Until January 2020 – according to MC Kinsey – the Belgian manufacturing industry had a significant backlog compared to other industrial sectors such as automotive and electronics.  The Belgian industry was generally portrayed as Western Europe's weaker brother and only ranked 8th, more specifically when it comes to the time span between planned innovations and their implementation. Fact is, the lockdown and its aftermath have outpaced many traditional manufacturing companies. At least 78 % of Belgian manufacturing companies now have concrete digitalisation projects under way to avoid future lockdown scenarios. “Elementary, my dear Watson!”, you might think. However, the time between planning a digitalisation project and its actual implementation has now really been considerably shortened. At least half of all companies that had to shut down their operations due to the lockdown were already making effective investments. A second lockdown would therefore not be economically viable for them.

The 5th summit and networking trade show for the digitalisation of industry and smart factories, i.e. ABISS2020 in Kortrijk Xpo, may therefore be the first trade fair in the Benelux to open its doors under the present circumstances. A total of 62 technology partners will present the latest digital solutions for Industry of Things, Intelligence of Things and Security of Things to an audience of 800 C-levels and department heads from the industry. Registration is free of charge for the relevant profiles, but the number of physical visitors on 8 October will be limited to 800. You can, of course, always register in advance for a digital visit to ABISS2020. Would you like to receive further information about the apps, software and solutions on show?