On 4-5 June 2025, the UK’s largest manufacturing and engineering exhibition, Smart Manufacturing Week, returns to the NEC Birmingham. The event brings together a powerful lineup of exhibitions including Smart Factory Expo, Drives & Controls, Maintec, Design + Engineering Expo and the Air-Tech and Fluid Power and Systems zones.
The comprehensive educational programme features seven Solutions Theatres, each dedicated to a critical aspect of modern manufacturing. These include Digital Transformation, Industrial Data & AI, IIoT & Connectivity, Design & Innovation, Automation & Robotics, Leadership & Strategy and Maintenance. Each of the sessions are designed to provide attendees with practical, actionable insights that can be directly applied to improve their operations.
One of the programme’s standout moments will be a keynote from Professor Henrik von Scheel, also known as the ‘Godfather of Industry 4.0’. His talk, The Future of Manufacturing: Megatrends that Shape the Next Decade, examines the forces that will dominate the manufacturing landscape in the years ahead, including smart automation, AI integration and the evolving dynamics of the workforce.
The exhibition floor itself will feature the sector’s leading players such as Schneider Electric, FANUC UK, 3M, Epicor, Binder UK, Cembre, Charter Controls, Ericsson, Fluke, IFS, Biffa, Hoffmann Group and ifm Electronic.
Complementing these industry giants is Innovation Alley, part of Smart Factory Expo, this area highlights groundbreaking solutions from agile startups and early-stage tech businesses. New for 2025 is Smart Tank, where these entrepreneurs will pitch their products and services to a panel of experts.
Inspiring the manufacturers and engineers of the future remains a cornerstone of the event and this year Smart Manufacturing Week’s STEM Programme, ‘Manufacturers & Engineers of the Future’, sponsored by FANUC is extended to include school year students, as well as those in further education. As part of the programme hundreds of students and apprentices will have the chance to interact directly with industry experts and current apprentices, offering a hands-on introduction to the exciting world of advanced manufacturing and engineering.
For some fun, the popular Guitar Legends competition returns, with a 3D-printed guitar for the winner, plus the house band The Shadow Monkeys will pop up all around the event and return with their signature high energy and crowd-pleasing hits to close out the first evening’s visitor party. Meanwhile, the Best of British Showcase celebrates the finest in UK manufacturing, spotlighting groundbreaking designs, pioneering methods, and export successes.
Smart Manufacturing Week takes place at the NEC Birmingham on the 4th-5th of June 2025. Other exhibitions taking place at the NEC at the same time include Automechanika run by Messe Frankfurt; Med-Tech Innovation Expo and TCT 3Sixty from Rapid News Group and Subcon from the Mark Allen Group. One visitor badge provides access to all events.
For more information and to register for free visit: https://www.smartmanufacturingweek.com/
