You know it’s been a good event when you leave physically wrecked but mentally recharged. These Hannover Messe 2025 reflections come with a head full of ideas and a bag full of half-eaten mints, scribbled notes, and business cards from some brilliant conversations. And feet that may never forgive me.
Because this year’s show wasn’t just big. It was bold. Overwhelming at times. But ultimately, it was worth every step.
The Bright Lights of Big Tech
The major booths delivered exactly what you’d expect—visually stunning demonstrations of digital twins, AI-powered simulation, autonomous robotics, and slick narratives about the future of industry.
It was hard not to be impressed. Some stands felt like walking into a science fiction set. You could see where we’re going—highly automated, intelligently connected, predictive and powerful.
But somewhere between the towering screens and pristine digital models, I found myself asking:
Where’s the grit?
Where’s the human reality?
Where’s the story of the operator who’s not quite sold on dashboards? Or the tech lead who spent 18 months debugging their “plug-and-play” analytics stack?
Too many conversations hovered at 30,000 feet. Vision without the bumps. Strategy without the scars.
The Corners Are Where the Magic Happens
And then I wandered off the main paths. That’s where it got interesting.
Tucked between the headline acts were smaller booths—and smaller companies—doing work that felt real.
MES platforms built for mid-sized firms. Not watered-down versions of enterprise systems, but purpose-built tools that actually fit the day-to-day of a technician’s job. Data solutions that tackled messy, misaligned inputs without needing a ten-person IT department. Tools that made sense not in theory, but in practice.
These were systems built not just for the plant floor, but with it.
People like Luciano Narcisi were deep in conversation about data integrity—not how to create more data, but how to make it usable. I had some great chats about the work companies like HighByte, HiveMQ, and Litmus are doing. Not the glitzy stuff—but the kind of work that gets data into the right hands, in the right context, at the right time.
This is where digital transformation becomes tangible. Less headline, more headline act—just without the ego.
Manufacturing Pride, Loud and Clear
What really struck me this year wasn’t the technology. It was the people.
Manufacturers weren’t just attending—they were present. With pride.
At the Canada Pavilion, I caught up with Etienne Borm from ETBO Tool & Die Inc. over a maple biscuit and a grapefruit soda (or, as he insisted, pamplemousse). We talked tools, trade, and what it means to stay resilient in a sector still shaped by global uncertainty.
It reminded me that in all our talk about innovation, we sometimes forget just how much is already happening on the ground.
Everywhere I turned, I saw tangible progress: hydrogen fuel systems moving past hype, energy storage balancing industrial loads, sustainable materials making their way into real-world applications. Even modular construction was getting a serious look-in.
And let’s not forget circularity.
Digital product passports, lifecycle traceability, and data transparency weren’t just talked about—they were being done. These ideas are no longer future goals. They’re design constraints.
From Buzzwords to Benefits—On Stage and On the Ground
One of my personal highlights was speaking at the UNIDO and International Centre for Industrial Transformation (INCIT) event on “From Buzzwords to Benefits.”
It was a privilege to share the stage with folks like Jeff Winter and John Robinson—people not afraid to challenge the audience and call out the difference between strategy theatre and transformation that sticks.
We talked candidly about the pace of digital progress across Europe—where things are starting to accelerate and where some programmes are still spinning their wheels.
My message? Transformation should never be about ticking boxes or following the fashion. It should always come back to delivering value—on the ground, in the plant, with the people who do the work.
And the most energising thing? That belief was echoed in every conversation I had throughout the halls of Hannover.
You just had to listen past the noise.
So, What Now?
As I limp home with a blister or two, I’m feeling grateful.
Grateful to the major players for showing us what’s possible.
Grateful to the smaller innovators for reminding us what’s practical.
Grateful that, despite all the complexity, manufacturing is not just surviving—it’s thriving.
We’re not just talking about manufacturing as an industry. We’re starting to talk about it as a future.
And that’s something worth walking a few extra miles for.
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