Dortmund, 19 February 2025 – This year's elektrotechnik has once again lived up to its standing as a key meeting place for the industry. Higher visitor numbers than last time and higher international participation really underlined the show's growing importance as a central forum for innovations, new product presentations and knowledge transfer in the areas of buildings technology, energy technology and industrial technology. “elektrotechnik is more than just a trade show – it's where the industry gets together to experience innovations, make business contacts and become acquainted with newly unveiled products in direct dialogue with experts. Especially in times of economic challenges, a face-to-face event is indispensable for driving capital investment decisions and consolidating long-term partnerships – as the show has demonstrated very impressively,” said Sabine Loos, Managing Director of Westfalenhallen Unternehmensgruppe which owns and operates the Messe Dortmund venue.

Over three days, the show served up a varied programme for the electrical trades, electrical manufacturers and electrical wholesalers as well as for architects, planners, energy suppliers and local government authorities. Topics such as artificial intelligence, sustainable energy solutions and smart buildings technology were in particularly high demand. This year's show won people over with a high level of participation and consistently positive feedback from exhibitors and visitors.

High satisfaction among exhibitors and visitors

The representative exhibitor survey revealed that, even before the show ended, around 93% of exhibitors were already expressing an intention to participate again – further proof of the event's strong positioning. “Once again, elektrotechnik delivered an exciting mix of innovative solutions, practical applications and a leading-edge information platform. This – combined with the big-name exhibitors and the high quality of trade visitors – is the reason for the excellent rating people gave our show,” summed up Martin Böhm, President of the North Rhine Westphalia Electrical & Information Technology Trade Association (FEH.NRW), the show's technical and conceptual sponsor.

Visitors were impressed by the range of innovations and specialist information on offer at the show. In particular, the varied supporting programme with the big-name specialist forums on buildings technology, energy technology, industrial technology and measuring + testing was seen as adding a lot of value. Participants also showed great interest in the topics of future importance to the industry, with elektrotechnik 2025 featuring practical workshops, speciality zones such as Touchpoint AI, the BusinessTreff AI Congress, the IMPULSE Architecture Congress addressing 'Smart Buildings – Trends & Technologies' and Smart Living in the E-House, which demonstrated in true-to-life ways how grid-led control systems, variable tariffs and artificial intelligence can contribute to the green energy transition. The Entrepreneurs' Day acted as a central forum for dialogue between policy-makers and the skilled trades, with representatives from the trades, industry and members of the Bundestag convening to discuss the most pressing challenges facing the sector shortly ahead of the upcoming German federal elections. The event was organised by HANDWERK.NRW, the West German Chamber of Skilled Crafts & Trades and the North Rhine Westphalia Confederation of Skilled Crafts & Trades. The dialogue illustrated the importance of close collaboration between political decision-makers and the skilled trades in developing forward-looking solutions for the industry.

International relevance reinforced – even higher numbers of exhibitors this year

With around 400 exhibitors from 15 countries, elektrotechnik 2025 notched up significant growth in terms of exhibition space and exhibitor numbers – despite the current macroeconomic woes and industry-specific challenges. Another really pleasing outcome was the higher proportion of international exhibitors largely from European countries such as the Netherlands, Belgium, Finland, Slovenia, Italy, Greece, Spain and France. This development emphasises the growing international perception enjoyed by elektrotechnik, combining regionality with national and international relevance and offering a compact but personal platform for the industry. Inolope Expo, held in parallel, provided an additional thematic extension and offered in-depth insights into the latest developments and technologies in the field of building envelopes.

Focus on débuts, innovations and trends

This year's show emphasised the innovative potential of the industry quite impressively and provided strong impetus with numerous pioneering product débuts. Many businesses used the show to present their latest developments in the fields of buildings technology, energy technology and industrial technology for the first time. These included the Koopmann Group which presented timber-built grid stations, while Bachmann Sales showed innovative plug-and-play solutions for conference rooms. EcoDim presented the latest dimmer switch innovations, and HellermannTyton presented a sustainable, high-performance cable tie.

“elektrotechnik has proven that it addresses the key topics of future importance. Putting a clear focus on artificial intelligence, smart digital control solutions, networked energy management systems and resource-saving applications for the electrical trade and industry, the show provided in-depth insights into technological developments. For example, 'Touchpoint AI' was in very great demand,” emphasised Messe Dortmund boss Sabine Loos.

FEH.NRW President Martin Böhm also drew extremely up-beat conclusions: “Once again, elektrotechnik has proven to be an important event for the electrical and electronics sector enabling a highly qualified specialist audience to meet manufacturers and suppliers to discuss leading-edge solutions and innovations in face-to-face dialogue. In addition to the product presentations, visitors to elektrotechnik also meet their regional contacts and are able to obtain information via the comprehensive technical supporting programme. Our show offers visitors a host of ideas and valuable insights for their day-to-day work activities, providing them with a comprehensive overview of current trends and developments, innovative products, services and technical system solutions. The feedback from exhibitors and trade visitors has been positive without exception. We're already looking forward to the next elektrotechnik in 2027.”

Outlook for 2027

Following the extremely successful elektrotechnik 2025, Messe Dortmund and FEH.NRW, in partnership with the industry, are already looking ahead to the next show. The high satisfaction among exhibitors and visitors is a strong foundation on which to build and take the show from strength to strength. The next elektrotechnik will be held between 16 and 18 February 2027 and will continue to be a central forum for innovation, business contacts and knowledge transfer.

The next show, and subsequent shows, will be held from Tuesday to Thursday instead of Wednesday to Friday as hitherto. This change is the result of several surveys of exhibitors and visitors to the show as well as discussions among parties including Messe Dortmund (organiser of elektrotechnik), FEH.NRW (technical and conceptual sponsor), the Exhibition Advisory Board and representatives from among the exhibitors. “The aim is to improve the recipe for trade visitors and exhibitors, making it possible to take part in the show in a more targeted, more efficient way,” explained Sabine Loos.