The goals for the 4th international trade fair “EURO ID 2008” (13–15 May 2008 in Cologne) are ambitious: “We want to increase both the number of exhibitors and visitors by 25 per cent,” says Peter Altes, Director of Managed Events at IBC EUROFORUM GmbH. In 2007, the trade fair boasted 3,000 professional visitors and 100 exhibitors. Exhibitors particularly gave the fair high marks for practical relevance, good networking opportunities, the numerous product innovations and the presence of many large companies. The 2007 show also completed the transformation from a hardware to a solutions fair. In 2008, more emphasis will be placed on the complementary application options for RFID and barcode systems. In addition, the EURO ID show will identify interesting markets and present new technologies, especially in health care, pharmaceuticals, medical engineering and foodstuffs – sectors that are now under huge pressure to improve efficiency, and that are in real need of effective anti-counterfeiting measures. Altes is particularly pleased that 75 per cent of the exhibition space has already been booked, and that renowned companies such as Avery Dennison Germany, Bayer Technology Services, Casio Europe, deister electronic, PDS, Pepperl and Fuchs, Schreiner Group and Siemens will be exhibiting.

Cross-sector and cross-company approach

The Auto ID technologies, such as barcode (2D/3D) and RFID, continue to form the mainstay for innovative areas of application for mobile data acquisition and communication. Data should be available in real time and accessible everywhere, at any time of the day and irrespective of the existing IT infrastructure. It must be possible to process these data when and where they are required by the business processes. Such a capability forms the bedrock of cross-sector and cross-company solutions. At the same time, ever closer links need to be forged between the highly specialised SMEs that tend to make up the Auto ID sector and the globally active IT and user companies, such as logistics groups, the auto industry and international trading corporations. EURO ID 2008 visitors will be able to experience directly how this is being achieved, not only in the main exhibition but also in science forums and live events, such as the Tracking and Tracing Theatre. The User Forum will feature short presentations by exhibitors and partners on innovations in the Auto ID market.

Presentation of the 3rd “European Auto ID Awards”

Together with AIM, the trade association representing automatic identification (Auto ID), data acquisition and mobile technology solution providers, IBC EUROFORUM will present, for the third time, the “European Auto ID Awards”. The winners in the in the three categories, “RFID”, “Barcode” and “Innovative Company”, will be announced at the fair on 13 May 2008. “These awards allow us to give start-up companies an opportunity to present their products and solutions to a professional audience, thus providing them with a platform for entering new segments. We therefore offer young companies exhibition spaces at especially favourable conditions,” explains Altes. Interested applicants can get complete information at www.euro-id-tradefair.com (English version) and http://www.euro-id-messe.de (German version), or directly from Stefanie Kluckhuhn at stefanie.kluckhuhn@euroforum.com or +49 (0)211 / 96 86-37 54.