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New Trade Show Format for Digital Metalworking
NexGeM Brings Mechanical Engineering and IT Together in Hanover
What has mostly been presented in a superficial way up to now, the VDW is now bringing to life at NexGeM (Next Generation Metalworking): a glimpse into the smart metalworking of tomorrow. As a co-located event with Hannover Messe, the new trade show will open its doors from April 5 to 8, 2027. “We decided to take this step because it was long overdue,” states Dr. Markus Heering, Managing Director of the VDW. “The machine tool is not a stand-alone solution. It is embedded in the entire digital industrial value chain, from planning to service. And yet, intelligent, networked machine tools are not given sufficient attention outside of a few specialized trade shows. We’re changing that with NexGeM and bringing together companies from the mechanical engineering, IT, and software sectors.”
The trade show is a standalone event. As a new format, it bridges the gap between the two industries, which have largely been presented separately until now. Since it focuses on digitalization, it is neither a traditional machine tool trade show nor a “mini EMO Hannover.”
NexGeM is the VDW's new trade show for digitalization in the machine tool industry, held as a co-located event with the Hannover Messe
Dr. Markus Heering, Managing Director of VDW
Smart Machine Tools and Production Systems in Practice
Everyone is talking about the enormous potential of artificial intelligence, but this potential can only be realized in a fully digitized factory. However, many companies have not yet completed this transformation, as the process is particularly complex—and often costly—when it comes to existing machinery (brownfield). NexGeM will focus on the key areas of digital transformation for metalworking companies. It will demonstrate how machine tools, production systems, and associated peripherals can become more efficient and cost-effective through automation, networking, robotics, and software and platform solutions. This includes value-added technologies such as MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems), digital twins, and AI, as well as IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) and cloud and edge technologies. The security aspect will also be a key focus. How can cybersecurity applications safeguard industrial processes and ensure data integrity?
With concrete application examples that are already in use today or will be available in the near future, NexGeM will demonstrate how networked machine tools are already transforming production. It also offers a glimpse into the future of manufacturing technology—including existing machinery. The trade show thus provides an economically relevant outlook on current and upcoming trends. “As an association, it is our task to address changes in the industry and highlight current market needs for companies. With our initiative, we support companies in their investment decisions, whether in an existing production facility or for a new purchase,” said Heering.
Business Platform for a Collaborative Industry
The Hannover Messe is the ideal partner for this new format, as it attracts decision-makers from the fields of automation technology, the energy sector, digital and tech companies, and politics like no other industrial trade show in Germany. Both exhibitors and visitors to NexGeM find important partners and customers here whom they would not typically encounter at traditional metalworking trade shows. In line with the motto “Metal Works Digital,” the new format facilitates networking between machine builders and IT leaders, digitalization managers, and automation experts.
Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO of Deutsche Messe AG, which organizes the Hannover Messe, is also convinced of the initiative’s success: “The successful digital transformation of industry requires close collaboration between mechanical engineering, artificial intelligence, automation, and industrial users. It creates additional synergies, expands the industrial ecosystem to include the machine tool and metalworking sectors, and offers our visitors shorter paths to an even wider variety of topics.”
NexGeM’s innovative concept fills a gap that can secure the competitiveness of German and European industry and meaningfully complements existing formats. “We are convinced that value creation can only be generated in the long term and competitiveness ensured if all areas of industrial production and their related sectors work hand in hand,” emphasizes Heering. “We want to do our part to ensure that companies do not fall behind in the international market and that Germany and Europe as industrial hubs continue to gain further advantages.”
Dr. Jochen Köckler, Chairman of the Executive Board of Deutsche Messe AG
Background
The German machine tool industry is one of the five largest sectors within the mechanical engineering industry. It supplies metalworking production technology to all industrial sectors and plays a key role in driving innovation and productivity gains in industry. Given its absolutely pivotal role in industrial production, the sector’s performance serves as an important indicator of the economic momentum of the entire industrial sector. In 2025, the industry—with an average of approximately 64,500 employees (at companies with more than 50 employees)—produced machinery and services worth approximately 13.8 billion euros.
Source | VDW, DMAG