'all about automation' (aaa), a trade fair for industrial automation, took place in Zurich for the second time, this time for the first time in synergy with the parallel trade fair 'maintenance Schweiz'.
The trade fair duo, organized by Easyfairs on 28/29 August 2024 in Zurich, impressed both exhibitors and visitors and was the largest Swiss trade fair for automation, robotics, digitalization and maintenance this year. A total of 251 exhibiting companies and partners presented their solutions and innovations, while 3,182 visitors took advantage of the opportunity for direct exchange. The open atmosphere of the trade fair, which facilitated contact between exhibitors and visitors as well as between visitors themselves in the numerous networking areas, was particularly praised.
A central component of the trade fair concept was the aaa Talk Lounge, where practical presentations on trend topics in automation took place. This year, presentations on the topics of artificial intelligence/machine learning, intelligent vision systems and robotics met with great interest. Tanja Waglöhner, Exhibition Director of aaa, was satisfied: "The trade fair has grown significantly in terms of exhibitors compared to the premiere in 2022. In the second year, the aim was to confirm the success and establish the trade fair concept in Switzerland. We succeeded in doing this together with the exhibitors and organizers. It's great to see how intensively the exhibitors invited visitors and how positive the atmosphere was on site. Swiss automation expertise came together here, and you could feel it on every square meter of exhibition space." René Brugger, Managing Director of the Swiss Technology Network - swissT.net - and competence partner of the trade fair, also emphasized the importance of the platform: "The aaa in Zurich is a shining example of the innovative strength of Swiss automation. The workplace and the exporting industry benefit from the two days focusing on automation. The high number of visitors and the attendance testify to the great need for exchange in the industries." The aaa trade fair concept focuses on technical discussions.
This impression was confirmed during our visit in Zurich, the trade fair scores with charm, overview and competence. The discussions we had were characterized by transparency and high professional quality. As it was our first visit to an aaa, we can't draw any comparisons, but the basic idea seems to work. Thomas Weiss, Sales Manager Distribution at Mitsubishi Electric Europe, sees this as a key success factor: "This concept is exactly what makes the trade fair work for customers." Martin Rupf, VFD expert for D-A-CH at Oxni, adds: "The pleasant atmosphere at aaa makes it easy to make contacts." Thomas Vogt, CEO at Adlos, sums it up: "Generating lots of valuable contacts with relatively little effort." Carsten Brilka, Business Development at Paletti Profilsysteme, was also impressed: "As a first-time exhibitor, we were overwhelmed by the good response and the many high-quality discussions. We will definitely be back in 2026." The synergies with 'maintenance Schweiz' were also well received, as Alfred Imhof's trade fair appearance shows.
