The First Lift Expo Italia Took Place in Milan, Italy

Lift Expo Italia was held in Milan on October 19-21 by the Italian National Association of Elevator Components Industries (ANICA).

It was quite a summery, sunny day when I went to Milan, the tourism and fashion capital of Italy, the day before the fair. I had a pleasant walk from the hotel to the venue across the picturesque and historical streets of the city. Apart from being the capital of fashion and the production hub of the famous Italian sport cars, the city is also a heartland of lift industry with the rooted component producers located around it.

Lift Expo Italia had to be postponed twice in 2019 due to COVID-19. Due to other events postponed across the world, many of them had to follow one after the other in the spring and autumn of 2022. Lift Expo Italia, which opened its doors only five days after the Liftex fair held in the UK, did not seem to be affected by this situation. Hall 16 of Allianz Mico fairground was the meeting point of almost 2,000 visitors from Italy, primarily, following by the European Union, Türkiye and the Middle East.

Although the majority of the participating companies were ANICA members, 90 companies opened stands together with other companies from countries such as Spain, Germany, Türkiye, and Switzerland. The companies from Türkiye included Artı Kasnak, Genemek, Kırıker Asansör, Liftern and Mars Elevator. Liftern and Mars companies, which were among the Turkish participants, also have companies operating in Italy and can offer their products directly to the Italian market.

ANICA President Giani Robertelli, who made a speech at the official opening ceremony in the main foyer on the first day of the three-day fair, stated that he was happy to finally meet the industry after the postponement of the fair twice and the negativities. Robertelli also expressed his thanks to Silvia Piccione, who contributed greatly to the organization of the fair.

The First Day

A conference was held in the foyer area simultaneous with the fair, and several presentations and panels were held with the participation of leading names of the industry. The first presentation was made by Nicola Imbimbo from Draka EHC – Prysmian Group on the impacts of suspension in the designs of lifts. The first presentation after the official opening ceremony at noon was made by the Project Director Joachim Kalsdorf on the figures and data regarding interlift 2023. Kalsdorf stated that the highest interest in the fair, with more than 250 companies having signed contracts so far, is from German and Turkish companies.

In the afternoon, following the presentation by CPI (Consortium for Italy) National Coordinator Antello Bernini, panels on accessibility, modernization and energy efficiency were held. Vittorio Mazzoni, Antonio Lizza, Isabella Steffan, Luigi Clementi and Giovanni Varisco, who participated in the panels, answered questions from the audience. The simultaneous translations of all presentations and speeches, which were all spoken in Italian, was also available for international guests. In addition, coffee breaks sponsored by some participating companies for all panels also provided the opportunity to ask questions one-on-one with the speakers.

Image Subtitle: On the evening of the first day, all guests had the opportunity to taste the delicacies of unique Italian cuisine at the gala dinner held at Melia’ Hotel, which is a short walk from the fairground, and at the same time they relieved the tiredness of the day with live music.

The Second Day

The first panel of the day was moderated online by Gaetano Pedulla, the editor-in-chief of La Notizia newspaper, while the featured speakers, Francesco Burrelli, Mara Marcolini, Danilo Binetti, and Maurizio Coretti, were in the hall. Giuseppe Trieste and Bruno Marton also connected online and made a speech during the panel on “Lifts, Apartment Buildings, Accessibility: A Look at Elevator Situations.”

As on other days, the panels included commercial presentations and introductions by Montanari, the official sponsor of the fair.

The afternoon panel was moderated by Maddalena Porotelli, the editor of Elevatori Magazine. Prof. Michele Germani from Marche Polytechnic University, Prof. Marco Macchi from Milan Polytechnic and Dr. Carlo Carabelli from ASLAM attended the panel as speakers, as the subject of the panel was the “Industry and University: Research Projects, Internet of Things (IoT), and Industry 4.0.”

The last presentation of the day was made by TAK Mathews, general manager of TAK Consulting from India. Mathews presented the figures on the production capacity and market size in India with colorful examples and listed the advantages that the sector will create by investing more in India.

The Last Day

On the last day of the event, the strike at Milan Airport had become one of the main agenda items. Due to the strike, which lasted two days, almost 70% of flights were canceled, which disrupted the plans of many visitors coming to or leaving the fair. Many visitors had to return either by train or by flights postponed until the weekend.

On the third day of the conference program, the topic of the single panel, which was held with a large participation, was “Beyond the Square and X: Smart Technologies for Environmental Accessibility.”