Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2023 to integrate recent Nineteen Group event acquisitions

24 October 2022

Nineteen Group will integrate recent acquisitions into its manufacturing & engineering event series. Smart Factory Expo will move from its current November date & location to run during Manufacturing & Engineering Week in June 2023 at The NEC in Birmingham. The newly acquired Drives & Controls, Fluid Power Systems & Airtech events will also feature as part of M&E Week, with a dedicated zone in 2023, before returning as standalone events in June 2024.

Smart Factory Expo is a key part of the Hennik Research portfolio, acquired by event organiser, Nineteen Group in June 2022. The event has a wealth of thought leadership content and is built on extensive market research and sector analysis. Hennik Research’s SME Growth Summit, Sustainable Manufacturing Digitalisation Summit and The Manufacturer Top 100 Ceremony, researched and produced by The Manufacturer, will also run alongside Smart Factory Expo in June. Their Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit, SME Growth Summit (round two), The Manufacturer MX Awards Ceremony and other fringe events will remain in their current November date line and Liverpool location. Smart Factory Expo will replace the previous Manufacturing Expo further strengthening the focus on technology, process and thinking behind digital transformation.

Henry Anson, Director, Hennik Research said: “For decades, the support services for manufacturing have been fragmented and uncoordinated, and bringing these shows together is part of a long overdue process of consolidation. By combining, we can present a unified offering for the sector, share expertise and audience, and showcase a wider range of products and solutions to UK manufacturing plc. By running large scale face-to-face activity at opposite ends of the year, we feel that this is the perfect opportunity to develop an always ‘on’ marketing solution, utilising our content and digital channels, culminating at our ‘anchor’ events.

New Portfolio Director, Haf Cennydd will head up the Manufacturing & Engineering Week portfolio working closely with Grace Gilling, Managing Director of Hennik Research. Haf explains: “We are so pleased to have the addition of Smart Factory Expo and Drives & Controls plus its sister events incorporated with Manufacturing & Engineering Week from 2023. The latter events last ran in 2022 and have for some time been on a biennial cycle, but integrating with Manufacturing & Engineering Week as a dedicated zone next year allows the exhibitors to get an early benefit from increased audiences and gives visitors an enormously enhanced experience through key features and the high-level educational programmes offered by the co-located events.

Peter Jones, CEO of Nineteen Group adds: “Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2023 will be a festival of innovation offering a full programme to inspire, inform and entertain. With Design & Engineering Expo, Drives & Controls, Smart Factory Expo and Maintec plus several other related events alongside running together at the NEC on the 7-8 June we have a national showcase where inter-related sectors come together to address all areas from hardware, software, connectivity and people. Covering the full product lifecycle from design, engineering, manufacturing and maintenance and with the backing of such a strong advisory council chaired by Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK, we can truly celebrate the sector and fly the flag for manufacturing and engineering in this country.


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