{"id":8037,"date":"2025-06-09T13:05:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T18:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/?p=8037"},"modified":"2025-06-09T14:04:37","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T19:04:37","slug":"promat-delivers-the-biggest-event-in-its-history-as-the-supply-chain-industry-comes-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/09\/promat-delivers-the-biggest-event-in-its-history-as-the-supply-chain-industry-comes-together\/","title":{"rendered":"ProMat Delivers the Biggest Event in Its History as the Supply Chain Industry Comes Together"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Feature<\/strong><\/div>\n

\"promatT<\/span>he manufacturing and supply chain community came together for a record\u2011setting ProMat exhibition, according to show producer MHI. With an overall registration count of 52,223 and 1,160 exhibitors, ProMat included 659,000 net square feet of exhibit solutions and 215 educational sessions across three show halls at Chicago\u2019s McCormick Place.<\/p>\n

This was the largest ProMat to date for MHI, with 3% more registered attendees than the last ProMat. Attendees came from the United States and 143 countries across the globe.<\/p>\n

“ProMat brings this industry together to connect and share the best equipment and technology, the leading trends and the latest innovations. The success of ProMat 2025 is proof of the central role the supply chain plays across industries,” says John Paxton, CEO, MHI. “No other event offers this broad range of technology and end\u2011to\u2011end solutions. ProMat\u2019s unparalleled solution\u2011sourcing, educational and experiential offerings provide attendees with a one\u2011stop shop for the information and connections they need to thrive in this constantly changing marketplace.”<\/p>\n

“The energy on the show floor was very high! Attendees not only viewed the latest innovation this industry has to offer, but they also learned about them in educational sessions and connected with each other to move their companies and this powerful industry forward,” added Daniel McKinnon, chief exhibitions officer at MHI. “Attendees representing the Fortune 500, the top 100 retailers and consumer goods firms brought large teams to ProMat to source the latest technologies and to learn about the leading trends impacting supply chains. They came to ProMat with plans in hand and budgets in place to improve their operations and build resilient supply chain operations for future success.”<\/p>\n

The dominant trends at ProMat were automation, robotics and artificial intelligence and their impact on end\u2011to\u2011end transparency and resiliency. These new technologies work seamlessly in conjunction with traditional material handling solutions that were also on display to make efficient and orchestrated operations possible.<\/p>\n

“We\u2019re seeing a big acceleration in the adoption of these technologies in manufacturing and supply chain operations,” said Paxton. “The variety of solutions on display this year were evidence of this trend.”<\/p>\n

ProMat Supply Chain Conference<\/h4>\n

The tech trend was also evident in ProMat supply chain conference sessions, which included 215 educational seminars and four keynotes. On March 17, Paul Zikopoulos, VP of technology unit skills & enablement at IBM, gave a talk on “The Data Effect: The Price of Not Knowing.” Azeem Azhar, host of Bloomberg\u2019s “Exponentially,” followed on March 18 with a keynote on “The AI Opportunity for Supply Chains.”<\/p>\n

On March 19, the ProMat audience enjoyed an inspirational keynote with Deion Sanders discussing his journey from Prime Time to Coach Prime. Also on March 19, MHI\u2019s John Paxton and Deloitte\u2019s Wanda Johnson released the findings of the 2025 MHI Annual Industry Report: “The Digital Supply Chain Ecosystem: Orchestrating End\u2011to\u2011End Solutions” during a panel discussion with four industry thought leaders. The report details the revolutionary adoption of supply chain technology that is predicted to make operations more responsive, agile and responsible. The report can be downloaded at mhi.org\/publications\/report<\/a>.<\/p>\n

MHI Industry Night with comedian Jay Pharoah, who was a regular on Saturday Night Live, provided fun and laughs. During this entertaining evening, $60,000 in proceeds from the event ticket sales were donated to the Material Handling Education Foundation (MHEFI.org<\/a>) to fund scholarships and programs for students in our industry. MHI also announced a $5,000 donation to Fight2Feed to support the local community. Additionally, Katara Moore from Moen won the event door prize of a Trip of a Lifetime.<\/p>\n

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A panel of industry experts discuss the newly released 2025 MHI Annual Industry Report on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p><\/div>\n

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2025 MHI Innovation Awards<\/h2>\n

MHI announced the winners of the 2025 MHI Innovation Awards during MHI Industry Night. The MHI Innovation Awards serve to educate and provide valuable insights on the latest manufacturing and supply chain innovative products and services. The awards had 234 submissions from ProMat 2025 exhibitors, and the winners were:<\/p>\n