The potential applications for IoT in Ireland’s manufacturing sector, the growth of 3D printing and emerging medtech trends are all on the agenda at this year’s National Manufacturing and Supply Chain Conference. The conference is the largest gathering of manufacturing and supply chain professionals in Ireland and is taking place on 31 January in the Citywest Convention Centre, Dublin. The annual event will welcome 3,000 manufacturing and supply chain industry professionals, 200 speakers and 170+ exhibitors. There will be 16 conferences taking place within the event including the Sustainable Manufacturing Summit, Lab2Cleanroom Expo and the National Procurement Summit. The top speakers this year include:

  • Lucinda Creighton, CEO, Vulcan Consulting
  • Peter Nolan, Worldwide President, BD Medical Pharmaceutical Systems
  • Andrew Lynch, CIO, Irish Manufacturing Research
  • Ivan Kelly, Global Supply Chain R&D Programme Manager, Hewlett Packard
  • Edward Sweeney, Professor of Logistics and Director, Aston Logistics and Systems Institute, Aston University, Birmingham, UK
Main stage at the National Manufacturing and Supply Chain Conference is expected to see talks on manufacturing and the European economy, the digital reinvention of industry and factory floor operations while seminars spread out across the event will feature talks on smart factories, automation and industry 4.0.

Attendees and Exhibitors

The 3,000 attendees at this year’s conference will include senior executives from across Ireland and the UK’s manufacturing and supply chain industries including Managing Directors, Finance Directors, Marketing Directors and Operations Directors from the largest manufacturers and supply chain management companies. Attendees will also be treated to a showcase of the latest technology driving innovation in the manufacturing sector along with new products, services and debates on the latest trends across 16 stages. Car maker Fiat is expected to showcase their award-winning cars, the Alfa Romeo Giulia and Quadrifoglio. The two cars recently won best Best Medium Car and Best Performance Car at the Irish Car Awards respectively and will be available to exhibitors to view and interact with at the event. RS Components (RS), the global distributor for engineers, will also be exhibiting at the event with their new version of its mobile interactive technology truck, Titan 2. The new 35-tonne truck showcases technologies such as Raspberry Pi, 3D printing, robotics, the Internet of Things and thermal imaging and is also packed with the latest technology including demonstrations of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to really bring innovation to life.

Sustainability, Brexit and more...

Sustainability will be a major theme at this year’s conference as Ireland’s largest manufacturers increasingly focus on improving energy efficiency and sustainable manufacturing and trade practices to deliver quantifiable eco results. With the backdrop of Brexit this year there will also be a series of talks across the stages discussing the wide ranging impact of the ongoing Brexit negotiations and what a ‘Hard Brexit’ could mean for Ireland’s supply chain. National Manufacturing Exhibition is a trade only event. Visitors can register at http://www.manufacturingevent.com/delegates/. For further enquiries call: 01 6120880.