Last week (27-30 September) saw the re-branded Marmo+Mac stone exhibition staged in Verona Italy. There were 50,000-60,000 visitors expected from across the world, including those from the stone industry in the UK. 

As ever, there were few exhibitors from the UK. Portland limestone company Albion Stone and Cumbrian slate and limestone producer Burlington were back again promoting their stones on the international market and the UK's LPE Group had a stand promoting the American products it sells throughout Europe (Laser Products' digital templaters; Omni Cubed handling products; the Slabsmith i4.0 workshop management system).

The fourth industrial revolution (i4.0 as it is known) was a central theme of the more sophisticated machinery this year; the integrated, digitally connected world where machines talk to each other, making the best use of energy, materials, water and reporting faults for maintenance before they cause a problem. This is the future and it is already with us, as the UK and Ireland Natural Stone Specialist magazine reported in the September issue. 

Below are pictures from this year's Marmo+Mac. The stories behind the pictures will be published in Natural Stone Specialist magazine, which you can subscribe to here.