– Held for 4 days in Mississauga, Ontario in an online/offline hybrid format –
– Participation in various fields such as automation robots, electric vehicles, and engineering consulting companies –
– Due to the high penetration rate of the COVID-19 vaccine, face-to-face exhibitions are expected to increase in the future –
From October 2021 to 4, 7, Canada Manufacturing Technology Show (CMTS), Canada's representative manufacturing conference, was held. During the past year, most major exhibitions in Canada have been canceled or replaced with online exhibitions in the form of digital platforms due to the COVID-2021 outbreak. In particular, large-scale exhibitions that require a large demonstration space and where a large number of visitors and products from all over the world gather in one place were severely restricted. However, this 19 Canada Manufacturing Technology Show (CMTS) was held in a hybrid method that runs both online and offline exhibitions in line with the COVID-2021 era, and directly visited the KOTRA Toronto Trade Center to inspect the exhibition site.
2021 CMTS Event Overview
CMTS is Canada's leading manufacturing technology exhibition, held every other year in Ontario and Quebec. This event was held at The International Center in Mississauga, Ontario, and as the face-to-face event is gradually being held due to the acceleration of the spread of the COVID-19 vaccine, it was a good opportunity to experience the exhibition site in the post-corona era in advance.
CMTS' main exhibition areas include a variety of manufacturing industries including manufacturing technology, 3D printing, automotive, aerospace, and metal manufacturing. A total of 4 manufacturing companies from Canada, USA, Czech Republic and Italy participated in this exhibition held in Mississauga for 4 days from October 130th. In addition to participating companies, this event provided an opportunity to research the local market and meet potential buyers as various visitors including related industry experts, industry associations and government officials participated. The CMTS exhibition consisted of various programs such as Tech Exhibits, Industry Panels, Smart Hub, and Tech Talk. Among them, in the case of events such as industry expert panel and tech talk, representatives of manufacturing companies, associations, and government officials participated as speakers and delivered a wide range of contents to the audience.
CMTS Event Overview
Offline exhibition hall configuration
The atmosphere of the exhibition held offline after Corona 19
In Ontario, where COVID-19 vaccination rates exceed 84%, offline events and exhibitions are increasingly being held. Since last year's Corona 19, CMTS, which was the first offline participation in a trade center, was a new feeling. In order to participate in this exhibition, you had to present your Vaccine Passport and ID, which is a certificate of secondary vaccination, to enter the exhibition hall. Masks must be worn in the exhibition hall and can only be removed when eating in the food court. The total capacity of the face-to-face exhibition was 2 people, adding to the liveliness of many people from all over the world.
CMTS field photos
On the other hand, according to an interview with an official from Cadmicro, an engineering consultant company who participated as an on-site booth, it was mentioned that the lack of communication due to the prolonged non-face-to-face after Corona 19 is currently emerging as a big issue for all companies regardless of specific industries. In order to solve such a problem, it was reported that the company developed a program that could communicate without detailed explanations with employees of other departments by grafting the technology conversation tool to the company's 3D design software. In addition, he expressed expectations for a return to daily life and normalization of the economy due to the acceleration of the spread of the COVID-19 vaccine. He added that he highly appreciates Korea's technology and the competitiveness of the Korean manufacturing industry.
It is conducted in a hybrid method, so non-face-to-face visitors can also participate.
It is noteworthy that CMTS, where both online and offline exhibitions were held at the same time, utilized the strengths of online to the fullest. The event organizer opened the CMTS online exhibition website to provide information on the exhibition schedule, companies and exhibition items, and vividly delivered the offline seminar site through a live stream. At the same time, a real-time chat window was used so that visitors could directly inquire if they had any questions for the seminar speakers. In addition, by providing a mobile phone application, you can check the exhibition schedule in advance, and you can also apply for networking by registering interested parties participating in the booth. CMTS introduced an online exhibition website and an accessible mobile app at the same time to provide improved convenience to non-face-to-face visitors.
Online exhibition and mobile app screen
Industrial panel event with various themes of changes in manufacturing and the future of electric vehicles
In the major seminars of CMTS, topics such as the direction of change in manufacturing after COVID-19 and the future of major manufacturing industries were discussed. Jason Myers, CEO of NGen*, who participated as a speaker at the industry panel event, said that the factors that had the greatest impact on the manufacturing industry from COVID-19 were supply chain shortages, changes in customer demand, and logistics disruptions and delays. . Accordingly, he added that in the post-corona era, new changes such as sustainable ESG supply chain management within the manufacturing industry, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions, expansion of electric vehicle distribution, and development of digital platforms are necessary. In addition, he emphasized the importance of cooperation between companies in order to manage risks in introducing and integrating new technologies in the manufacturing industry.
* NGen (Next Generation Manufacturing Canada) is a non-profit organization leading the Canadian advanced manufacturing supercluster.
The next industry panel event attended was hosted by Flavio Volpe, president of the Canadian Automobile Parts Manufacturers Association, on the theme of the future of the Canadian electric vehicle manufacturing industry. CEO Volpe advised that efforts should be made to reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the process of manufacturing electric vehicles in Canada in the future. Although there is no carbon emission when operating an electric vehicle, it is mainly generated during the manufacturing process of the electric battery, so it is expected that it is necessary to switch to an eco-friendly energy source that supplements this. In addition, he emphasized that charging station facilities should also be accelerated in line with the supply of electric vehicles in Canada. In addition, seminars were held on various topics such as ESG management in the manufacturing industry, supply chain resilience, employment recovery, and cyber security.
Online exhibition industry panel event photo
Non-face-to-face events expected to gradually increase after the second half of 2021
The 2021 Canadian Manufacturing Technology Exhibition was able to overcome the limitations of COVID-19 and provide opportunities for more visitors to participate by holding the event both offline and online at the same time. I was very impressed with the fact that the hybrid exhibition encouraged the active participation of the participants and promoted the network activation through the advantages of the hybrid exhibition. In addition, it was possible to examine future industry trends with the enthusiasm and new ideas of manufacturing companies preparing for the post-corona era. In the future, we expect Korean companies to participate in the CMTS exhibition to understand trends in the Canadian manufacturing industry and to provide opportunities to network with companies and government officials.
Source: 2021 CMTS online exhibition website, KOTRA Toronto Trade Center