ProMat 2019 was the largest in the 34-year history of the event, with registrations of 49,718 —an 11% attendance jump over 2017. The four-day expo, April 8-11, covered 425,000 net square feet of exhibit space on two show floors at Chicago’s McCormick Place with 938 exhibiting companies. The ProMat expo was once again collocated with Automate 2019.
ProMat visitors included key decision-makers in virtually all manufacturing and supply chain industries including a majority of the Fortune 1000 and Top 100 Retailers. The quality of the visitors was very strong with a large number of buying teams from key firms in attendance.
“The continued success of ProMat is proof of not only the strength of our industry but of MHI’s commitment to offering a best-in-class supply chain event experience,” says George Prest CEO of MHI. “MHI is dedicated to creating the best environment for exhibitors to showcase their cutting-edge solutions and to maximizing ProMat’s overall Wow-factor by constantly improving the show’s educational and networking opportunities.”
“Investment in supply chain innovation is at a critical inflection point, with a trend of declining investment from 2015 to 2018 being more than countered by a 95% increase in projected spending for 2019. As a result, the energy level among visitors and exhibitors was at an all-time high as more attendees were actively seeking best-in-class solutions for their manufacturing and supply chain operations.”
According to registration data, 82 percent of attendees had buying authority and 34 percent plan on spending $1 million or more over the next 18 months on equipment and systems.
Reflecting the growing global nature of the event, attendees from outside the United States at this year’s ProMat represented 145 countries and six continents. They were welcomed by ProMat’s International Visitors Center.
Along with the healthy traffic on the show floor, other highlights of ProMat 2019 included the educational conference that accompanied the ProMat exhibition. This included keynotes on blockchain in supply chains, closing the supply chain gender gap and “The Profit” Marcus Lemonis. The conference also included a keynote panel discussing the findings of the 2019 MHI Annual Industry Report – “Elevating Supply Chain Digital Consciousness.”
ProMat 2021 will be held at McCormick Place from April 12-15, 2021 and will feature a new Robotics & Automation Solution Center.
The next MHI-sponsored trade event will be MODEX 2020, March 9-12, 2020 in Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center.
