Southern Italy is hot on the heels of 4.0 industry and manufacturing companies have shown steely resolve in embracing digital transformation. According to the MECSPE Observatory, the path towards digitalisation has greatly or significantly transformed more than 5 companies out of 10, in a context in which digitalisation has been implemented to a considerable extent (45.1%), entirely (39.2%) or in a few areas only (11.8%). 77% of entrepreneurs see their companies as very or substantially innovative, while 84.6% believe that the best tools for bolstering innovation are first and foremost the transfer of knowledge, followed by targeted consultancy (53.8%), workshops (48.1%), university tutorships (38.5%), and comparisons with similar companies (23.1%). 96.2% claim to have a medium-high level of awareness of the market’s technological and digital opportunities, while 66% expect they will invest up to 20% of their revenue in research and innovation. 51% of respondents believe in the chain concept and have already focused on partnerships to promote the technological development of their companies, while 29.1% are considering doing so.

A growth process which now more than ever requires opportunities for training and debate among companies so that they can embrace all assets congenial to competitiveness and which MECSPE, the first ever Italian event dedicated to the 4.0 Manufacturing sector promoted by Senaf, will provide by inaugurating a new edition of MECSPE in Bari, scheduled to take place from 28th to 30h November 2019, at the Nuova Fiera del Levante Exhibition Centre. The aim is for it to become the reference event for central-southern Italy and the Mediterranean basin, for the development of innovation and 4.0 themes, interfacing with the traditional Parma-based event, now in its 18th edition (Fiere di Parma, 28-30 March 2019).

Maruska Sabato, MECSPE Project Manager –declares “Companies in southern Italy are also reacting in a positive and determined manner, showing a strong inclination towards the digital and technological transformation of production processes. They are aware that the 4.0 approach is a necessary condition for keeping up with increasingly exacting and changeable demand. For years now, MECSPE has been interpreting emerging trends of 4.0 industry and proposes them not only in exhibition paths during trade fair events, coupled with extensive training and workshop initiatives, but also by means of its Digital Factory touring workshops across major industrial districts. The creation of another reference event for SME’s based in central and southern Italy and the Italian islands is the natural continuation of a path that will see us committed to accompanying and supporting companies in a 4.0 transformation characterised not just by technologies, but also by investments to bolster the digital skills of people.”

Mecspe Bari will represent an array of industry sectors, including machinery, automation, production logistics and 4.0 technologies, the subcontracting of processes and services, and materials. The natural contamination of technological innovation from the original MECSPE event means that the Bari spin-off will showcase the creation of special, high added-value projects for the manufacturing industry.

The 4.0 Digital Factory initiative will demonstrate the crucial role 4.0 production technologies are playing in different sectors and applications in the manufacturing industry. Focus will be on the following topics: advanced processing technologies, connectivity and tools for small enterprises, collaborative robotics, product development according to the 4.0 method, product and process simulation, traceability, predictive maintenance, additive manufacturing, 4.0 logistics

Emilio Bianchi, Director of Senaf explains: ” Today in Italy MECSPE is the ideal place for acquiring horizontal knowledge of new manufacturing technologies and of processes at the heart of factories of the future, on an increasingly competitive and digitalised market, characterised by the strong determination of companies to be an active part of the transformation process currently under way. We are certain that the creation of a new event in Bari will provide companies with significant opportunities for face-to-face meetings, real experiences, where they can invest their own time to forge and reinforce relations and obtain knowledge which can provide support for the necessary updating of their production processes. Because training is a fundamental element in the creation of a culture of innovation.”

The first edition of MECSPE BARI will take place at the Nuova Fiera del Levante Exhibition Centre, from 28th to 30th November 2019, following on from the canonic MECSPE Parma event, whose previous edition attracted 53,442 visitors (+17% compared to the 2017 edition), 2,260 companies across a total 110,000 sqm of exhibition surface area.