With 833 exhibitors from 31 countries, Control retains its title as the world’s leading trade fair for quality assurance. The trade fair promoted by P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG presented world-class quality assurance at the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre from the 24^th through the 27^th of April.

Control Business Platform: “Business is Conducted Here!”

“Not only are new products presented at Control which have been developed specifically for this trade fair. The ground is prepared for contracts and partnerships are entered into as well”, emphasises project manager Fabian Krüger from trade fair promoters P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG with regard to the exhibitors’ basic attitude. After renewed success at the event’s latest edition, he expresses himself as follows: “In response to the onslaught of visitors experienced in recent years, we once again expanded exhibition floor by adding hall 8 to our floor plan at the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre. This opportunity was taken advantage of by a number of exhibitors who increased booth floor space and set up their presentations in an even more representative fashion – a forward-looking decision which has proven itself appropriate”, sums up Krüger. A total of 883 exhibitors from 31 countries presented their companies on more than 56,000 square metres (600,000 sq. ft.) of overall exhibition floor space, where they welcomed 28,241 registered expert visitors from 98 countries. And thus not only floor space was increased, but rather internationalism as well. 27% of the expert visitors came from outside of Germany last year, and 29% crossed international borders to attend the event in 2018.

Product Premieres, New Products, High-Tech Processes

Figures of this sort can only be achieved by a trade fair if it keeps its promises with regard to content. Innovative, networked QA solutions, in particular in the field of industrial image processing, only pay off if they can be easily integrated into existing equipment and automation solutions, and if they support Industry 4.0 systems. “Tangible benefits can be experienced at Control”, summarises Volker Schiek, managing director of the Mechatronics Network of Baden-Württemberg, at the opening press conference. In cooperation with trade fair promoters P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG, he’s planning the “Arena of Quality & Security” for the upcoming year and is thus relying on cross-divisional networking to an ever greater extent.

Furthermore, numerous world market leaders presented their new products – with more digitalisation than ever before. There was hardly a booth that didn’t focus attention on the issues of 3D visualisation, fully automated integrated systems or augmented reality. “Usability in actual practice: a concept we pursue with all of our trade fairs and for which we’re rewarded with renewed, strong success every year. Schall trade fairs stand for industrial usability”, says Bettina Schall, managing director of trade fair promoters P. E. Schall GmbH & Co. KG.

Continuous Growth and a Complete Supplementary Programme

Only quality wins out – and this cannot be changed by punitive duties and import restrictions because quality has to be assured in all national economies! Not least of all for this reason, Control enjoys long-standing partnerships which enrich the event from a technical standpoint and round out a visit to the trade fair which was launched in 1987 and has experienced continuous growth ever since. The event forum held by the Fraunhofer IPA, the special show for Contactless Measuring Technology presented by the Fraunhofer Vision Alliance, the DGQ with its workshop programme and the always entirely booked out exhibitor forum with innumerable technical presentations in hall 8 can be mentioned here as examples.

Control 2019: Numerous Exhibitors have Already Booked

Control is the most important trade fair of the year for many exhibiting companies – an industry event for which they prepare themselves in a targeted fashion with, amongst other things, the most up-to-date developments. On the whole, the participating companies were very satisfied with the number of technical contacts they established at the event. And the trade fair is becoming more and more international – more than half of the meetings are held in English. All in all, the quality of the leads has improved as well. On the whole, the exhibitors were highly impressed by the depth of the technical questions and the numerous opportunities for a personal exchange of ideas and experience. Consequently, a number of first-time exhibitors, as well as long-standing participants, have already made firm bookings for next year’s event.