SM&E Week 2024 - Not leaving serendipity to chance

"THE MOST obvious thing to mention about Smart Manufacturing and Engineering Week is that this year’s event will be so much bigger," says Grace Gilling, portfolio director for SM&E Week "Across the exhibitions we will have 50% more exhibitors and 13,500 visitors. It’s going to be a lively set of events with even more to see and do!"

An area which Gilling singles out as being emblematic of how SM&E Week is developing is the fact that the charity Enginuity has bought its skills awards to the programme. The awards recognise apprentices and pioneers of skills development.

"Why this is important," says Gilling “is firstly because the skills gap is such a challenging area for the sector and secondly, because we encourage a wide variety of organisations to hold their activities under the SM&E Week umbrella. We have many more co-located and satellite events as part of the series of events this year, which ensures SM&E Week is a must-attend event that optimises people's time, they can tick a huge number of priorities off their annual list in just a couple of days."

Content is key

Another area Gilling highlights as important is the numerous content streams enabling visitors to home in on topics of interest. A major visitor priority for 2024 is AI, covered in the Industrial Data and AI Summit. "The summit will involve more strategic level thinking on the topic," she says, “there is also a dedicated Solutions Theatre that covers the topic focused on product overviews and end user case studies. There will also be a Visitor Trail to lead visitors around AI themed businesses and presentations, ensuring they get straight to the information they want in what will be a busy, exciting atmosphere." 

One of the most notable aspects of SM&E Week in 2024 is that alongside the Smart Factory Expo, Design Engineering Expo and Maintec exhibitions in Hall 4 Drives and Controls, Fluid Power and Systems and Air-Tech have been added in Hall 5. Laura Parris, event director for Hall 5, believes that this co-location heralds an important moment in their life: "This is the first time that the events in Hall 5 have been part of a broader manufacturing portfolio and therefore we will be driving a more varied audience. But this is a strategic and targeted co-location that will meet visitors' needs more fully and give them an improved experience."

Pre-arranged meetings

One concrete example of the improved visitor experience is the Connect+ feature which will pre-arrange meetings for visitors with a range of providers. "It’s a personal concierge service that takes place on the exhibition floor," says Parris. "One of the great things about live events is that they produce serendipitous moments when one person meets another, and they find a reason to connect and do business. I am calling the Connect+ feature ‘guided serendipity’ and having pre-arranged meetings means that visitors are doing their due diligence and ensuring they get a great ROI for the time they have invested in attending the event."

The final event director we caught up with is the Maintec exhibition’s Jos Diamond. "It’s going to be the biggest Maintec in years, without a doubt," says Jos, "which is only right because AI offers the biggest leap forward in technology that the maintenance industry has ever seen, and we have many exhibitors and many educational sessions covering the topic."

To find our more information or to register to attend visit:

www.mandeweek.co.uk