WELDEX 2021: POST EXHIBITION PRESS RELEASE
International exhibition Weldex is back face to face
From 12 to 15 October 2021 Crocus Expo hosted the 20th anniversary international exhibition of welding materials, equipment and technologies Weldex.
The exhibition occupied 7,000 sq.m. in the most modern exhibition center in Moscow. This year 109 manufacturers and suppliers of welding equipment and materials from 11 countries took part in Weldex. The national pavilion of Germany was traditionally arranged, where 10 German companies demonstrated their achievements.
During 4 days of work, the exhibition was attended by 4,028 visitors from 15 countries and 70 regions of Russia. Among them, 2,214 new visitors. The density of the exhibition was 37 visitors per one exhibitor, which was an 8% growth compared to the year 2019. Company executives and top managers accounted for 64% of all visitors.
Among the exhibitors there were recognized domestic and foreign market leaders, such as: Abicor Binzel, Cloos Vostok, Deloro Wear Solutions, Esab, EWM, Foxweld, Kawasaki Robotics, Kemppi, Messer Cutting Systems, Magnitogorsk Electrode Plant, Abinsk Electric Steel Works, PROGRESS, (NITI, JSC), TETA, Cherepovets plant of welding materials, and others.
This year, 15 Russian companies took part in Weldex for the first time, among them: The Abinsk Electric Steel Works, “Svarka ES”, FOGSTREAM, PTPZ, TECHMETA, TESSONICS, “MSK-krepezh”, and RIFTEK, RSTP.
Weldex 2021 traditionally showcased welding novelties, which reflected modern technologies and current needs of welders. ESAB introduced a line of Robust Feed feeders and a family of WARRIOR power supplies, featuring increased power and shockproof performance. EWM specialists demonstrated models of semiautomatic devices for MIG / MAG welding of the Titan family with a functional burner equipped with a display for setting operating parameters right at the welding site. Kemppi, a regular Weldex exhibitor, demonstrated its new X8 MIG Welder and MasterTig 235ACDC devices in action during a special show dedicated to the 15th anniversary of the Russian division.
The usage of digital technologies in welding work and training of specialists increases its importance every year, and therefore, the VR Zone, organized in partnership with exhibitors ABICOR-BINZEL and Soldamatic, attracted a large mumber of visitors. In the VR Zone, welding simulators with the augmented reality technology were presented, which allow to work out various welding techniques in practice, without consuming real materials.
The champions of the WorldSkills Russia national team in the “Welding Technologies” competence held an open training session on welding for the exhibitors and visitors. Young specialists demonstrated X-ray welding of samples — they welded tee and butt joints of 10- and 16-mm sheets, as well as a pipe sample. In addition, a master class was held on argon-arc welding of aluminum and stainless-steel structures.
At the end of the exhibition, the outstanding stands of 2021 and long-term exhibitors of Weldex were honored in a solemn ceremony. In the nomination “Creative approach to stand design” the jury awarded the companies KAWASAKI ROBOTICS, ROBOVIZARD and ESAB. The expert jury awarded the award for the effective demonstration of equipment at the stand to the companies KLOOS VOSTOK and SVAROG. The STARTWELD company was awarded for the victory in the category “Effective product demonstration at the stand”.
Business programme
Within the International Forum of Welding Industry, 10 events were held, at which more than 50 speakers spoke and 653 industry specialists took part. The experts discussed technological trends of the industry, market analytics and industry problems. The visitors were attracted by the discussion of issues of automation of welding production, developing technologies in welding and the regulation and harmonization of standards in the field of welding production.
The business programme began with the trend session “Welding production of the future. Advanced Technologies and Experience of Their Application”, dedicated to promising welding technologies and innovations in related fields. The session was moderated by Evgenia Dmitrieva, General Director of Kemppi Russia. According to the moderator and experts, one of the key problems in the industry was the lack of qualified welders, which made companies want to automate production. During the session, leading experts from Abicor Binzel, Fronius, IPG Photonics, and ILWT focused on technologies that could improve the efficiency of welding production — the use of robots, automatic and semi-automatic processes, and software for production control. The emerging trends were confirmed by the speech of Alexander Mac-Mac, Chief welder, Head of the chief welder department, Metrowagonmash, who spoke about the peculiarities of applying technologies.
The annual “All-Russian Meeting of Welding Specialists Problems of the Welding Industry in the Russian Federation and Ways to Solve Them” started at 13:30. The experts discussed the revival of the National Welding Committee at the Russian Academy of Sciences, the need to introduce training programs for welding engineers in Russian universities, as well as the importance of approving the international holiday “Welder’s Day”. An important highlight of the meeting was the online presentation of Mr. Luca Costa, Chief Executive Officer of the International Institute of Welding (IIW).
At the blitz analytics session “Welding Materials and Equipment Market in the Russia Federation. Current state and development” experts presented reports on the current state of the market and discussed the main directions of development. Participants believed there were different opportunities in different industries. In the aviation industry, the global aircraft fleet was expected to double by 2035, leading to an increased demand for aircraft materials and assembly. A similar situation existed in the automotive and oil and gas industries, the demand for these products would grow over the next decade, which would lead to the necessity for new technologies for precise and fast welding.
October 13th was the Day of the Welding School at Weldex 2021. A series of sessions began with the seminar “Progressive welding technologies in the manufacture of building structures. Development directions and barriers”. Co-organizer of the seminar was the Research and Design Institute of Building Metal Structures named after N.P. Melnikov.
At 13:30 the seminar “Issues of standardization, certification and, attestation in Russia and the EAEU” was held, moderated by the President of MMAGS Yuri Konstantinovich Podkopaev. The speakers discussed the current standards and nuances of regulation in the field of welding production in Russia and other EAEU countries. The main topic was the issue of harmonization of international and national standards. The expert community concluded that it was necessary to create basic organizations in the field of adoption, assessment, and compliance of standards and to determine the competencies that they should possess.
The final event of the day was the seminar “Weld Defects and Quality Control. Theory and practice”. The participants offered the audience an overview of the most frequent problems in welding, modern methods of control and identification of welds and shared their experience of using them in production.
October 14th was devoted to the topic of automation. The event began with a session in which issues of automation of welding production and technological limitations of such solutions were discussed. The conference continued with the session “Robotic Welding”, which was co-organized by the Russian Association of Robotics.
According to experts, about 50% of welding specialists would work with robots in 10 years. The main thesis of the speeches remained the assertion that robots were not intended to replace people in production, but only contribute to increased safety and productivity. At the end of the event, experts presented digital solutions for welding processes.
The final event of the business programme was the awarding of the winners of the professional contests “the Best Welder”, “the Best Young Welder”, “the Best Engineer / Scientist in the Welding Industry”, and “Miss Welding of the World”. In the competitions participated 50 industry specialists. The jury awarded 20 winners in 8 nominations.
The Sponsors of the Anniversary Exhibition Weldex were Unifos, Air Liquide, Bansal Wire and Kedr.
The Sponsors of the contests and the award ceremony were ESAB and Svarog.
