Blog

Taking place from 12 to 14 May 2026 at Singapore Expo, CeMAT Southeast Asia 2026 marks a clear step forward in the maturity of the region’s intralogistics, automation, and supply chain buying environment.

Now entering its third year, what began as an introduction to intralogistics and automation has developed into a high-quality engagement platform for suppliers targeting serious, near-term investment projects. This evolution reflects how organisations across Southeast Asia are now approaching capital decisions: cautiously, analytically, and with a strong focus on deployment risk, integration certainty, and commercial return.

The audience is growing, and more importantly, buying intent is increasing.

From curiosity to execution

A noticeable shift has taken place in how buyers engage at CeMAT SEA. Engineers, operations leaders, and senior technical decision-makers are no longer asking what is possible. Their focus is sharper and more commercially grounded:

What works in live operations?
What integrates reliably with existing systems and partners?
What delivers measurable ROI under real operating conditions?

This change in questioning signals a market that has moved beyond exploration. Automation and intralogistics are no longer theoretical discussions. They are operational commitments, expected to perform within legacy facilities, constrained layouts, and increasingly complex regulatory and commercial environments.

CeMAT SEA 2026 is structured around this reality. Buyers are evaluating how systems behave in practice, how integration risk is managed, and how performance is sustained once solutions are deployed.

A broader decision-making context, featuring CargoNOW Singapore

As buyer expectations have matured, so too has the scope of decision-making represented at the event. In 2026, CeMAT SEA features CargoNOW Singapore as an integrated extension of the buyer ecosystem.

CargoNOW broadens the conversation beyond intralogistics and warehouse automation to include cargo movement, transport networks, ports, freight operations, and end-to-end supply chain performance. This reflects how capital decisions are actually made. Automation investments are shaped by upstream and downstream dependencies, cross-border flows, digital platforms, sustainability requirements, and network resilience.

By bringing these stakeholders into the same environment, CargoNOW strengthens the commercial context of every conversation on the show floor. For exhibitors, this means engagement with a wider group of senior decision-makers who influence specification, budgeting, and vendor shortlisting across the supply chain.

What buyers are benchmarking at CeMAT SEA 2026

Across CeMAT SEA, featuring CargoNOW Singapore, attendees are actively benchmarking solutions already operating in live environments, including:

• Integrated intralogistics and warehouse automation, with exhibitors such as Dematic and Vanderlande Industries
• Flexible robotics and goods-to-person automation, including AMR deployments from providers such as Geekplus
• Sensing, vision, and control technologies, with companies such as Honeywell and Cognex supporting safety, accuracy, and system reliability

Across all categories, the emphasis is consistent. Buyers are assessing deployment certainty, integration readiness, and measurable operational outcomes rather than standalone features or novelty.

A signal of market maturity in Southeast Asia

The combined CeMAT SEA and CargoNOW environment sends a clear signal to the market. The conversation in Southeast Asia has moved on. Buyers are no longer experimenting at the edges. They are assembling operational systems, managing risk, and demanding accountability from their suppliers.

For exhibitors, this creates a more disciplined, more senior, and more commercially focused engagement environment. Conversations are driven by defined mandates and real project timelines, not speculative interest.

CeMAT SEA 2026, featuring CargoNOW Singapore, reflects where the market is today and where it is heading next: toward execution, integration, and performance that holds up in the real world.

Enquire about exhibiting at CeMAT SEA 2026, featuring CargoNOW Singapore

If you are targeting decision-makers with active automation, cargo, and supply chain investment mandates, CeMAT SEA 2026 offers access to a more mature, more commercially focused buyer environment.

Exhibiting positions your organisation within conversations centred on deployment certainty, integration readiness, and measurable performance.

Enquire now to discuss stand options at CeMAT SEA 2026, featuring CargoNOW Singapore, and position your business in front of Southeast Asia’s most investment-ready audience.