The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is ushering a new manufacturing era based on a modern industrial society which will be highlighted at the SPS Automation Middle East 2018, to be held later this year, in Dubai, UAE.

The event, a leading conference and exhibition dedicated to automation in the region, will be held on September 18 and 19, at Festival Arena.

The event arrives at a pivotal time in the GCC automation sector, and comes as regional countries such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia take a lead role in adopting new manufacturing technologies, said a statement.

According to reports, the UAE is looking to invest $75 billion in the manufacturing sector by 2025, leading to automation requirements for various industries such as packaging, construction, oil and gas, food and beverage, paints and coatings, Nano-sensors and healthcare.

Saudi Arabia too has big economic diversification plans with automation at the core, as highlighted by its 2017 announcement to build NEOM, a $500 billion, 26,500-sq-m metropolis on the Red Sea where all services and processes will be 100 per cent fully automated.

A key regional challenge though has been creating sufficient automation awareness, with global manufacturers calling out for a dedicated industry platform and focal point centred on the latest trends and technologies across all areas of industrial or building automation.

The inaugural edition of SPS Automation Middle East has signed on leading automation players as official launch Partners including German companies Beckhoff Automation, Bosch Rexroth, SICK, Pilz, and LAPP, it said.

Japanese headquartered Mitsubishi Electric Factory Automation is also a launch partner while American powerhouse Rockwell Automation will be on-board as the show’s official automation sponsor.

Ahmed Pauwels, CEO, Messe Frankfurt Middle East, and organiser of SPS Automation Middle East, said: “Industry 4.0, the merging of robotics, IoT (Internet of Things) and artificial intelligence, is said to be the way forward for industrial or building automation, but the key challenge has been creating awareness of this burgeoning industry which is still in its infancy in the Gulf region and wider Middle East.”