The KwaZulu-Natal Industrial Technology Exhibition (KITE) 2022 will open to great fanfare between 16 and 18 February at the Durban Exhibition Centre, a mere seven months after the original scheduled event date. 

Dictated to by the ever-changing rules and concerns around larger gatherings of people, industrial trade shows have, like many other industries, been at the mercy of the regulatory government monitors. But, after presenting the Restart Expo to public officials and invited guests within the industry in November 2020 Specialised Exhibitions were able to successfully demonstrate that controlled and organised gatherings can indeed be presented in a manner that considers the safety and welfare of all event stakeholders. 

“KITE 2022 is the embodiment of all that we stand for at Specialised Exhibitions – a superior industry-driven exhibition that allows our local exhibitors to share the latest trends and best practices in technology and service with a discerning market,” says Gary Corin, Managing Director of Specialised Exhibitions. 

“Visitors will find many of the products and services they have grown to love and respect as well as a number of new offerings that have leveraged the opportunities that the pandemic has presented for innovative companies to reinvent themselves and think outside the box,” says Charlene Hefer, Portfolio Director at Specialised Exhibitions.

Without compromising on the visitors’ ability to fruitfully interact with the exhibitors, the KITE team has put a number of measures in place to ensure that the exhibition complies with the government’s regulations for safe social exchanges. 

Superior industrial technology

The 70 KITE 2022 exhibitors – which include platinum sponsor Dromex – represent a wide array of industrial technology products and services, primarily targetting the KwaZulu-Natal manufacturing, engineering, chemicals & petrochemicals, and plastics industries.

These products and services include:

• Components

• Heavy machinery

• Hygiene products and services

• Industrial equipment and components

• It and telecommunications manufacturing equipment

• Materials handling

• Monitoring, process control and sensors

• Packaging and plastics machinery

• Plant and facility equipment

• Safety equipment and machinery

• Security equipment

• Tools; and industrial services

• Workwear and protective equipment.

Industry association support

Hefer explains that the organisers have partnered with a number of leading industry associations that include SAIMechE (The South African Institution of Mechanical Engineering), LEEASA (Lifting Equipment Engineering Association of South Africa), Mesa (Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association) Africa, Saiosh (South African Institute of Occupational Safety & Health), SACEEC (SA Capital Equipment Export Council) and the SAIMC (Society for Automation, Instrumentation, Mechatronics and Control) NPC.

“We invite visitors to enjoy the on-stand demonstrations of cutting-edge industrial equipment and to advance their knowledge base by attending our free-to-attend SAIMechE seminar sessions in the Seminar Theatre (these sessions will also be livestreamed). Other worthwhile learning sessions at KITE include the free-to-attend MESA special interest group, and the paid-for LEEASA conference,” says Hefer.