While overall attendee traffic may have been leaner at this years ProMat, the show proved to be valuable once again. It was apparent that a good portion of attendees were the decision makers within organizations, walking the floor with specific goals to achieve. The right people combined with less foot traffic allowed for in depth discussions about practical solutions to real time challenges.
The products being shown at ProMat very much paralleled that shown at the recent PackExpo. There was a heavy presence from manufacturers of industrial lift equipment and other lift assist devices, i.e. jibs and powered lift tables. Conveyor manufacturers demonstrated their versions of motorized rollers, transfers used for product sortation, etc. Robots and their capabilities were on display. Larger robots could be seen palletizing sizeable cases from a conveyor line while smaller robots used vision detection systems to pick and place items. Software packages used for warehouse space planning and simulation were also being demonstrated.