17/04/2014 

Thermals Spraying in focus at the GTS special booth:
SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN 2013 – taking stock

Claudia Hofmann, Rybak + Hofmann rhv-Technik GmbH + Co. KG, Waiblingen, Germany

 
On 21 September 2013, the 18th SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN in Essen closed its doors after more than 1,000 exhibitors from 40 countries had presented their innovations over the space of one week.

More than 55,000 visitors from 130 countries took advantage of this unique opportunity to exchange their knowledge. It was the ideal chance to talk to specialists and other key stakeholders at THE international trade fair for joining, cutting and surfacing and to learn about the latest developments on the market.
 

 
Every four years, international joining, cutting and coating experts demonstrate their innovative strength – and their forum for this is SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN.

In total there were twelve cooperative booths at the fair, of which eleven were international and offered country-specific products and services. The appearance of GTS as the 12th booth along with its joint exhibitors was, of course, an absolute must when it comes to presenting expertise in surface protection and thermal spraying at the sector’s world-renowned exposition. The joint exhibitors were AMT AG, shotec GmbH, GTV Verschleißschutz GmbH, GfE Fremat GmbH, Buehler GmbH, Aludra B.V., Putzier Oberflächentechnik GmbH, Saint-Gobain Ceramic materials GmbH, Sulzer Metco AG (Switzerland), Terolab Surface GmbH, stellba Schweisstechnik AG, Rybak + Hofmann rhv-Technik GmbH and obz innovation gmbh.

According to the trade fair newspaper, interest in efficient, cost-saving and sustainable methods for joining, cutting and surfacing was particularly high at SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN. An ideal platform therefore for thermal spraying to present itself as a process which can extend the service life of equipment, spare resources, save on scrap, repair parts and produce any kind of functional surface required.

So how did the participants at the GTS joint booth view the fair SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN?

“We drew an extremely positive balance. In terms of quantity, there were fewer customer contacts, but the quality was substantially higher than last time. Shortly after the fair, we already received orders based on these leads,” reported Stefan Schmuker from rhv-Technik.

“What I especially liked was how GTS and Linde had organized everything,” said Carsten Wolters full of praise. “As exhibitors we virtually didn’t need to do anything in the way of preparation. GTS and the company WUM did most of the work and all we had to do was travel to the fair with our hand luggage. And that meant we were free to give customers and visitors our undivided attention. Excellent logistics!”
The layout of the exhibition booths was less constrained, more casual than last time. Bernhard Blasig had the impression that visitors were able to move more freely between the different sections as a result, and so there was a more even distribution of people.

Yet another positive aspect of the cooperative booth according to Bernhard Blasig was “the chance to engage in more in-depth talks with suppliers. Something which you rarely have time for in everyday business life.”

However, all of the three booth attendants would have preferred the fair to end on Friday as usually only end-users visit the fair on Saturdays. The latter are not necessarily the target group thermal spraying is directed at.

Despite the EMO (Machine Tool World Exposition) which took place in Hannover at the same time, the response was very satisfactory for those who were asked. When the SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN opens its doors again in September 2017, we’ll be sure to be there!
 

 
Article published in GTS-Strahl 31 / Thermal Spray Bulletin 7 (2014)  No.1

Links to the topic:
GTS-Strahl 31
Superb trade-show appearance by GTS (2009)
SCHWEISSEN & SCHNEIDEN (external link)