Robot Harry Plotter improves Stockholmsmässans production time with 88 percent

Robot Harry Plotter is Stockholmsmässans very own robot – a data driven plotter developed through a collaboration between Stockholmsmässan and researchers at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. Harry’s efficiency and precision enable Stockholmsmässan to reduce production costs, shorten lead times and minimize labor-intensive work.

It all began as a development project back in 2003. Stockholmsmässan reached out to the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm with the aim of developing a robot plotter that could facilitate the creation of booth placements for exhibitions – an activity that many other organizers still do manually. Today, Stockholmsmässan has three robot plotters named Harry, Hagrid and Hanna.

- We have a great use of Harry Plotter and his two robot companions. They assist us with various aspects of the workflow, such as reducing production costs, shortening lead times, and minimizing labor-intensive work. It takes approximately five hours for Harry Plotter to draw out Hall C before an exhibition, which corresponds to a working time of about 40 hours for just one person, says Rikard Skärebo, Production Manager at Stockholmsmässan.

The plotter is programmed to follow a CAD drawing loaded into the robot, resulting in a precision of up to two centimeters in its layout. After the exhibition, the ink can be easily washed off.

A part of Stockholmsmässans sustainability goals
Earlier this year, Stockholmsmässan announced its clear focus on sustainability for 2023. In May, the company also held Sustainability Days for the second consecutive year, invited employees for three days to increase awareness of the company’s sustainability efforts and inspire further sustainable initiatives – a unique investment made for the employees during working hours.

- As the largest meeting place in the Nordics, we aim to be at the forefront and contribute to a more sustainable meeting industry. At Stockholmsmässan we have identified three focus areas – social sustainability, environmental sustainability, and business sustainability, with business sustainability encompassing innovation, stability and ethics. Innovation is crucial for both our and our clients’ continued existence, and I am proud that Harry Plotter has become such an integral part of our production here at the fair – that is sustainable innovation at its best, says Linda Elmén, Sustainability Manager at Stockholmsmässan.

High interest in the technology
There is great interest in the technology from other fairs in Sweden and across Europe. For instance, Stockholmsmässan recently visited Madrid and showcased the technology there. Development and sales are carried out through Intelligent Machines.

Watch a video and learn more about Harry Plotter on Stockholmsmässans website.