This year was another fantastic Automotive Testing Expo Europe and was hailed by the organizer, UKIP Media & Events Ltd, as the biggest and best yet, drawing more than 7,000 attendees to Messe Stuttgart, Germany
This year was another fantastic Automotive Testing Expo Europe and was hailed by the organizer, UKIP Media & Events Ltd, as the biggest and best yet, drawing more than 7,000 attendees to Messe Stuttgart, Germany.
“We now run these shows all over the world, but the Stuttgart event remains the biggest,” said show founder, Tony Robinson. “Europe is the R&D centerpoint for many global car companies and this year the show was supported by our first Autonomous Vehicle Test & Development Symposium. Developing autonomous vehicles will take automotive testing to the next dimension and the companies exhibiting in Stuttgart are the companies who are developing new test tools and processes to meet a huge revolution and challenge for the car industry.”
Visitors and exhibitors were united in their praise for the long-established expo. “It’s the most important fair for us in the structural durability lab,” explained Michael Lindenstruth, technical lead engineer at Adam Opel AG. “One task is always to meet your key suppliers; the other is to make contact with new ones, and we see new stuff here that you don’t get at other shows. That’s why we bring up to eight people from our department.”
“It’s a good place for young engineers like myself to see what’s on the market,” echoed Markus Lehmann, a test engineer at Getrag. “We develop dual-clutch transmissions and we’ve been particularly looking at the measurement systems and data analysis options.” Exhibitors were also keen to highlight the benefits of being at the show. “Europe is one of our biggest markets and we sell to most of the major OEMs, so if we’re going to launch new things, this is the place to do it,” said Martin Hill, director of Race Technology, which brought along its new DL1 PRO and DL2 dataloggers.
“It’s been very busy,” added Stefan Rundquist, COO of DynaTech Automotive, which works with the Colmis proving ground. “We have made lots of good contacts and are very satisfied, which is why we come back every year. Our contracts are typically for the long term, so if we get one customer [from the show], it’s worth it. We will be back next year, for sure.”
As usual at Automotive Testing Expo Europe, Messe Stuttgart’s Hall 1 played host to a huge range of new product and technology debuts. BIA’s booth caught the eye thanks to a demo of its brand-new BHIA 150-VC impact launcher, mounted to an industrial robot. CSM launched its ECAT ADMM 4 HS, a high-speed A/D measurement module. Returning exhibitor, Poppe+Potthof was on hand to discuss a new test rig designed to move the testing of new, weight-saving plastic components, such as engine intake manifolds, from the road to the lab.
There was software, too. Atlanta-based Concurrent launched SIMulation Workbench 7.1, an updated version of its advanced, software-based modeling environment and Renk showcased the new Renk Dynamic Data System completely new test automation and control software that has been three years and 1m in the making. “We’ve had a lot of interest in the new software,” reported Rainer Thomay, managing director of Renk Test System. “There are lots of suppliers here and customers too, but we are here because we want to belong to this family. For us, it’s important to be present. If you’re not, people wonder where you are! It’s a must.”
