Industrial Interactive Zone at Motek/Bondexpo 2026: “People – Machines – Teamwork”
The 43rd Motek international trade fair for automation in production and assembly, together with the 18th Bondexpo international trade fair for bonding technology, will set new benchmarks with future-oriented, practical solutions from the 6th through the 8th of October, 2026. The three-day autumn event will focus attention on the Industrial Interactive Zone – an interactive platform where expert visitors will be able to gain first-hand insights into process integration, rapid commissioning and flexible format changeovers. Automation specialists will present holistic solutions to a specific task involving the interaction of different system functions within the framework of a competition.
COMPETITION | CHALLENGE
As a prominent competition and participatory event, the goal of the Industrial Interactive Zone is to demonstrate the possibilities of sustainable, state-of-the-art automation in industrial production, with a focus on user benefits. A competition will be launched within the scope of the trade fair, which is intended to demonstrate how quick and easy it is to get started with automation. It will illustrate how automation solutions can be provided entirely from a single source, are easy to use and can also be readily integrated into small businesses. All machinery manufacturers, special machine builders, system integrators and automation specialists are invited to build automation teams and breathe life into the “People, Machines, Teamwork” competition at Motek’s Industrial Interactive Zone in 2026.
Functioning as a “general contractor”, a single competition participant combines all the sub-functions and components to be integrated in cooperation with their respective manufacturers and suppliers and submits an entry for the entire system. A maximum of four automation teams have been slated for the Industrial Interactive Zone, which will be located centrally in hall 6 at Motek/Bondexpo. Each competition participant works independently with their team to complete the assigned task.
The task includes two stages: stage 1 involves automated, robotic picking and palletising of four small parts of different shapes and colours onto a rack to form a finished assembly. After ten assemblies have been picked using the same robot on the same line, stage 2 is launched with a product changeover: automated, robotic handling of a spherical object and subsequent dropping into a container or placing at a specified location. Time is the decisive factor for winning the competition – the project team that completes the task fastest is the winner.
Systems competing in the Industrial Interactive Zone should clearly demonstrate how automation specialists achieve rapid commissioning, fast format changeovers and minimal set-up times. It will be demonstrated that automation solutions can be easily implemented if they come from a single source and are designed as integrated systems. On the basis of examples, competing participants should demonstrate the smooth interaction of different functionalities within a system. In addition to time, other key competitive factors include process integration, flexibility, adaptability and intuitive operation without the need for robotics expertise.
