Full of joy, some of the exhibitors reported spontaneous trade fair sales and great interest in concrete solutions, which is also a positive sign that the industry is not fixated solely on better times after the crisis, but rather is consistently paving the way for more productivity and efficiency right now. In summing up what is now being called the most successful ever Fakuma trade fair for plastics technology by all involved parties, it can be said that it took place at precisely the right time and provided the market with powerful impetus for lasting business.
Once again, Fakuma has demonstrated its qualities as a “plastics ambassador” and a “trailblazer for solutions with plastics”, which opens up tremendous future opportunities for the entire industry with regard to efficient use of resources, lightweight construction and energy efficiency. The next Fakuma will take place from the 18th through the 22nd of October, 2011.
The Schall group organises a total of 26 national and international exhibitions at its own, and at external venues both inside and outside of Germany. Six of these are public exhibitions, for example “Faszination Modellbau”. The other 20 events are technical trade fairs which cover important industry sectors. Motek (handling technology), Optatec (optical technologies) and Car & Sound (mobile electronics) are worldwide, leading technical trade fairs. Fakuma (plastics processing) and Blechexpo (sheet metal processing) are each considered the number two events in their respective industries, and Control (quality assurance) is considered number one around the globe. At the events which take place in Germany, 12 to 20% of the visitors come from foreign countries.
Alone in Stuttgart, Schall’s Motek, Control and Blechexpo trade fairs occupied at total of more than 1,900,000 square feet of floor space in 2007 (this corresponds to 19 fully occupied pavilions) thus making a considerable contribution to utilisation of the Stuttgart Exhibition Centre. On the twelve days during which these events were held, representatives from roughly 3000 exhibiting companies, as well as approximately 80,000 visitors came to Stuttgart – a significant push for the local economy, service providers, hotels and restaurants. In the meantime, the trade fair concepts for Motek and Control have also been adopted in France, Italy, Austria, Sweden, China and India. Depending upon which events take place in each respective year, the Schall group generates an annual turnover of about €28 million with roughly 50 employees.
