Trade Show

Drives & Controls 2026: Your Essential Guide to Smart Manufacturing Week

Jun 3-4, 2026 · Birmingham, UK · 4 min read

Drives & Controls 2026 returns as part of Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week on June 3-4 at NEC Birmingham. Here's what exhibitors and visitors need to know before they arrive.

The UK's advanced manufacturing and engineering sector converges on NEC Birmingham on June 3-4, 2026 for Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week, the country's largest festival of industrial technology. Organised by Nineteen Group and The Manufacturer, the event brings together four co-located expos under one roof: Smart Factory Expo, Drives & Controls, MAINTEC, and Design + Engineering Expo. If your business touches automation, robotics, digital manufacturing, or industrial maintenance, this is the UK show that sets the agenda for the year ahead.

Who Attends Drives & Controls 2026: The Roles That Drive Decisions

The visitor profile at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week reflects the full breadth of the UK manufacturing sector, and understanding who's in the room shapes everything from your booth strategy to your networking approach.

• Manufacturing Directors and Operations Directors evaluating digital transformation roadmaps and looking for technology partners who can demonstrate measurable ROI.
• Maintenance Engineers and Plant Managers focused on reliability, asset management, and reducing unplanned downtime through smarter maintenance strategies.
• Design Engineers and Engineering Managers sourcing components, simulation tools, and integrated design solutions for next-generation products.
• Procurement Specialists and Technology Directors comparing vendors across automation, industrial IoT, and smart factory platforms before committing budgets.

This is a buying audience. The people walking the floor at Drives & Controls 2026 are not there for inspiration alone. They arrive with specific problems and, often, active procurement cycles.

What's on the Floor at Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2026

The four co-located expos mean the show floor covers an unusually wide technology stack. Expect exhibitors spanning industrial automation components, servo drives, motion control systems, and robotics alongside digital manufacturing software, MES platforms, and industrial IoT connectivity solutions.

The MAINTEC section draws suppliers of predictive maintenance tools, condition monitoring equipment, and asset management systems. Design + Engineering Expo brings in CAD/CAM software vendors, simulation platforms, and precision engineering hardware.

Live demonstrations are central to the format. The festival-style setup means many exhibitors run working machinery and interactive technology showcases rather than static displays. If you're evaluating a new automation platform or a robotics cell, you'll likely be able to see it in motion rather than just on a screen.

Exhibitor Guide for Drives & Controls 2026: Competing for Attention from Technical Buyers

Lead with the application, not the product. Manufacturing Directors and Operations Directors at this show are not shopping for components in isolation. They're solving problems: reducing cycle times, cutting energy consumption, integrating legacy systems with new IIoT infrastructure. If your booth opens with a product spec sheet, you'll lose them in the first 30 seconds. Open with a specific use case, ideally one from a UK manufacturer they might recognise.

If you're selling condition monitoring or predictive maintenance technology, be ready for a different kind of conversation in the MAINTEC section. Maintenance Engineers here are often skeptical of vendor claims around uptime improvement. Bring real data from live deployments, not projected figures. Case studies with named customers and specific asset types will carry far more weight than headline statistics.

A common mistake among first-time exhibitors at large multi-expo shows is treating every visitor the same. A Design Engineer stopping by your booth has completely different buying criteria than a Procurement Specialist. Train your team to qualify fast and pivot the conversation accordingly. Use the Habsy App to capture intent signals on the spot: log what each contact is evaluating, their buying timeline, and what problem they described, so your follow-up is specific rather than generic.

Visitor Tips for Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week: Getting Real Value from Two Days

With four expos running simultaneously, the biggest risk for visitors is spreading attention too thin. Before you arrive, identify which of the four expos maps most directly to your current priorities. If you're benchmarking automation suppliers, anchor in the Drives & Controls section and treat the others as secondary. Trying to cover everything in two days without a plan means you'll cover nothing properly.

If you're a Technology Director evaluating industrial IoT platforms, the conversations that matter most often happen away from the main booth pitch. Ask exhibitors for a quieter space or a follow-up call where you can get into integration specifics, API documentation, and support structures. The show floor is noisy. Use it to shortlist, not to finalise.

After a day of conversations, details blur fast. When you meet a supplier whose robotics cell or MES platform genuinely fits your requirements, capture the context immediately. Scan their card with the Habsy App and add a quick voice note while the conversation is fresh: what they showed you, what the integration path looked like, and what your next question is. By day two, you'll have a structured shortlist rather than a stack of cards you can't place.

Why Drives & Controls 2026 Is Worth Two Days of Your Calendar

Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week is not a general industry gathering. It is a concentrated, technically focused event built around the specific challenges UK manufacturers are dealing with right now: automation investment decisions, workforce and skills pressures, energy efficiency targets, and the practical realities of digital transformation in brownfield facilities. The co-location of four specialist expos means you can move between robotics, maintenance, drives, and design engineering in a single visit, which no other UK event currently offers at this scale.

For exhibitors and visitors alike, the two days at NEC Birmingham on June 3-4 are most productive when you arrive prepared. Visit the official event site to register and review the exhibitor list in advance. And if you're heading to the floor with a team, set up the Habsy Platform before the show so every contact your team captures is centralised, tagged, and ready for follow-up the moment you leave Birmingham. You can also find event details on Drives & Controls 2026 on TradeShowIntel.

Frequently asked questions

What dates is Drives & Controls 2026?

Drives & Controls 2026 runs on June 3-4, 2026. It is co-located with Smart Factory Expo, MAINTEC, and Design + Engineering Expo as part of Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week at NEC Birmingham.

Where is Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2026 held?

Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2026 is held at the NEC Birmingham, located at North Ave, Marston Green, Birmingham, B40 1NT, UK. The NEC is one of the UK's largest exhibition and conference venues.

Who organises Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week?

Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week is organised by Nineteen Group and The Manufacturer. The event website is smartmanufacturingweek.com, where registration and exhibitor information are available.

How do I register for Drives & Controls 2026?

Registration for Drives & Controls 2026 is available through the official event website at smartmanufacturingweek.com. It is a B2B trade show, so registration is intended for manufacturing and engineering professionals.

What expos are part of Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2026?

Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week 2026 includes four co-located expos: Smart Factory Expo, Drives & Controls, MAINTEC, and Design + Engineering Expo. All four run simultaneously across the NEC Birmingham on June 3-4, 2026.

Is Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week a B2B or B2C event?

Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week is a B2B event. It targets manufacturing and engineering professionals including Manufacturing Directors, Engineering Managers, Procurement Specialists, Plant Managers, and Design Engineers.

What industries exhibit at Drives & Controls 2026?

Exhibitors at Drives & Controls 2026 cover industrial automation, robotics, smart factory solutions, digital manufacturing software, industrial IoT, predictive maintenance, condition monitoring, design engineering tools, and manufacturing hardware. The show spans both hardware and software providers across the full advanced manufacturing technology stack.

How do I capture and organise leads at Drives & Controls 2026?

A practical approach is to use a dedicated lead capture tool like [Habsy](https://habsy.ai/event-lead-capture?utm_source=tradeshowintel&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=drives-controls-2026&utm_content=faq) to log contact details, intent signals, and buying context on the spot rather than relying on collected cards. This is especially useful across a multi-expo event like Smart Manufacturing Week, where your team may be speaking with dozens of visitors across different buying roles in a single day.

Does Drives & Controls happen every year?

Drives & Controls does not follow a confirmed annual recurrence schedule. The 2026 edition runs on June 3-4 at NEC Birmingham as part of Smart Manufacturing & Engineering Week. Check smartmanufacturingweek.com for the latest scheduling information.

How do I get to NEC Birmingham for Smart Manufacturing Week 2026?

NEC Birmingham is located adjacent to Birmingham Airport and has its own dedicated railway station, Birmingham International, with direct rail links to Birmingham City Centre and London Euston. The venue address is North Ave, Marston Green, Birmingham, B40 1NT.