The SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2006 fair was opened in Nuremberg Tuesday and in the next three days 1,203 exhibitors from 33 countries will display systems and components in the field of electrical automation. In comparison to 2005 this is an increase of 43 local companies and the area of the fair has increased from 73,000 m2 to 77,500 m2.

For the companies headquartered in other countries, the numbers rose from 192 to 213. This corresponds to a proportion of 18% of all exhibitors. The strongest representation came from Italy with 19 exhibitors followed by Switzerland with 32. The emphases this year were on “Ethernet in Automation”, “Safety and Security in Automation” and “Motion Control”. They will be discussed in the congress and the podium discussions of ZVEI. A special presentation of the VDMA (Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau e.V.) [German Engineering Federation] covers solutions for production automation.