Vision 2013 has been canceled, and the show will move to a biennial schedule in November 2014, according to event organizer Messe Stuttgart. The show had been scheduled for September 2013 and will now take place Nov. 4-6, 2014. The decision was made after an analysis of international market developments it made in conjunction with the VDMA Machine Vision Association and key machine vision industry players, along with a vote taken by exhibitors, Messe Stuttgart said. “The new biennial cycle will extend the leading position of Vision still further and consolidate its importance as a global innovation platform,” said Ulrich Kromer, managing director of Messe Stuttgart. “Thanks to this strategic development, Vision will also be adapted to the changed needs of the machine vision industry.” “Through this decision, Vision is taking account of the request by many exhibitors,” said Patrick Schwarzkopf, head of the VDMA, the professional and promotional supporter of Vision. “They want to offer trade visitors a genuine raft of innovations. The biennial cycle provides the best conditions in this respect.” The Neupro Solutions booth welcomed visitors at Stand B25 during Vision 2012. Courtesy of Landesmesse Stuttgart GmbH. The Vision show celebrated its 25th anniversary in November 2012 with its largest event to date, Messe Stuttgart said. Moving the show to every other year will be better for visitors, because it will mean “they will see more world premiers at every event,” said Dr. Olaf Munkelt, managing director of MVTec, a maker of software tools for machine vision. “Since we can now prepare for Vision in an even more focused manner, we will come up with more innovations.” Dr. Joost van Kuijk, vice president of marketing and technology at Adimec, said he is confident that “the importance of Vision will therefore be further increased.” Also voicing support for the move were executives from Basler AG, Cognex Germany and Stemmer Imaging. Others aren’t so sure: “The previous annual cycle was ideal for us and many other exhibitors. Nevertheless, we support the decision to change to a biennial cycle,” said Dr. Klaus-Henning Noffz, managing partner of Silicon Software. “We see Vision in a process of strategic further development which will let it play an even more important international role in the future than is currently the case.” The change means that the show can be permanently located in Hall 1 in the L-Bank Forum every other November, Messe Stuttgart said, something previously not possible to guarantee every year. For exhibitors who increasingly focus on pairing specific products to specific industry fairs, the change adds some breathing room to their calendars, the association said. “It will certainly lead to increased efficiency for both exhibitors and visitors. And Vision will be further strengthened as the leading innovation platform for the machine vision industry,” said Florin Niethammer, Vision project manager.