation (Centa, CRD Devices, Habasit Rossi, Linak, Moore International, Motovario, Olsen Engineering, Reliance Precision and Wittenstein) and electrical (Block, HVR and Rittal).

Other technologies represented at the show include communications (Harting and HMS), sensors and measurement (Heidenhain, Micro-Epsilon and Red Lion) and software (Aceri, Auctotec, Don Tyne and Thinking Space).

Many of the sector's major players will take part in the show via their distributors and partners. For example, Siemens and Schaeffler will be represented on the HMK Automation & Drives stand. Items from ABB will be found on the Quantum Controls stand.

At the 2008 Drives & Controls Show, several Chinese exhibitors had stands for the first time. There will be another Chinese delegation at the 2010 event, with at least twice as many exhibitors.

The Drives & Controls Show is one of a cluster of engineering shows being held simultaneously at the NEC. The other exhibitions include the Plant & Works Exhibition for maintenance engineers, the international fluid power show Ifpex, the compressed air show Air-Tech, the machine tool and manufacturing show MACH, the electrical show Electrex, the sub-contracting exhibition Subcon, and Independent Power & Energy Europe.

If you are interested in exhibiting at the Drives & Controls Show, please contact Doug Devlin on +44 (0)1922 644766. If you want to attend the show, you can register online at www.drives2010.com.