Interkama project director Armin Stader said that this was the first automation trade fair to respond to market and industry developments by incorporating the field of automation and information systems networking.

"The focus here will be on complete sector-specific solutions that cover communication processes from the lowest level in the plant or factory right up to the level of industrial management," Stader said.

Stader also said that Interkama '99 would provide the exapanding Indian software industry with a multilateral basis for business. Companies offering software solutions will find all the key decision makers at the world market-place, ie. Interkama, he added.

Bayer director and general manager of Namur (the process control instrumentation working group of thechemical and pharmaceutical industries) Hasso Drathen said the innovation rate of microelectronics and software is 10 to the power of "x" higher than that of mechanics and electrical engineering. "For this reason, software is a new focal point of Interkama 99. Exhibitors such as IBM and SAP make Interkama a magnet for manufacturers and visitors who want to gather information on the latest developments in process control technology," Drathen said.

Earlier, Director of the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce KC Damodaran said that Interkama had assumed great importance for Indian companies as they could get a complete overview of latest technology and equipment available to modernise their units to face competition in the next millennium.