The manufacturing and supply chain community came together for a record-setting ProMat exhibition, according to show producer MHI. 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 the largest ProMat to date for MHI, with 3% more registered attendees than the previous ProMat. Attendees came from the United States and 143 countries across the globe.

“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,” said John Paxton, CEO at MHI, in a statement. “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.”

Daniel McKinnon, chief exhibitions officer at MHI, added: “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. 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 that also were 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,” Paxton stated. “The variety of solutions on display this year were evidence of this trend.”

The tech trend also was evident in ProMat Supply Chain Conference sessions, which included 215 educational seminars and four keynotes. On March 17, Paul Zikopoulos, vice president of technology unit skills and 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 a 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.

MHI Industry Night with comedian Jay Pharoah, who was a regular on “Saturday Night Live,” provided fun and laughs. During this 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 the 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.

Student Day at ProMat introduced more than 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, YouTube sensation of “Smarter Every Day,” with a dynamic guided tour of the ProMat expo.

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.

The next MHI-sponsored trade event will be MODEX 2026, taking place April 13-16 at Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center. The next ProMat will take place at Chicago’s McCormick Place in 2027.