Clouded by the two-day strike of the German locomotive engineers union GDL, the 22nd SENSOR+TEST Measuring Fair in Nuremberg came to an end. After a considerable increase in visitors of about 15% on the first (non-strike) day of the fair, the exhibitors as well as the organizers had to acknowledge a noticeable decrease on the second and third day. Holger Bödeker, managing director of the fair organizers AMA Service, concluded, "We registered a ten percent drop in visitors compared to the average of the previous years.
"Developers and researchers from Germany and abroad, who made it to the fair, used the opportunity to delve extensively into the stands of the 548 exhibitors and to obtain in-depth information on the state of the art in sensor, measuring, and testing technology at numerous forums. The parallel scientific AMA Conferences, SENSOR and IRS², were also well attended. Technical presentations by the exhibitors in the open forums - for instance on this year's focal topic "Environmental Measuring Technology" - also captivated large audiences.
The 10,000-euro AMA Innovation Award 2015 was presented on the opening day to a team of young developers from Crystalline Mirror Solutions in Vienna for their innovative development on "Ultraprecise Frequency Measurement with Crystalline Semiconductor Mirrors." They had already won the Young Enterprises Special Award garnering a free fair stand at the SENSOR+TEST.
Commenting on the mood among the exhibitors, Wolfgang Wiedemann, CEO of Sensor-Technik Wiedemann and outgoing chairman of the AMA Association for Sensors and Measurement, concluded, "The diminished number of visitors in the halls and aisles was noticeable of course. Nevertheless, at our stand we had even more qualified contacts than last year. However, the exhibitors and members of our association are concerned that the tradition of cooperation and communication between employers and employees here in Germany may be jeopardized by the growing number and duration of labor disputes." Tongue-in-cheek Wiedemann added, "The worldwide leading suppliers of sensor, measuring, and testing technology will be glad to help with innovative solutions to further automation in railroad operations."
Good Outlook and Development Potential for the Future
Long aspired by the exhibitors and organizers, the SENSOR+TEST will move to Halls 1, 2, and 5 of the Nuremberg Exhibition Center next year. Christoph Kleye, managing director of IS-LINE and chairman of the Exhibitor Committee is looking forward to this and states, "The increase in floor space gives us room for new topics targeting specific exhibitor and visitor groups, such as wireless technologies, increasing the potential for the future growth of the fair. Moreover, through the access via the center and east entrances we'd have a better and more even visitor distribution among the halls."
The next SENSOR+TEST will be held from 10 to 12 May 2016 at the Nuremberg Exhibition Center as in the past. It is to be complemented by the 18th GMA/ITG Conference for Sensors and Measuring Systems and the 36th European Telemetry and Test Conference. The AMA Association and the Exhibitor Committee have decided that the focal topic for 2016 will be "Measuring Technology in the Cloud."
