The 4-day exhibition had some of the best and most respected names in Technology as exhibitors. There were 72 participants on the floor, who showcased their processes, systems and technology solutions to some 5250 serious, focussed individuals from the industry.

The principal sponsors were Siemens again for the 3rd time in a row, followed by Gudel, ABB, Ingersoll Rand and NI Systems.

About 70% of all visitors were top management (CEO /COO / VP - level executives)

Overall exhibitor satisfaction :

• With Quality – very happy with the decision-making level that attended the show and the infrastructure provided
• Quantity – some exhibitors showed disappointment, expected some more numbers

Top reasons cited for relatively low turnout – coinciding internal events at the Renault Nissan factory (start of production meeting), Hyundai plant closure during the very same coinciding week; and extreme heat.

There were buses arranged by us for picking up interested managers from the automotive belt and more than 200 senior managers from TVS, Sundaram, Delphi etc. made use of the buses.

Almost all participants have expressed desire to repeat their participation in a bigger way in the next edition, scheduled for Chennai in June 2011.

Besides the 4-day exhibition, on May 16th, GE Intelligent Platforms (GE Fanuc) made a presentation on “Intelligent Manufacturing Solutions for Discrete & Automotive Industry” and it went off very well. This was followed by Tektronix giving a talk by their industry leaders on “Test and Measurement Solutions for Embedded Designs Debug in Automotive Industry”.

There were 3 company presentations and the 3rd one by Ingersoll Rand talked about “Energy conservation in the 4th Utility – the Compressed Air System” and “Torque Technology in Fastening”. All these technical subjects were lapped up by attending senior managers from the huge automotive manufacturing sector of Chennai.

There were, on average, 30 attendees in each session. Proceedings will be put up on the event website.

On the last day of the event, there was a special program, the Siemens Technology Day for Ashok Leyland senior managers. The event was graced by senior decision makers from Siemens and Ashok Leyland and their JV companies such as AL Nissan, AL John Deere etc. Dr. Sumantran, Executive Director of Hinduja group was present.

Post lunch it was followed by a special program on Intelligent Automation and Operational Strategy discussed by the Thought Leadership Forum For Automotive Industry, put together by the Automation Industry Association. This was hugely praised by all the senior management who attended. Topmost global automation companies Siemens, B&R Automation, Pepperl & Fuchs and Beckhoff Automation had come together under this.

A very interesting feature of the recent show was the presence of a “Composites Gallery” – a presentation of advanced materials and composites with automotive applications. It was quite appreciated by the visiting dignitaries.

And the “Robozone” was one of the highlights of the show. There was a wire-mesh game that one could play against an ABB robot and every visitor and exhibitor tried their hand at it. It was great fun.

What to expect in Chennai in June 2011:

• Floor space with 200 exhibitors, comprising Technology suppliers such as Robotics, Automation, Welding, Testing and IT solutions for automotive manufacturing
• Visitor turnout of arounf 15000 industry chiefs from India and abroad
• A neat new “Advanced Materials & Composites gallery”
• Brand new pavilions – Tyre Technology and Automotive Electronics
• Special invitations to Tire companies, New auto-component manufacturing projects coming up in and around Chennai
• Confirmed visitor delegations from almost all existing vehicle and component makers in the Coimbatore, Salem, Ennore, Sriperumbudur, Hosur, Oragadam, Ambattur belt
• Specialized VIP programs by sponsors