Between 5 and 7 September, Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre transformed itself into a mobile recycling centre and walk-in construction site, with heavyweight granulating lines, powerful excavators and wheel loaders demonstrating their performance strength. Wood and metal was shredded, construction waste screened, building pits dug and road surfaces compressed. Over the three trade fair days, a total of 3,000 tonnes of material was moved and processed. 94 percent of trade visitors were very satisfied with the presentation and quality of exhibitors.
Close ties between the two sectors
For the second time, the recycling and construction sectors joined forces for the RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE demonstration trade fairs. Around 8,500 visitors (2017: 7,500) had the chance to see at first hand the efficiency and performance of the approximately 1,500 machines and equipment on offer and to compare the products of various manufacturers at the many live demonstrations. As Britta Wirtz, Managing Director of Messe Karlsruhe, confirms: “The trade fair pairing concept is proving its worth: in our visitor survey, 59 percent of visitors stated that they had come specifically because of the combination of recycling and civil engineering.”
Factors linking the two demonstration trade fairs include not only add-on equipment but also material transport and handling and construction waste recycling. One of the exhibitors from this area is construction equipment provider Kurz Aufbereitungsanlagen. Sales Manager Harald Weber would be willing to take part in the demonstrations again at any time: “Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre is ideal for live demonstrations – the infrastructure is great and the supply of materials runs like clockwork. Our demonstrations attract visitors to our stand, allowing us to generate an incredibly high number of queries and also to effect direct sales. As the recycling and civil engineering sectors are growing closer together, we are able to reach two important visitor target groups at RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE.”
238 exhibitors from 15 countries
A total of 238 manufacturers and retailers came to Karlsruhe to present their machines and equipment to a professional audience. As Claudia Nötzelmann, the project manager overseeing the two trade fairs, notes: “That is 18 percent more exhibitors than the last time. We are particularly proud of the fact that the percentage of international exhibitors has been increased to 20 percent – which is seven percent up on the last event.” Exhibitors from 15 countries were present, including all of Germany’s neighbouring countries as well as Italy, the UK, Finland and Sweden. In addition, many associations and professional groups used the trade fair pairing as an opportunity to organise training events, working groups and conferences.
Trade visitors in management positions
The international orientation of the demonstration trade fairs was also evident on the visitor side, as can be seen from the survey, which indicated that visitors came from all over Germany and from 18 different countries. Pia Steiner from Lindner-Recyclingtech in Austria described the demonstrations on the special theme areas as “an ideal means of presenting our products” and praised the high international component among visitors: “We use the trade fair to cultivate existing customer contacts and make new ones – in fact, we had more international visitors to our stand than expected, for example from Estonia, Hungary and Serbia.” The excellent opportunity for gaining new customers can also be seen in the visitor survey, since 65 percent of trade fair participants were visiting RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE for the first time.
As Matthias Stasius from wheeled excavator specialists Liebherr-Hydraulikbagger says: “We were positively surprised by the number and above all by the quality of visitors. We came to the trade fair with the aim of raising the profile of our add-on tools in the construction and recycling sectors – and that is exactly what we managed to do in Karlsruhe.” As the visitor survey confirms, 98 percent of visitors attended the trade fairs out of professional interest. Another important development is that the proportion of decision-makers has increased: one third of visitors were management board members or senior executives, while another third consisted of company owners and independent entrepreneurs.
Extensive demonstration areas were set up on the 80,000 m² open-air exhibition area at RecyclingAKTIV and TiefbauLIVE. 29 percent of exhibitors showed their products in action – either at their own stand or on one of the four special theme areas: Mobile Scrap & Metal Yard, Wood & Biomass and the demonstration building sites for road and path construction and for canalisation. Here alone, there were ten hours of live demonstrations every day.
Tours touch on legal changes and digitalisation trend
One highlight of the supporting programme – in addition to the special theme areas – was the newly introduced guided tours given by experts and covering topics such as digitalisation in road construction, legal requirements regarding substitute building materials, and garden and landscape construction. In addition to the open-air exhibition area, exhibitors had a chance to present their portfolio in the adjacent hall areas, which measure 6,500 square metres in all. As Nedim Cetin, General Manager of Vp GmbH Groundforce, sums up: “With our stand, we were very well positioned in the hall area with plenty of visitor traffic. We particularly liked the visitor tours that allowed us to explain our hydraulic shoring system to knowledgeable participants in just a few minutes. All in all, we are extremely satisfied with TiefbauLIVE.”
Swiss company Gipo was also thoroughly satisfied, as Sales Manager Marc Glarner attests: “My sales team were run off their feet all day, so we were very pleased with both the quality and the quantity of customers – and with the end result, as we sold quite a few machines. We would also like to compliment the very attentive trade fair management on its excellent work, be it with the set-up, layout planning, logistics or infrastructural supply, all of which was extremely professional.”
Between 10 and 12 June 2021, Karlsruhe Trade Fair Centre will once again be playing host to RecyclingAKTIV (demonstration trade fair for waste removal and recycling) and TiefbauLIVE (demonstration trade fair for road construction and civil engineering).
Further information and downloadable photos are available at: https://www.recycling-aktiv.com/de/messe-planen/fuer-presse/and https://www.tiefbaulive.com/de/messe-planen/fuer-presse/and on Facebook
Further exhibitor statements:
Sean McCusker, Sales Manager, Jürgen Kölsch GmbH
“We have been exhibiting at RecyclingAKTIV since the very beginning and are great fans of the trade fair. The trade fair team is very professional and allows us plenty of leeway in the live presentations of our crushing and screening equipment. Our trade fair activities are designed to cultivate our relationship with our customers but also to draw attention to the need for recycled building materials and to increase the acceptance of these. We are able to do this here in Karlsruhe better than at any other trade fair.”
Simon Graf, Area Sales Manager, Optimas Maschinenfabrik H. Kleinemas GmbH
“On the three days of the trade fair, we meet important customers and new customers from the rest of Germany and neighbouring countries. We like to use the live demonstrations on the demonstration building site as a platform for presenting our products to a wider audience. This time, for example, we showcased our electrically adjustable Multi 6 paver clamp. After this, customers came to our stand for more in-depth discussions. We have been an exhibitor at these trade fairs for many years – anyone who was here once always comes back.”
Stephan Prüfer, head of sales/marketing, RSP GmbH
“We had very valuable discussions and succeeded in reaching our target group completely. We make full use of the demonstration possibilities here at the trade fair and show our suction dredger in action at our stand and also at the demonstration building sites. Customers become aware of us there and then come to our stand for more detailed discussions. We are thoroughly satisfied and will be back.”
Antonio Cannaò, Sales Manager, Cangini Benne s.r.l., Italy
“This is the first time that we have been here and we were hugely impressed. We chose the trade fair specifically because of the live demonstrations. The visitors from the disposal and construction sector were very interested and we forged many new contacts. As Germany is an important market for us, we will certainly be back again in 2021.”
Martin Werthenbach, Sales Manager Germany, Hydrema Baumaschinen GmbH
“At TiefbauLIVE, you can be sure of great interest from the southern half of Germany in particular. Apart from this, the general public is extremely knowledgeable. We dealt with very many inquiries and will see what comes of these in the post-fair business. We used both demonstration building sites to attract the attention of potential new customers in dialogue with the experts from the German Association of the Building Industry, Environmental and Mechanical Engineering (VDBUM). The team responsible for organising the trade fair really pulled out all the stops, which led to a really great overall atmosphere at these demonstration trade fairs.”
Horst Möhrle, Automation Application Consultant, MTS Maschinentechnik Schrode AG
“MTS was at TiefbauLIVE from the very beginning and we use it to cultivate our customer relationships. These days, all building contractors are concerned with recycling, which is why we really appreciate how this trade fair pairing combines both sectors. We also like the familiar atmosphere and the compact set-up on the exhibition grounds.”
Frank Schlichting, Area Sales Manager, Losberger Cover All GmbH
“Our stand in the hall area was very well frequented because visitors have to pass through the hall on their way to the open-air exhibition area. The quality of trade visitors was consistently high, featuring many company owners and decision makers – potential customers for us. These potential customers are primarily from the recycling industry, but also from the construction industry – for instance large construction site operators who need to store large amounts of excavated earth temporarily prior to reuse. Which means that the combination of both trade fairs is ideal for us.”
