Hannover, Germany— Only in its second year as the annual central theme at Hannover Fair, the Factory Automation sector attracted half the fair's visitors. Moreover, Factory Automation is assuming a strategic role for integrating software and IT solutions with traditional engineering and automation technologies. This was demonstrated during the 54th running of the "world's largest industrial fair" on March 20-25. Over 92% of the 7,250 exhibitors expressed satisfaction with reaching their target audience. Visitor count at 270,000 was down a bit (4.3%) from last year, attributed by fair organizer Deutsche Messe AG to removing the lighting technology sector from the new fair program. The fair's international stature continues to grow. Approximately 44% of exhibitors came from outside Germany. Of non-European exhibitors, the U.S., Brazil, and Taiwan had the largest showing. Visitors especially from Eastern Asia (10.7%) and North America (6.1%) reflect an upward trend, increasing 2.5% and 0.4% respectively, over 1999. Next year, Hannover Fair returns to its more traditional springtime date, April 23-28, 2001. For more information, see "News," Control Engineering, June 2000, or visit www.hfusa.com or www.controleng.com