Final report on SPS Electric Automation America

June 5, 2005

THE INAUGURAL SPS Electric Automation America, the first North American trade event to focus on drives, motion, controls and automation technologies for industrial applications, took place May 23-26, 2005 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois. A total of 91 exhibitors presented a broad range of technologies and products for the 1,305 attendees from 37 U.S. states, Canada and 12 other countries.

Jim Pinto, industrial automation commentator, author, analyst and consultant, officially opened the inaugural show with a keynote address. The seminar and conference program focused exclusively on drives, motion, controls and electric automation technologies. Presented by domestic and international experts, more than 50 technical papers, four seminars and two roundtables provided an overview of the industry. 

The Roundtable Discussion on “Technology Trends in Motion and Automation Control” was one of the most attended sessions. It was the 10th Motion Control Forum organized and moderated by Tom Bullock, President of Bull’s Eye Research. 

Over the course of three days exhibitors had the opportunity to showcase their products and technologies in controls, electric drives, precision Industrial sensors, Human-Machine Interfaces (HMI), networks and industrial communications, control software and related fields. Exhibitors generally expressed satisfaction with the quality of attendees, and most felt confident that the quantity of buyers will continue to increase with future show editions.

Industry partners and sponsors endorsing the new event included Automation.com, Automation World, B&R Industrial Automation, Contemporary Controls, CONTROL, Control Design, CSIA, eDRIVE, Plant Services, Siemens and Woodhead. "This is definitely a show that everyone in the automation industry should support. It's really the only show that strictly focuses on industrial automation,” remarked Rick Zabel, Vice President, Automation.com.

Taking feedback from exhibitors, attendees and sponsors into consideration, the dates and location for SPS Electric Automation America 2006 will be announced shortly. 

Exhibitor Quotes

AC TECHNOLOGY / LENZE, Danny McDonald, Director North America Sales: “Even though we did not see a tremendous turnout, we were impressed with the quality of the contacts.”

AMK DRIVES and CONTROLS, Larry Culpepper, Sales Manager: “This is the kind of show we need - concept is great.”

AS INTERFACE USA, Michael Bryant, Executive Director: “"We are impressed with the efforts made in producing this first year show.  The press coverage was excellent.”

B&R INDUSTRIAL AUTOMATION, Marc Ostertag, Vice President – B&R USA: “The inaugural SPS EAA 2005 show proved that a strong conference program and the concept of many big automation suppliers together in one location have many things to offer American control engineers. Certainly the show would have deserved a much better turn-out by visitors, but it still set the stage for some nice growth in the years to come.”

FRABA POSITAL, Timm Bauten, General Engineer:  “We are really impressed by the excellent quality of contacts and looking forward to the next show in 2006.”

GROSS AUTOMATION, Robert Gross, President: “This is a more personal, focused show than others we participated in – perfect for this market.”

IXXAT, INC., William Seitz, President: “This show provided us with immediate sales orders. The attendees were very much in our target range and the results proved to be better than the larger shows we participated in this year.”

MOTION TECH TRENDS, George Gulalo, President: “If your customers or clients are motion component or system suppliers, SPS Electric Automation America is a “must-show” event for you.”

SIEMENS ENERGY & AUTOMATION, John Krasnokutsky, Marketing Manager: "Siemens has been committed to the SPS/IPC/Drives show in Germany for a number of years and we are now committed to SPS Electric Automation America as well. We look forward to helping SPS EAA establish itself as the leading Automation, Motion and Drives show in the US."

For more show information, please contact Stephanie McKinney, Messe Frankfurt, 1600 Parkwood Circle, Suite 515, Atlanta, GA 30339. Phone 770/984-8016; fax 770/984.8023. E-Mail: [email protected]; website: www.ea-america.com.