MECSPE 2025 looked at the future of industry with advanced technologies and new opportunities for growth. Upcoming events: MECSPE Bari from November 27-29, 2025 and MECSPE Bologna from March 4-6, 2026.
The fair welcomed 66,573 visitors who were able to meet the more than 2,100 exhibiting companies, visit 13 themed halls and more than 100,000 square metres of exhibition space.
With these numbers, MECSPE proved to be a unique opportunity to explore the latest technological innovations, engage with industry experts, and discover new growth opportunities.
The 2025 edition is characterized by a strong focus on the ecological and digital transition, while also giving ample space to the topic of the skills needed for its development.
Thanks also to the Transition 5.0 Plan, driving the adoption of advanced technologies with €6.3 billion in incentives, MECSPE offered a privileged space to discuss topics as relevant as ever such as artificial intelligence, collaborative robotics, digital twin, and additive manufacturing, key tools for improving production efficiency.
The health of the sector’s enterprises
During the opening event, after institutional greetings by Elena Mazzoni, Councillor for Digital Agenda, Legality, and Fight against Poverty of the Emilia-Romagna Region, a talk was held on the topic of digital and energy transition of Raffaele Spallone, Head of Division II – Policies for the digitalization of enterprises, innovation and analysis of productive sectors of the Ministry of Business and Made in Italy, Antonio Bruzzone, CEO of BolognaFiere; Ivo Nardella, President Senaf – Gruppo Tecniche Nuove; and Stefano Cattorini, General Manager BI-REX Competence Center. The latter shared data from the MECSPE Observatory on Industry related to the third quarter of 2024 with forecasts for 2025 [1], offering an updated look at the health of companies in the sector, delving into topics such as new technologies, sustainability, and training.
Incentives from the Transition 5.0 Plan, approved last year by MIMIT, are confirmed as a key factor for the innovation and competitiveness of the more than 526,000 manufacturing companies [2].Precisely because of the resources provided by the NRRP, 7 out of 10 entrepreneurs say they have made investments they would not have been able to face or would have developed to a small extent on their own.
Growth must therefore continue through the new 5.0 measures that put the energy transition alongside the digital one for a transformation of the industry in an increasingly sustainable and efficient course.
«The great success of MECSPE 2025 confirms the event’s central role in the industrial landscape and shows how the manufacturing sector is constantly evolving, ready to meet the challenges of digitization and efficiency. The numbers of this edition speak for themselves and reaffirm the fair’s role as a point of reference for the manufacturing industry and as a place where, thanks to technology transfer and training, new ideas are born» said Ivo Nardella, president of Senaf – Tecniche Nuove Group.
«We now look forward with great enthusiasm to MECSPE Bari 2025, a strategic appointment to enhance the excellence of Southern Italy and offer companies new opportunities for growth and networking in the prestigious setting of the Fiera del Levante.»
Advanced technologies: new opportunities for growth
MECSPE 2025, with its more than 66,500 visitors, had a rich program of special initiatives designed to offer visitors an immersive and highly educational experience of the industry’s major innovations, such as the TMP Square Demonstration Unit: From granule to finished product, an area dedicated to the plastics sector, which showed the entire production process, from granule to finished product, through state-of-the-art machinery and live demonstrations, and the Electronic Production Line, a demonstration project by Elettronica Italia, which highlighted advanced electronic assembly processes, from design to printed circuit board fabrication, with a focus on efficiency and technological innovation.
Other particularly significant events, especially in terms of innovation and new technologies, were the Start Up Factory, an area dedicated to young innovative companies, which presented cutting-edge solutions for the manufacturing sector, facilitating meetings with established companies and investors interested in new technologies and business models, and the Artificial Intelligence Forum, a time for discussion and in-depth analysis of the applications of AI in the manufacturing industry, with talks by experts and case studies on the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence to improve productivity and industrial automation.
In addition, thanks to the cooperation of ICE, Agency for the Promotion Abroad and Internationalization of Italian Companies, the event welcomed buyer delegations from 11 countries: Algeria, Bosnia, Croatia, India, Mexico, Poland, Czech Republic, Morocco, Turkey, Hungary, and Uzbekistan. This initiative created new business opportunities for exhibitors, allowing them to expand their network through a matching program, one-on-one business meetings and international networking activities.
MECSPE Bari: New appointment
Before we meet again in Bologna for the 2026 edition, to be held next March 4–6, MECSPE will return to Bari November 27–29, 2025, at the Nuova Fiera del Levante, a major hub for innovation and business in southern Italy.
This edition will be a unique opportunity for businesses in the South to connect with the national and international industrial landscape.
The event will be divided into thematic salons covering the main sectors of the industry, with a focus on technological innovation, digitization, and strategies for an increasingly sustainable and competitive industry.
Among the main focuses of the Bari edition, great emphasis will be placed on business opportunities for SMEs in Southern Italy, with an exhibition offer aimed at supporting the growth of the local manufacturing sector, thanks to networking moments, B2B meetings, and conferences with industry experts.
In addition, there will be an area dedicated to startups and young innovators to foster the integration of new technologies and skills into the industrial fabric of the South.
For more information on the upcoming editions of MECSPE Bari and MECSPE Bologna please visit their respective official websites.
Facts and figures of MECSPE BOLOGNA 2025
66.573 professional visitors, 100,000 sq. m. of exhibition space, more than 2,100 companies present, 2,000 sq. m. of MECSPE LAB – Innovation Space, 13 trade shows, 17 special initiatives, more than 120 conferences.
[1] MECSPE Observatory on the Manufacturing Industry for Q3 2024 conducted by GRS Research and Strategy on a sample of 784 Italian manufacturing companies, using the CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing) method carried out in January-February 2025.
[2] Movimprese data Year 2024.
