IFAT Munich 2026 Through the Eyes of JobTech: A Trade Fair Report

IFAT Munich is widely regarded as the world’s leading trade fair for environmental technologies. Every two years, the modern Messe München exhibition centre brings together companies from all over the world working in water and wastewater management, waste handling, recycling, technical inspection and solutions for municipal and industrial infrastructure. It fills more than a dozen halls with thousands of exhibitors – a place where the industry shows where it is heading, from water treatment through inspection robotics to network-maintenance equipment. For anyone working with industrial installations, it is simply an event you do not want to miss.

JobTech was represented at the fair, held on 4–7 May 2026, by Michał Szczesny and Karolina Szczesna. We spent four days in Munich, and the report below is a short summary of what we saw, who we talked to and what conclusions we brought home. The most important one is simple: even the best technology is only worth as much as its correct start-up on site.

Four days in the heart of the environmental sector

IFAT is a fair where it is hard to get bored. Next to large corporations with water-treatment systems stood start-ups showing inspection drones, and a few metres further – manufacturers of pumps, sewer cameras and robots that crawl into pipelines. For a company like ours, it is a great place to see which way the market is moving.

We paid the most attention to solutions that connect naturally with our field work: technologies for inspecting pipelines and tanks, robotics and industrial cameras, water and wastewater equipment, pumps and flow systems, renovation technologies, and working platforms that support service operations.

Conversations with a follow-up

The most valuable part of the fair, however, was the conversations at the stands. We held more than a dozen of them, and with at least seven companies – manufacturers of pumps and industrial equipment, suppliers of drones and inspection systems, companies working in water technologies, infrastructure renovation, robotics and mobile equipment, from Germany, Spain, China and the Netherlands – we agreed to stay in touch.

In every one of these talks the same question came back: who will install, commission and service the equipment once it reaches Poland? The manufacturer has the technology, but rarely has its own execution team in our region. And that is where JobTech comes in.

Why a commissioning company goes to a fair in Munich

We went to IFAT not to buy equipment, but to present ourselves as a local execution partner. For a foreign manufacturer, the biggest barrier to entering the Polish market is not customs or logistics, but the lack of someone who will bring the installation to safe operation on the ground.

And the path from delivery to start-up is longer than it seems. After mechanical assembly, the installation has to undergo pressure and leak testing, be cleaned and flushed, dried or nitrogen-purged where necessary, and then put through functional testing – checking that valves, pumps, drives and safety systems really work the way the design intended. Only then can the equipment be calmly handed over to the client.

This is JobTech’s everyday work. We offer mechanical assembly and piping works, pressure and leak testing, flushing and chemical cleaning, drying of installations, technical and visual inspections, and commissioning and pre-commissioning support – all backed by documentation and carried out in line with EN and ASME standards and the client’s QA/QC requirements. For a manufacturer this means one thing: it can enter a new market without building its own structures, relying on a team that knows what work on Polish industrial sites really looks like.

What we brought back from Munich

IFAT Munich confirmed that the presence of an experienced contractor in Poland is a real asset in talks with foreign manufacturers. We came back with concrete contacts, a list of technologies worth deploying with our clients, and several conversations we intend to continue on a project basis.

For us, that is the best proof that start-up, functional testing and mechanical works – seemingly unspectacular – are the link that connects good technology with a well-running installation.

Planning to enter the Polish market?

If you are a manufacturer or technology supplier looking for a partner in Poland to install, test and commission your equipment, let’s talk. JobTech supports foreign companies as a local technical partner – from assembly and testing, through inspections and functional tests, to start-up support for industrial installations.