Robotic automation vendors with a focus on ecommerce like Locus and RightHand exhibit as well. I recommend this event for retailers.

A lot of the content goes way beyond supply chain, like store systems, credit authorization, etc. NRF goes to great lengths to qualify attendees or they charge you a fortune to attend. It is also plenty expensive to visit NYC, even in January.

To be clear, Manifest draws only about 10% of the attendance of Modex. While 2025 will only be the fourth year of this new event, I personally like the focus. As you can imagine the event’s name it is centered around outbound logistics, including last-mile delivery. There are a few notable things that set Manifest apart:

1) There is a focus on startups and a venture capital track for new venture funding,
2) Over-the-road trucking autonomy is represented with a whole row of autonomous tractors in the back of the show floor,
3) The lower cost to exhibit encourages newer entrants in our industry.

On the downside, I have found the educational sessions at Manifest to mostly be shameless advertisements for the sponsoring exhibitors

ProMat 2025 will feature over 1,000 exhibitors and more than 50,000 attendees.

Exhibitors include all manner of material handling equipment providers, powered and manual vehicles, robotics, packaging, consultants, integrators, and supply chain software providers.

Essentially, the same event, Modex, is held every even year in Atlanta, and ProMat is held every odd year in Chicago. Robot Advisors’ daily on-the-floor videos can give you an excellent sense of ProMat’s sister show, Modex, in Atlanta in 2023.

LogiMat is the largest supply chain and warehouse automation show in Europe, with over 30,000 attendees and about a million square feet of exhibit space.

Fire regulations in Europe restrict trade show exhibit building size (and warehouse size!), and the result is the Stuttgart exhibit space (Stuttgart Messe) is broken into 10 halls, with solution types designated to certain halls, making navigation very easy. For example, in 2024, Hall 6 was the software hall.

LogiMat is very conveniently located at the Stuttgart airport and on its own train station, but a little away (about 30 mins) from downtown Stuttgart. Robot Advisors’ daily on-the-floor videos can give you an excellent sense of this event in 2023.4

The exhibit floor is relatively small and the exhibitors lean toward providers of technology to Robot Manufacturers. The event is similar to Manifest in that you can find plenty of early stage ventures and ideas percolating. Co-located with the MassRobotics Form & Function Robotics Challenge for universities, DeviceTalks for the medical industry, and a Mass Robotics career fair, there will be a lot going on in Boston the first days of May. 

This year it is being held in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 8-11. WERC is a conference for practitioners, meaning folks who operate warehouses, and much of the focus includes the human side of operations and operational change. On the last day of the conference, attendees have the opportunity to attend one of five local facilities tours.

My favorite part of RoboBusiness is the PitchFire session where e robotics startup companies deliver five minute pitches to compete for a cash prize and invaluable feedback from industry investors.

Pack Expo will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 29 through October 1. As the name suggests, this show is about packing things.

This could mean palletizing cases, filling bottles, or putting items into cases. The show is large, with nearly a million square feet of exhibits, 45,000 attendees and 2,500 exhibiting companies. The majority are not robot companies, but many robot companies to exhibit especially if their solutions can be used in packing.

Robot Advisors attended Pack Expo 2023 in Las Vegas and Pack Expo 2024 in Chicago, you can view the daily video recaps here.