LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA 2018 closes with great success

Intelligent Light Enables Smart Manufacturing

• Highest number of visitors ever: 55,872
• 977 exhibitors present the trend towards integrated production
• “Intelligent Manufacturing” with advanced photonics products and revolutionary applications

LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA 2018 was exactly the right place to gain an overall view of state-of-the-art photonics technology throughout the world. A total of 977 exhibitors from 25 countries attended the event. The amount of exhibition space reached 51,750 square meters. With the rapid development of the laser market and the increasingly widespread applications, laser technology has now made inroads into all industries. LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA 2018 set a new record in terms of the number of visitors. A total of 55,872 trade visitors attended the trade fair over the three days.

LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA 2018 was exactly the right place to gain an overall view of state-of-the-art photonics technology throughout the world. A total of 977 exhibitors from 25 countries attended the event. The amount of exhibition space reached 51,750 square meters. With the rapid development of the laser market and the increasingly widespread applications, laser technology has now made inroads into all industries. LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA 2018 set a new record in terms of the number of visitors. A total of 55,872 trade visitors attended the trade fair over the three days.

Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, Deputy CEO of Messe München, said that China remains one of the most important application markets for industrial lasers and laser systems. LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA 2018 provided a rapid response to the market trends in China.

Intelligent Manufacturing with Light
Thanks to the dynamic development of the Chinese market, the country is changing from a pure manufacturing base to a strong manufacturing power. This is being accompanied by intelligent manufacturing with optical and photonics technology. In recent years, new products and applications have been produced in the photonics industry. The entire laser industry is thriving as a result of the "Made in China 2025" initiative. At LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA 2018, the world's leading photonics enterprises showed their cutting-edge technology, highlighting the impetus of "Made in China".

Paul F. Sechrist, Executive Vice President Worldwide Sales, Service & Marketing of Coherent, commented on the role of LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA in this strategic process: “It is an opportunity which enables us to talk to customers, exchange ideas, show them the solutions we have formulated based on the discussions we had in the past, and listen to what they need in future.”

Riqing Jiang, Key Account Manager of Robotics Division, Staeubli (Hangzhou) Mechatronic, said: “LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA is a very good professional platform for both exhibitors and visitors. On the first day, we already concluded several transactions. LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA has enabled us to intensify our communication with visitors and helps us become better acquainted with their needs.”

Meeting point for the entire laser technology supply chain
Technological advances and industrial applications of intelligent manufacturing, new energy and other new areas will speed up the change in the structure of the global industry. Against this background, China's photonics industry is also entering a new phase. As a representative and influential service platform, LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA helps the industry to develop quickly and produce numerous opportunities for coordinated development of the entire industry chain.

He Xinyun, Technology Development Manager at Baolong (Anhui) Auto Parts Co., Ltd, said: “LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA offers smart solutions that help us to reduce labor costs. We have benefited a great deal in this respect. Thanks to this trade fair, we become acquainted with high-end equipment, advanced technology, smart production lines, new automation technology, and robots in the industry. They can help us reduce our costs, increase efficiency and improve our international competitiveness. We will come back again next year.”

Optical precision manufacturing probes new high-tech frontiers

The solutions showcased in the optics sector at LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA provide technical support to the transportation, energy, IT and biopharmaceutical sectors, as well as other high-tech industries. Xiaotao Sun, Managing Director of Hexagon Metrology China, said: “The flow of visitors, the professionalism and the layout of the halls, especially the arrangement of the industries in the halls, are all very characteristic and efficient.”

Machine vision offers new possibilities
As laser and robotics technology becomes an important force driving Chinese manufacturing industry to a new level in the global value chain, the dynamic development of the machine vision industry has brought new power of innovation to "intelligent manufacturing". In particular, the synergies between machine vision and robot technology have boosted manufacturing industry. Organized by the China Society of Image and Graphics, the Machine Vision Industry Union of ZGC (ZGCMVU), and Messe Muenchen Shanghai Co., Ltd., the Vision China Conference presented an excellent overall view of intelligent manufacturing, artificial intelligence, big data, 3D, VR, machine vision, and the smart factory – almost all the world’s advanced vision technology and smart solutions. Keith A. Reuben, President of Teledyne DALSA Asia Pacific, commented:” In my opinion, the trade fair is one of the largest in Asia. We maintain relationships with our regular customers, acquire new customers, bring our new technologies and develop automation here.”

Highly informative supporting program
The highly informative PHOTONICS CONGRESS CHINA was held concurrently with the trade fair. It focused on the hot topics in the industry, e.g. laser processing, advanced lasers, optical technology, infrared imaging technology, laser safety, beam analysis and other latest research results and developments. The Congress attracted a total of 2.463 delegates. Prof. Dr. Reinhart Poprawe, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology, provided some deep insights into the topic of digital photon production in Industry 4.0. Every forum was full and was acclaimed by the scientists, corporate executives, R&D and production engineering personnel.

Prof. Youliang Wang, President of the Chinese Optical Society – Laser Processing Committee, said:” What LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA has achieved is widely recognized by the industry. It is developing every year and the attendance figures are also growing steadily. We are very proud to say that the success now being achieved by the Chinese laser industry is intrinsically linked to the support of LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA and the laser technology it presents.”

The next LASER World of PHOTONICS CHINA will be held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center from March 20 to 22, 2019.