Vanessa Ashworth, VP Marketing for DISA and Wheelabrator, looks back on a fantastic event.
What a show
GIFA opened its doors to the world at 10am on the 16th June 2015, and from that moment until the show closed at 5pm on Saturday, 20th the DISA and Wheelabrator teams were busy and on their feet, talking to visitors from all over the world.
GIFA is the largest foundry show on earth, and as foundry is our largest market, we take it very seriously and prepare for the event way in advance. When GIFA 2011 closed, we started analysing the event, and preparing for 2015. Preparations heated up significantly in June 2014, and it was all systems go until 3rd June this year, as our exhibits were shipped out, and stand building commenced.
Click here to watch all our GIFA 2015 videos: <link http: www.wheelabratorgroup.com en sites wheelabrator content downloads event_videos.aspx _blank external-link-new-window external link in new>
www.wheelabratorgroup.com/en/sites/wheelabrator/content/downloads/event_videos.aspx
Thank you for visiting us at the show
It was great to see so many people continuously on our stand. We welcomed many of our good customers and partners, and made contact with new faces too – this continuous footfall means that all our hard work was worth it.
We were delighted to speak with each and every one, and were impressed by the many languages that were spoken on the stand. We pride ourselves in speaking your language, serving you locally, and supporting your business no matter where you are in the world. GIFA proved once again to be a global event for us; 63% of visitors to the stand were from Europe, and 37% were from the Rest of the World.
Of course, we could not let you come all that way to see us without entertaining you, whether that was by sharing a drink on the stand, or by inviting you to one of our dinner cruises. Is there any better relief for sore exhibition feet than dancing the night away? I think not!
New at GIFA 2015
Being able to speak your language means that we were able to listen and learn from you. The results of our previous learnings, our new innovations, were exhibited at the show: the brand new COMET HD wheel (and video), and the new, entry-levelHanger Type machine for foundries both attracted a lot of interest, as did the Holocubes showing 3D animations of our other machines.
DISA launched the brand new DISAMATIC D3, with lots of new features, and its unveiling on the first morning drew a large crowd. The leading matchplate technology, the DISA MATCH also proved a great attraction throughout the exhibition.
Completely new for GIFA was our virtual reality Complete Foundry, this allowed visitors, via Oculus Rift goggles, to be transported into a foundry to get a really close up view of our equipment. Stunning!
Innovation
It was really important for Wheelabrator to get across the message that we provide the widest range of equipment types, to suit every purpose, and every size of customer. We did this with the holocubes, but also with our Innovation table display which was a huge hit with visitors.
The three tables told the Wheelabrator story, how we invented (sand) air blasting and the first blast wheel, and how we’ve been working closely with our customers ever since to continually create solutions to meet their challenges. If you missed the display, you can find out more on our new “Innovation” web pages - of particular interest were the most recent inventions, displayed with 3D printed models.
With innovation at the core of our thinking and growth plans, we were thrilled by the number of young engineering students who visited an area of the stand dedicated to further their learning. And with sustainability at the heart of our innovative efforts, we were glad to lead the EcoTrails visitors around the exhibits to talk about DISA and Wheelabrator’s measures to reduce our impact on the environment and to clean up the foundries for the people who work in them.
A Social GIFA
We used social media throughout the show (and beforehand in the build up) to communicate all the events and activity, with regular posts on twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Make sure you’re following us to continue to be kept right up to date with all the latest news from us, and to see all the videos and interviews from the show.
Well, now the show is over, but there’s no time to rest, as the work begins again. Firstly we need to contact all those of you who came to see us, and make sure you have the answers you need to the questions / requirements you brought (thanks again!). And second, we can “debrief” and start thinking about GIFA 2019!
