According to show producer MHI, the manufacturing and supply chain community came together for a record-setting ProMat exhibition. 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’s McCormick Place.
This was MHI’s largest ProMat to date, with 3% more registered attendees than the last ProMat. Attendees came from the United States and 143 countries worldwide.
“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-to-end solutions, ProMat’s unparalleled solution-sourcing, educational, and experiential offerings provide attendees with a one-stop shop for the information and connections they need to thrive in this constantly changing marketplace.”
“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.”
The dominant trends at ProMat were automation, robotics, and artificial intelligence and their impact on end-to-end transparency and resiliency. These new technologies work seamlessly in conjunction with traditional material handling solutions, which were also on display, to make efficient and orchestrated operations possible.
“We’re 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.”
ProMat Supply Chain Conference
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’s “Exponentially,” followed on March 18 with a keynote on “The AI Opportunity for Supply Chains.”
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’s John Paxton and Deloitte’s Wanda Johnson released the findings of the 2025 MHI Annual Industry Report: “The Digital Supply Chain Ecosystem: Orchestrating End-to-End 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 here.
MHI Industry Night with comedian Jay Pharoah, a regular on Saturday Night Live, provided fun and laughs. During this entertaining evening, $60,000 in proceeds from the event ticket sales was donated to the Material Handling Education Foundation (MHEFI.org) 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.
2025 MHI Innovation Awards
MHI announced the winners of the 2025 MHI Innovation Awards during MHI Industry Night. The MHI Innovation Awards educate and provide valuable insights on the latest innovative manufacturing and supply chain products and services. The awards had 234 submissions from ProMat 2025 exhibitors, and the winners were:
• Best New Innovation – Anyware Robotics
• Best Innovation of an Existing Product – Concentric, LLC
• Best IT Innovation – Fidus Global
• Best Innovation in Sustainability – GRI Inc.
In addition to these awards, the MHI StartUp Award was also announced at Industry Night. This winner was selected from the trailblazing companies featured in the ProMat 2025 StartUp Pavilion, a specialized area on the ProMat show floor where companies showcase emerging supply chain tech. This year’s StartUp Award winner was Freespace Robotics, which received a $10,000 check to help fund its growth.
Student Day at ProMat
Student Day at ProMat introduced over 400 high school and university students to career opportunities in material handling, supply chain, and logistics through hands-on learning and networking with industry professionals. This year’s Student Day combined an interactive educational session featuring Destin Sandlin and YouTube sensation of Smarter Every Day with a dynamic guided tour of the ProMat expo.
Women in Supply Chain Conference
ProMat also included a Women in Supply Chain Conference on March 17. Nearly 200 supply chain professionals attended this event to connect and learn from Taylor Elyse Morrison as she discussed the early signs of workplace burnout, how to develop a burnout prevention toolkit, and critical skills to bounce back from burnout.
ProMat Digital Entry
On-demand content from the event, including keynote sessions, educational sessions, and video presentations, will soon be available online at promatshow.com via ProMat Digital Entry.
The next MHI-sponsored trade event will be MODEX 2026, held April 13-16 in Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center. For more information on exhibiting at MODEX or to register as an attendee, visit modexshow.com. The next ProMat will be held at Chicago’s McCormick Place in 2027.
