LogiMAT organizers give up on 2021 show

LogiMAT, a trade show for Intralogistics Solutions and Process Management scheduled for June 22–24, 2021, in Stuttgart, Germany, has been postponed due ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Current infection rates and the unclear vaccination timeline, with the restrictions on movement that this entails, have pushed the organizers to reschedule the event.

EUROEXPO Messe- und Kongress-GmbH, has decided to push back the upcoming trade show to March 8–10, 2022, to give exhibitors the certainty they need for long-term planning. The organizer is working on a digital show so that visitors and exhibitors can still meet virtually in 2021.

“Given the current state of vaccinations and the virus mutations, there is no foreseeable end to the travel restrictions in place today. We must offer a timely response. Our exhibitors need certainty for their planning, and this simply isn’t available right now,” explains Michael Ruchty, exhibition director of LogiMAT Stuttgart.

“From today’s perspective, it isn’t clear whether it will be possible to host the full live event in June. The exhibitors would like to have an on-site event, but if we end up having to go forward without the key visitors from abroad, that is not in the interests of all concerned. We must do everything we can to ensure that the in-person event lives up to the understandable expectations of exhibitors and visitors. Another postponement of two to three months would not make sense or be feasible. In the end, we are also honoring the express wishes of many exhibitors by returning in 2022 to our regular schedule in March and the first quarter, when LogiMAT Stuttgart traditionally takes place.”

Rescheduled again…and again

The 2020 LogiMAT event was scheduled for March 10-12, and was cancelled due to a German government injunction on March 4, 2020. In September 2020, the 2021 event planned for March was rescheduled to June 2021. Now it has been cancelled altogether as an in-person event and pushed to March 2022.

The organizer is working on a digital communication and information platform so that exhibitors and visitors can still connect digitally in 2021.

“Alongside exciting, high-quality presentations and the opportunity for our exhibitors to present their products and solutions, the digital event will focus on smart matchmaking,” explains Peter Kazander, Managing Director of EUROEXPO Messe- und Kongress-GmbH. The organizer offers the digital solution as a way to bridge the gap until the next live trade show in March 2022 and fulfill its primary mission of bringing exhibitors and visitors together in a state-of-the-art event.