The manufacturing and provide chain group got here collectively for a record-setting ProMat exhibition, in response to present producer MHI. With an general registration rely of 52,223 and 1,160 exhibitors, ProMat included 659,000 web sq. ft of exhibit options and 215 academic periods throughout three present halls at Chicago’s McCormick Place.
This was the biggest ProMat thus far for MHI, with 3% extra registered attendees than the earlier ProMat. Attendees got here from the US and 143 international locations throughout the globe.
“ProMat brings this business collectively to attach and share one of the best tools and know-how, the main developments, and the newest improvements. The success of ProMat 2025 is proof of the central position the availability chain performs throughout industries,” mentioned John Paxton, CEO at MHI, in an announcement. “No different occasion presents this broad vary of know-how and end-to-end options, ProMat’s unparalleled solution-sourcing, academic, and experiential choices present attendees with a one-stop store for the knowledge and connections they should thrive on this continuously altering market.”
Daniel McKinnon, chief exhibitions officer at MHI, added: “The vitality on the present flooring was very excessive. Attendees not solely considered the newest innovation this business has to supply, however in addition they discovered about them in academic periods and related with one another to maneuver their corporations and this highly effective business ahead. Attendees representing the Fortune 500, the Prime 100 retailers, and shopper items companies introduced giant groups to ProMat to supply the newest applied sciences and to be taught concerning the main developments impacting provide chains. They got here to ProMat with plans in hand and budgets in place to enhance their operations and construct resilient provide chain operations for future success.”
The dominant developments at ProMat had been automation, robotics, and synthetic intelligence and their affect on end-to-end transparency and resiliency. These new applied sciences work seamlessly along side conventional materials dealing with options that additionally had been on show to make environment friendly and orchestrated operations attainable.
“We’re seeing a giant acceleration within the adoption of those applied sciences in manufacturing and provide chain operations,” Paxton said. “The number of options on show this yr had been proof of this pattern.”
The tech pattern additionally was evident in ProMat Provide Chain Convention periods, which included 215 academic seminars and 4 keynotes. On March 17, Paul Zikopoulos, vp of know-how unit expertise and enablement at IBM gave a chat on “The Knowledge Impact: The Worth of Not Figuring out.” Azeem Azhar, host of Bloomberg’s “Exponentially” adopted on March 18 with a keynote on “The AI Alternative for Provide Chains.”
On March 19, the ProMat viewers loved a keynote with Deion Sanders discussing his journey from Prime Time to Coach Prime. Additionally on March 19, MHI’s John Paxton and Deloitte’s Wanda Johnson launched the findings of the 2025 MHI Annual Business Report: “The Digital Provide Chain Ecosystem: Orchestrating Finish-to-Finish Options,” throughout a panel dialogue with 4 business thought leaders. The report particulars the revolutionary adoption of provide chain know-how that’s predicted to make operations extra responsive, agile, and accountable.
MHI Business Night time with comic Jay Pharoah, who was a daily on “Saturday Night time Reside,” supplied enjoyable and laughs. Throughout this night, $60,000 in proceeds from the occasion ticket gross sales was donated to the Materials Dealing with Training Basis (MHEFI.org) to fund scholarships and applications for college kids within the business. MHI additionally introduced a $5,000 donation to Fight2Feed to help the local people. Moreover, Katara Moore from Moen received the occasion door prize of a Journey of a Lifetime.
Scholar Day at ProMat launched greater than 400 highschool and college college students to profession alternatives in materials dealing with, provide chain and logistics via hands-on studying and networking with business professionals. This yr’s Scholar Day mixed an interactive academic session, that includes Destin Sandlin, YouTube sensation of “Smarter Each Day,” with a dynamic guided tour of the ProMat expo.
ProMat additionally included a Ladies in Provide Chain Convention on March 17. Almost 200 provide chain professionals attended this occasion to attach and be taught from Taylor Elyse Morrison as she mentioned the early indicators of office burnout, easy methods to develop a burnout prevention toolkit and demanding expertise to bounce again from burnout.
The subsequent MHI-sponsored commerce occasion shall be MODEX 2026, happening April 13-16 at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Middle. The subsequent ProMat will happen at Chicago’s McCormick Place in 2027.
