Trade association the Material Handling Industry of America has launched a new event: the MODEX 2012 expo. It’s slated to take place February 6 to 9, 2012, at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

The event is intended to showcase equipment and systems solutions spanning material handling to logistics across manufacturing, assembly and distribution. The show floor will be divided into three “solution-specific” centers: manufacturing and assembly solutions, fulfillment and delivery solutions and information technology solutions. An educational conference will run concurrently with the event covering various topics across manufacturing, distribution and supply chain.

According to MHIA CEO John Nofsinger, the association is betting on Atlanta being an “emerging gateway” to American supply chains. “Over 40 percent of North American manufacturing and distribution locations are now within a 500-mile radius of Atlanta,” he says. “We see this to be a major supply game-changer and have positioned MODEX 201 as the event that can help exhibitors and attendees capitalize on the new dynamics.”

The MHIA says it expects 500 exhibitors and “tens of thousands” of manufacturing, distribution and supply chain professionals from more than 80 countries to attend. In addition to MODEX 2012, the MHIA also produces ProMat 2011 (for material handling and logistics buyers), which is scheduled to take place next March at Chicago’s McCormick Place South.