Matthias Uhl, marketing and corporate communication manager, ARBURG GmbH + CO KG
“As an original exhibitor, we’re indebted to Fakuma in a very special way. With roughly 11,000 square feet and nine exhibits, we were the largest exhibitor once again this year, thus underscoring Arburg’s continuity as well as the significance of the international industry event: To a greater extent than ever before, the trade fair was the focus of attention as a trend indicator for the entire industry this year. And the positive development we’ve experienced recently with incoming orders was plainly confirmed in Friedrichshafen. The quality of the visitors and the interest they demonstrated were exceptionally good. We had intense technical discussions, and we launched numerous projects – with customers from Germany, other European countries and from overseas as well. On the one hand this confirms the trade fair’s internationalism, and on the other hand it verifies the fact that our trade fair presentation was hit the bull’s eye once again in 2009: With our comprehensive product and service offerings covering energy efficiency, industry solutions and automation, we successfully demonstrated at Fakuma that Arburg is the right partner in every respect – a strong partner that customers will be able to count on in the future as well. The same applies to Fakuma, which has once again plainly maintained its top position amongst the ranks of worldwide trade fairs.”
Bayer MaterialScience AG, Klaus Dreesen, Sales Director Western Europe
“We hold FAKUMA in high regard as a working trade fair for intensive, concrete discussions. We generate a lot of good leads here in a very short period of time. The 2009 event met our expectations in every respect. Things went very well at the trade fair for us. The positive mood which characterised the event is also noteworthy. We were pleasantly surprised with regard to visitor numbers, because this hasn’t been an easy year in general. Where both quantity and quality are concerned, FAKUMA 2009 ranks almost as high as the event in 2008. For us, the course of events at the trade fair shaped up as follows: Although we had fewer visitors at our booth on the first day, we nonetheless had very interesting discussions. On the second and third days of the event there was lots of action at our booth, and on the fourth day things quieted down again, but we once again had very high quality meetings. During the course of the trade fair we got the impression that the economic situation is slowly turning around again. As regards the quality of the visitors it seemed apparent that interested parties spent less time at the trade fair due to cost considerations, and there were fewer representatives per company as well, but the right people nevertheless came to our booth. We also had interested enquiries from students, and were thus able to establish solid contacts with new talent for the industry.”
MOTOMAN robotec GmbH, Thomas Zeitler, System Partner Sales Engineer
“As the world’s largest manufacturer of robots, it’s important for us to demonstrate presence at FAKUMA, even in this economically difficult year. On the one hand, our trade fair presentation helps us keep in touch with our customers, and on the other hand it sends a message, indicating that we’re reliable business partners even in troubling economic times. Although we haven’t been able to generate the usual number of high potential leads this year, we nevertheless believe that we can detect a slight upturn within the plastics industry in general. We’ve also observed that solidarity amongst the industry’s companies has increased. Everyone’s trying to join forces and make things happen. This is also apparent in commitment to industry networks and workgroups. Personally, I’m a member of the Franconian Plastics Network where I’m responsible for the field of automation. In my opinion, a tighter closing of the ranks within the sector offers numerous advantages which will help us get through the current low.”
KraussMaffei Technologies GmbH, Simone Werner, Exhibition & Event Manager
“In light of prevailing general economic conditions, FAKUMA 2009 went better than expected for us. We had large numbers of visitors at our booth, and were able to establish interesting new contacts as well. In particular this year, FAKUMA has played an important, ground-breaking role. Of all the trade fairs we’re exhibiting at this year, it’s the most important for our company anywhere in the world. We reach our primary market here. Although we had fewer international visitors at our booth than we did last year, the visitors from outside of Germany demonstrated a broad geographic bandwidth. We’re pleased with the way things went at FAKUMA 2009.”
ONI-Wärmetrafo GmbH, Michael Schnippering, managing director
“For us, FAKUMA is one of the most important trade fairs anywhere! We’ve been able to welcome more than 3900 expert visitors to our booth this year in hall 5, and have thus surpassed last year’s record of 3500 visitors by more than 10%. Beyond this, we’ve received a number of orders at the trade fair, and have been presented with numerous project RFQs which are scheduled for implementation in the short to mid-term. As a result, we’re understandably quite satisfied with the way things have gone at the event.
We’ve hit upon an essential focus of interest for plastics processors with our energy-saving concepts and system solutions in the areas of cooling and refrigeration units, heat recovery, air conditioning, ventilation and cleanroom technology, compressed air supply, machine optimisation and temperature control technology. The main reason for this is certainly the fact that companies are placing high priority on reducing energy costs. For us, it’s been especially interesting and pleasing to see that the expert visitors, 95% of whom were decision makers, are asking about our holistic energy saving concepts to an ever greater extent, and they’re taking the time for extensive consultation provided by our specialists.
With the enormous energy saving success they’ve been enjoying, the numerous reference systems we’ve presented at the event have impressed a lot of visitors, and have often been the starting point for their own energy saving programmes.
As suppliers of custom tailored energy saving systems for plastics processors, as well as for the pharmaceuticals, steel and electronics industries, we have a broad customer base which is an advantage for us in the current economic situation. But on the whole as well, we have the impression that all industry sectors are in the midst of a moderate, but nevertheless discernible upswing. At any rate, the underlying mood here at FAKUMA has been very optimistic in this respect.
gwk, Gesellschaft Wärme Kältetechnik mbH, Nico Küls, marketing management
“FAKUMA 2009 has significantly surpassed our expectations: gwk is presenting especially interesting new products this year from the fields of cooling and temperature control. And thus we’re acting entirely in the spirit of the company motto of being “Pioneers in Temperature Control Technology”. We’re demonstrating innovative technology in action here at FAKUMA. And this has certainly made a big contribution to the fact that we’re experiencing very large increases with regard to leads and RFQs at the event. With new approaches in the field of dynamic temperature control, products can now be manufactured which have not been feasible in the past. We’re also hitting on a central issue of this year’s visitors with the topic of energy efficiency. FAKUMA is the world’s biggest injection moulding trade fair for us, and Europe is the high-tech market which we process from here in a highly targeted fashion.”
Stäubli Tec-Systems GmbH, Roland Rathmann, sales manager
“FAKUMA is a permanent part of our trade fair calendar. Our exceptions have been met once again this year, and we’ve detected a distinctly positive trend for upcoming developments in the plastics industry.
The high quality of our meetings with expert visitors from all areas of the plastics industry deserves special emphasis.
Participation at the trade fair has paid off for us, and we’ll continue our representation at FAKUMA in the future as well.”
Manuela Schoppa, qualified business administrator, marketing manager, Engel Austria GmbH
“Once again this year, FAKUMA was a vital and significant trade fair for the plastics industry, and it spawned positive impetus for the economy. Despite a slight reduction of overall visitor numbers amounting to roughly 10% as compared with last year, our booth was nevertheless well frequented.
Constructive discussions with our customers and visitors were seen in an especially positive light, who expressed interest in injection moulding systems and generated options for post-event business. Issues such as energy efficiency and other potential energy-savings are becoming more and more important for the decision makers, and we’re meeting these requirements with new solution proposals.
We closed sales transactions, and interesting start-ups reflect the success of this trade fair"
Six Offene Systeme GmbH
