1. GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS, NEWCAST 2011 bigger than ever before at more than 77,000 m²
Very popular trade fair portals
Three months before they are held (28. June to 2. July 2011), it is becoming apparent that the four metal trade fairs GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST will be setting a new exhibitor record. There has been a particularly large increase in the space booked at the Düsseldorf trade fairs: while the companies presented their products and services on a total of 72,698 square metres of exhibition space in 2007, when the present record was set at the top of the economic boom, the trend in 2011 is definitely towards larger stands. Something that the trade fair Project Director Friedrich-Georg Kehrer is very pleased about: "We didn't expect this. Everyone in our industry thought that the exhibitors would come, but with substantially smaller stands. The bookings made to date reveal, however, that the trade fairs have grown considerably, by almost 5,000 square metres." 77,230 square metres have been booked by companies in total so far.
Messe Düsseldorf already responded to exhibitors' requests for larger stand areas a number of months ago and made another, larger hall (Hall 3) available for METEC - and the space there is almost fully booked in the meantime as well. The four technology trade fairs are now being held in Halls 3 to 17.
The registration figures reflect the actual situation of the industry too. Because not all companies have survived the crisis completely unscathed and the impact of this is being felt at GIFA in particular. Most companies want and are in a position to be represented at the trade fair, which is also why the registration figures here are almost as high as at the previous event, but the crisis has led to a number of corporate mergers between the manufacturers of machines and equipment for foundries in particular. The number of exhibitors has therefore decreased slightly from 793 in 2007 to 723 companies now. The exhibitors are not willing to compromise on space, however and have booked about 42,000 square metres (2007: 43,800) in Halls 10 to 13 and 15 to 17 on the exhibition site in Düsseldorf, even though fewer companies are exhibiting.
It looks like a new record for both the number of exhibitors and the amount of space booked will be set at METEC: 18.4 per cent more companies will be represented, while the stand space booked has increased by more than 34.6 per cent. With 437 exhibitors and almost 20,000 square metres of space, the trade fair is bigger than ever before.
The number of companies registering for THERMPROCESS is considerably higher than in 2007 too: about 300 exhibitors and more than 9,500 square metres of space booked are extremely impressive figures. The trade fair will as a result have more exhibitors this year than ever before in its 37-year history.
The most recent addition to the "Bright World of Metals" - NEWCAST - has also made good progress, demonstrating that it now holds an established position. It was launched in 2003 with 255 exhibitors, whereas about 300 companies will be presenting their products and services to visitors on almost 6,000 square metres of stand space this year. NEWCAST is the most international event in its industry as well - 78 per cent of the exhibitors do not come from Germany; they come instead from the neighbouring European countries and from overseas. Brazil, China, India, South Africa and the USA are playing particularly prominent roles here.
The number of visits and page impressions recorded by the trade fair portals is another major indication that the events will be a success. The websites <link http: www.gifa.de>www.gifa.de,<link http: www.metec.de>www.metec.de, <link http: www.thermprocess.de>www.thermprocess.de and <link http: www.newcast.de>www.newcast.de are registering steady increases in the number of visits - from almost 10,000 last September to 31,700 in February - and page impressions - from 53,900 (September 2010) to 252,900 (February 2011) - and www.foundry-planet.com with 96,134 visits and 1,762,494 page impressions in February 2011, which confirms the popularity of the trade fair portals. They are being used by the international trade visitors to plan their visit to the trade fairs as effectively as possible. The exhibitor database, for example, is a detailed search engine than enables very specific searches to be made for companies that supply individual solutions. Daily news from the industries, everything that is worth knowing about the extensive side programme arranged for the trade fairs and brief information about the trade fairs round off the wide-ranging content provided by the trade fair portals. Friedrich-Georg Kehrer: "The tremendous interest visitors are showing in our Internet presence demonstrates that it is essential for many experts to visit GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST and that they therefore want to make comprehensive preparations in advance before they come to the trade fairs in Düsseldorf." The app for the four trade fairs is available free of charge in the app store with immediate effect too.
E-tickets for admission to the trade fairs are a new service successfully introduced this year by Messe Düsseldorf at boot Düsseldorf. They can be printed out conveniently at home or at the workplace and can already be used as tickets for buses and trains within a radius of about 40 kilometres around Düsseldorf throughout the Rhine-Ruhr transport district when travelling to the exhibition site in the city. Another advantage of the e-tickets: they cost considerably less than at the ticket offices on the exhibition site. A day ticket costs only EUR 40.00 in the Internet, for example, compared with EUR 50.00 at the ticket office, while a ticket for the whole of the event costs EUR 100.00 compared with EUR 120.00 at the ticket office. The four trade fairs are open daily from 10.00 to 18.00 from 28. June to 2. July 2011.
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2. GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST 2011 with a high-quality side programme
An extensive, attractive side programme with numerous seminars and trade symposia, special shows and technical forums as well as international congresses and lecture series is being organised again for the “Bright World of Metals” this year, which is being held in Düsseldorf from 28. June to 2. July 2011. The focus is on information about current developments in research projects, with particular emphasis on energy efficiency and resource minimisation. This means that the four metal trade fairs have excellent additional benefits to offer trade visitors: alongside the comprehensive demonstration by the exhibitors of their particular achievements, GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST are providing the best possible basis for constructive dialogue between industry professionals.
GIFA: "GIFA-Treff" and WFO Technical Forum
The "GIFA-Treff" organised by the National Association of the German Foundry Industry (bdguss) will again be inviting experts to come and exchange ideas and information right at the heart of the trade fair in Hall 13. Thematic displays will be providing detailed information about such subjects as the energy-efficient production of castings or the use of discharged heat in the context of a special exhibition about "energy-efficient foundries". The WFO (World Foundrymen Organization) Technical Forum in Hall 13 from 28. June to 1. July will once again be acting as a source of ideas and an opportunity to discuss trends when the international experts analyse the progress made in casting technology and indicate how foundry engineering can be optimised. The focus throughout the lecture programme is on energy efficiency and the responsible use of resources. Specialists from Brazil, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Great Britain, India, Italy, Japan, Canada, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and South Africa will be demonstrating impressively how practical applications know-how can be transferred internationally.
METEC: InSteelCon 2011 and EMC
METEC InSteelCon 2011, that is being organised by the Steel Institute VDeH, combines no fewer than four different trade congresses for the international steel industry at one location from 27. June to 1. July: ECIC (6th European Coke and Ironmaking Congress), ECCC (7th European Continuous Casting Conference), STEELSIM (4thInternational Conference on Modelling and Simulation of Metallurgical Processes in Steelmaking) and EECRsteel (1st International Conference on Energy Efficiency and CO2 Reduction in the Steel Industry). The events are being held at the Düsseldorf Congress Centre, directly on the exhibition site. More than 600 presentations - all of them in English - underline the outstanding global significance of this occasion. The European Metallurgical Conference (EMC) 2011 promises to be excellent too. The organiser, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy, Resource and Environmental Technology (GDMB), has chosen "Optimisation and improvement of resource efficiency in the nonferrous metals industry" as the issue to focus on in the high-quality event this year.
THERMPROCESS: symposium, special show and conference
Optimisations and the latest findings from the industry - presented by experts with in-depth practical experience, all of whom are exhibitors at THERMPROCESS 2011 - will be the centre of attention at the THERMPROCESS Symposium organised by VDMA in Hall 9. Here, too, the emphasis will be on technical innovations relating to energy efficiency, heat recovery and burner technology. The special FOGI show organised by the Industrial Furnace Manufacturing Research Association (VDMA) in Hall 7 will provide a unique overview of the current research findings in the thermo process technology field. More than ten well-known German universities and private research institutions are issuing an invitation to participate in an intensive exchange of information and experience this year.
The 4th conference organised by Deutsche Gesellschaft Feuerfest- und Schornsteinbau e.V. in CCD.Ost is taking place on 28. June too. Speakers from Germany, France and Great Britain will be providing information about such subjects as new material developments and innovations in the design, implementation and installation fields.
NEWCAST: Forum and Award
NEWCAST will be featuring the "NEWCAST Forum", that will be presenting the latest casting developments in interesting panel discussions and lectures by experts. The main subjects covered here will again be material and energy efficiency as well as innovative rapid manufacturing systems. The forum is being organised by bdguss.
For the second time after 2007, Messe Düsseldorf, bdguss and Verein Deutscher Gießereifachleute e.V. (VDG) are presenting the prestigious NEWCAST Award for the most innovative and outstanding castings in the following three categories: best substitution of a different manufacturing process, best function integration, best casting solution (extending the boundaries of casting engineering). The winners are being announced shortly before the trade fair, so that the companies can already exhibit their prizewinning products at the fair.
"Science Street"
20 institutes from Germany and other countries will, on the other hand, be demonstrating their comprehensive scientific capabilities in the context of "Science Street" in Hall 7. Research facilities from such countries as Germany, Poland, Switzerland, Slovenia and South Africa will be presenting their research and development findings and operations.
There is no doubt about it: the number and quality of the events combined with the comprehensive range of products and services presented by the exhibitors at GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST 2011 will once again make Düsseldorf the meeting place and focal point for the international trade and research community from the foundry technology, castings, metallurgy and thermo process technology industries.
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3. “The Bright World of Metals” premieres ecoMetals campaign
Focus on energy efficiency and resource minimisation
When asked what issues will interest visitors to their stands at GIFA, METEC, THERMPROCESS and NEWCAST most, there is a definite trend in the answers given by exhibitors: energy efficiency and resource minimisation in production processes. As the organiser of the four technology trade fairs, Messe Düsseldorf was quick to respond to this trend and already launched the "ecoMetals" campaign a year ago now. Relevant solutions and processes exhibitors have to offer are being showcased specially under the subtitle "Efficient Process Solutions". Participants have had an opportunity to register for "ecoMetals" by sending a detailed description of their processes and products to Messe Düsseldorf. The exhibits submitted had to meet one of the following requirements, however: they had to save energy or deploy materials and other resources efficiently in production, make climate-compatible use of renewable energies or involve optimised energy controlling and innovative technologies.
The companies participating are identified specially not only on the websites<link http: www.gifa.de> www.gifa.de, <link http: www.metec.de>www.metec.de, <link http: www.thermprocess.de>www.thermprocess.de and <link http: www.newcast.de>www.newcast.de but also in the printed trade fair catalogue and on the stands at the fairs. Messe Düsseldorf is also publishing a separate brochure about the ecoMetals campaign with the names of the exhibitors and the descriptions of their energy-efficient solutions. There is a handy pocket guide with which anyone can find out particularly quickly which exhibitors he wants to visit during the trade fairs.
The participants include such well-known companies as Oskar Frech GmbH, Heinrich Wagner Sinto Maschinenfabrik, Italpresse - Gauss from Italy, Magma, Hüttenes-Albertus Chemische Werke and Vesuvius GmbH Foseco Foundry Division. An initial review of the products presented shows that these companies are making outstanding progress and are playing a pioneering role in the development of low-energy products. The new drive concept from Oskar Frech GmbH, for example, offers potential savings of 30 to 60 per cent compared with conventionally driven hydraulic machines.
Energy efficiency is an issue that is being covered extensively in the high-quality side programme at the four trade fairs too. Since the fairs are closely linked to each other, the forums and congresses will give an entire sector of industry the chance to meet, exchange ideas and discuss trends.
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