SaMoTer is back with its 31st edition, hallmarked by innovation. The triennial international construction machinery exhibition runs from today until Sunday, 7 May, at Veronafiere: the five-day event with 536 sector companies at the forefront (115 international from 23 countries). Visitors can tour six halls for a total show area of more than 50,000m2, joined by three outdoor areas for displays and dynamic demo areas.
SaMoTer is held in conjunction with Asphaltica, the show highlighting road paving, safety and road infrastructure technologies and solutions promoted with SITEB - Strade Italiane e Bitumi.
The two trade fairs were presented on 20th April in Rome, at the headquarters of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. The presentation was attended by: Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy; Federico Bricolo, President of Veronafiere; Michele Turrini, President of SITEB; Nicola d'Arpino, Vice President of Unacea, and Sara Quotti Tubi, Agritech area event manager at Veronafiere.
SaMoTer is the only event in Italy covering the whole construction machinery supply chain. It is also the main landmark event in Europe in 2023, with important attendance and returns among the leading international machinery builders in earthmoving, concrete, road building, drilling, crushing, lifting, vehicles, components and services.
UNACEA-Italian Construction Machinery Union, a partner of SaMoTer, estimates turnover for national production of construction machinery in 2022 at approximately €3.9 billion, posting growth of 15% over the previous year. Exports came to 3.1 billion euros, posting an increase of 9.7% compared to 2021. Sales of machinery on the Italian market (national and international production) also grew to a total of 29,613 units (+16%).
SaMoTer confirms its status as a b2b platform of international calibre: 106 top international buyers are attending this year, selected, invited and hosted thanks to investments by Veronafiere in collaboration with the ICE-Trade Agency. Thirty-two countries were targeted for incoming promotion: Albania, Angola, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Cameroon, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Croatia, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Ghana, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Libya, Poland, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Macedonia of the North, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Venezuela.
The Veronafiere exhibition in 2023 highlights the key role the construction machinery industry is destined to play in terms of environmental sustainability and the development of new economic models: vital progress that goes hand in hand with the 4.0 revolution.
Against this background, SaMoTer 2023 is the preferential observatory for discovering the future building site. The two main innovations at this show precisely take this direction.
Hall 12 is home to the first SaMoTer Lab. This exhibition area brings together companies presenting the most innovative solutions, starting with the 24th SaMoTer Innovation Award winners, alongside high-profile training and updating courses. The technologies on display include sensors, remote sensing devices, trouble-shooting tools, drones, hybrid and electric vehicles for work in urban contexts, smart machines and digital platforms for human-to-machine (H2M) and machine-to-machine (M2M) interaction, and safety management software.
The appointment in Outdoor Area F with Cantiere Digitale-Digital Construction Site is an effective demonstration of the philosophy of SaMoTer Lab: an area of 3,000 square meters where fully automated machinery and technologies can be watched at work on the construction of road infrastructure; the initiative is a collaboration with "Quelli del movimento terra".
The 31st SaMoTer is a vital showcase and an essential appointment for all professionals in the sector: a venue for meetings and discussion that promotes and supports business, providing visitors with information and food for thought to analyse the current context and forecasts for the near future more clearly.
The show is also eagerly awaited given its variety of conferences and workshops: thanks to a collaboration with institutions, research centres, universities, the trade press, associations and companies, more than 80 appointments are scheduled where operators can keep up to date with news and developments even of international scope. Technological innovation is always in the foreground, especially concerning the ecological and digital transition, along with safety, training, rental, productivity, efficiency and new solutions for construction sites and roads.
Technological innovation, sustainability, safety and the PNR are the four pillars at this year's Asphaltica. Veronafiere will welcome more than 80 exhibitors showcasing road-building machinery, technologies and solutions for safe and low environmental impact road paving; more than 30 conferences, workshops and insights joined by an outdoor area where machines and systems are exhibited in conjunction with dynamic demons. An occasion for comparisons for the asphalt supply chain, which in Italy is worth between €18 and 20 billion, with 400 factories and 35,000 direct employees, growing to 500,000 if allied industries are also considered (source: SITEB).
The forum area organised by SITEB will also host initiatives looking into new scenarios for smart & sustainable roads of the future. The aim is to understand when the green transition of our roads will take place and what tools are available to make Italy's road assets safer while further reducing the environmental impact of construction and maintenance work.
Adolfo Urso, Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy, said: "The construction machinery sector is an important asset for Italian manufacturing. This is why it should be strengthened, not the least through trade fair initiatives such as SaMoTer, one of the best-organised and most effective promotional methods for promoting our products abroad. Machines and automation have always been landmarks of excellence in the Italian industry and are one of our main export items. This is why the government is gearing up to implement a new and more significant 5.0 green and digital transition plan in the second half of the year. We aim to make our companies increasingly competitive, even in this sector. This programme will be implemented within the scope of PNR resources, provided that the EU grants us flexibility in this context sense for projects that can be carried out in the time frame through to 2026."
Federico Bricolo, President of VeronaFiere, said: "Samoter 2023 is the point of arrival after a long run-up period that began in 2017, which Covid then slowed down. The important thing is that over this time, we managed to maintain and strengthen our relationships with companies and associations, staying in close never and dialogue with the market through a series of initiatives such as Samoter Days, Samoter B2Press, and the Innovation Award and the cycle of webinars. The sector perceives a sense of togetherness and planning, as proven by the figures for Samoter this year, which also sees the return of major international machinery builders. We have involved institutions to a great extent in this edition, primarily the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy and the Ministry of Infrastructure, both attending the event in Verona to listen to the sector's needs. All these thanks to great teamwork with partners and stakeholders, among whom I especially wish to thank Unacea, Siteb and ICE-Trade Agency."
Sara Quotti Tubi, Agritech area event manager at Veronafiere, said: "While the construction machinery sector is currently coping with rapid technological evolution, SaMoTer makes its welcome return," Innovations this year came about thanks to constant and continuous debate with the sector, that expressed the need for a venue specifically for technological displays, combined with updating and training opportunities. SaMoTer Lab consequently focuses on technological innovation, digitalisation, de-carbonisation, safety and training. And the digital construction site is the natural consequence of this initiative and a place where cutting-edge solutions can be seen at work. These two new areas at Samoter enhance the scope of this 4.0 and green transition so necessary in the construction world."
Michael Turrini, President of SITEB, said: "The coming edition of Asphaltica comes at a decidedly important time for Italy as it tackles the implementation of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan and the environmental objectives set at European level to fight polluting and climate-change emissions. We will seek to understand, during the trade fair itself and thanks not the least to reports by experts and representatives of the institutional and business world, how substance can be assured for investments in the safety of Italy's road assets and how to make the most of the resources made available by the PNR to design durable roads that are also environmentally and economically sustainable." Asphaltica will also be the chance to verify the state of health of companies and investors given that some state projects ("Industry 4.0" and others) are now less of an incentive than in the past."
Nicola d'Arpino, Vice President of UNACEA, said: "Thanks to significant industrial input and the drive provided by European legislation, the latest generation construction machinery now on the market have achieved significant goals in terms of operator safety, reduced environmental impact and product quality, However, technologies that are widely available on the market and used as standard practice elsewhere, often find it difficult to penetrate the Italian market given the persistence of old, incorrect and even harmful construction practices, or unjustifiable opposition to the inevitable progress of the sector and its legislation. Therefore, we hope to see increasingly effective dialogue between the industry and key institutions such as the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy, which can help bring a technological breakthrough in the construction world to benefit the country's economic development."
