Image source: VDMA NRW
Around 180 companies, research facilities and institutions from NRW showed what North Rhine-Westphalian innovation can achieve at the trade fair.
110,000 visitors from all over the world took part in the Hannover Messe, the world’s leading trade fair for the manufacturing industry. Around 180 companies, research facilities and institutions from North Rhine-Westphalia showcased what North Rhine-Westphalian innovation is already capable of at the world’s most important industrial trade fair – and where the journey is still heading.
The NRW joint stand in Hall 13 was the centerpiece of NRW’s involvement. 17 companies and institutions presented innovative products and services in the fields of AI, cyber security, energy systems and logistics. In addition to the exhibiting companies, the state clusters and networks ProduktionNRW (with its regional partners), KI.NRW, Defence.NRW and digital.sicher.nrw were also represented.
One of the highlights at the joint state stand was the visit by the Minister of Economic Affairs and Climate Protection, Mona Neubaur, who exchanged ideas with the exhibitors and informed them about their services.
There was an attractive and informative stage program at the NRW stand on three days of the fair. Organized by ProduktionNRW, several presentations on these topics took place on Wednesday morning:
- Cluster ProduktionNRW – Shaping the future, securing competitiveness (Dr. David Blass, ProduktionNRW)
- AISceMa: Scenarios that make mechanical engineering capable of acting (Maximilian Neuber, owl Maschinenbau)
- The future of business software: Integrated AI for direct ROI (Carsten Bieker, REFINE IT GmbH)
- Simulation as the key to faster product development (Dr. Frank Brehmer, ITB Ingenieurgesellschaft für technische Berechnungen mbH)
- Redesigning digitalization & automation in human-technology collaboration (Dr. Jörg Papenkordt, Jannika Marie Schäfer, University of Paderborn)
- Best practices from automotiveland.nrw projects (Uwe Fritsch, automotiveland.nrw)
- ARRISE – Robotics ecosystem for the Rhenish mining area (Christian Fimmers, Cluster of Excellence “Internet of Production” RWTH – xCluster IoP)
- Value creation networks in regional mechanical engineering – strength through collaboration (Philip Velmer, Bergisch Land mechanical engineering network)
- Industry 4.0 and IT security – a contradiction? (Wolfgang Straßer, @-yet Industrial IT-Security GmbH)
- Quo Vadis mechanical engineering in NRW (Dr. David Blass, ProduktionNRW)
The partner country of this year’s trade fair was Brazil. NRW and the Brazilian state of Ceará had signed an agreement on economic cooperation in 2025. With the networking event “NRW meets Brazil at Hannover Messe 2026”, North Rhine-Westphalia presented this cooperation and thus strengthened the future exchange between companies, start-ups and stakeholders from both countries. In addition, ProduktionNRW welcomed delegations from Finland, Catalonia and Tunisia to the joint stand to find out more about North Rhine-Westphalia as a business location in general and mechanical and plant engineering in particular.
The large participation of North Rhine-Westphalian companies from the mechanical and plant engineering sector at the world’s most important industrial trade fair is proof of North Rhine-Westphalia’s innovative strength as an important and strong business location.