I recently spent a week in Germany visiting
two exhibitions that are of international importance to our industry:
the Surface Technology Show at the vast Hannover Fair and the Resale
exhibition of second hand machinery in Karlsruhe.
Firstly, let me pass comment on how enjoyable it is to visit Germany
nowadays. Despite being half German myself, I had always thought it was
a rather dour and over-regulated country, expensive and unwelcoming.
Not true. The food is wholesome and tasty; the beers and wines are very
drinkable; the service is generally impeccable and most people have a
sunny demeanour. And, despite our weakened currency, everything comes at
a very reasonable cost.
Surface Technology at Hannover
is, as you would expect, dominated by German-owned manufacturers and
chemical producers. This year, there was only a sprinkling of overseas
exhibitors, lending the show a slight global flavour. This included one
very enterprising UK barrel plant supplier, Eagle Engineering, flying the flag for British excellence.
In
stark contrast to the last event in 2007, the hall had only a steady
trickle of visitors, rather than the torrent normally expected, a
symptom of German and international downturn. However, fewer numbers can
be an advantage for both exhibitors and visitors. For exhibitors, there
is more time to evaluate the quality of the enquiries and to establish
more precisely what information they require. For visitors, they have
the exhibitors’ full attention and an unhindered view of their
presentations.
For my part, two days at Hannover
was time very well spent. It was an opportunity to re-kindle
relationships with manufacturers, something that is of vital importance
to our business as we rely on them for spares, manuals and general
technical support. It was a chance to establish new partnerships with
manufacturers from emerging countries. And I could research the latest
trends in machinery development and take advantage of buying and selling
opportunities. Even in a recession, there is always the prospect of a
deal!
And so to the Resale show in the charming city of Karlsruhe. In the past fifteen years, this has become a global event, with 60% of visitors coming from outside Germany.
My company first exhibited in 2004, and has subsequently had several
successful and enjoyable visits. In particular, we had enjoyed a high
level of enquiries and business from India, Pakistan and South-East Asia.
This
has all changed. The combination of European recession and the trends
for Asian companies to produce their own equipment, hold their own trade
shows and generally keep business in-house has eaten into the cash-cow
that Resale used to be. For UK dealers like us, it is now a shadow of its former self.
So
what is the future for exhibitions in the Surface Technology sector?
With Surface World at the NEC now fast approaching later this year, it
is a valid time to pose the question. In my view, events like these
deserve our wholehearted support. In a globalised world, where internet
trading dominates our daily lives, there is no substitute to interacting
with real people, discussing real issues, making real friendships and
forging real and longstanding business relationships.
Riley Surface World will certainly be represented at this year’s event and
will be taking full advantage of the opportunities that it brings for
us. It would be very sad to see the demise of the trade show, so long
may they continue.
