Exhibition News

+Industry took place at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre, Spain, from 4^th – 6^th June, encompassing no less than seven shows – including Industry Tools by Ferroforma.

Atotal of 19,534 professionals from 72 countries visited the seven shows –Industry Tools by Ferroforma, Subcontracting, Addit3D, Fitmaq, Pumps&Valves, Maintenance and BeDigital. 6% of the total number of visitors were international guests from Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United Kingdom, as well as some more further afield countries such as Algeria, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, China, India, Iran, Russia, Egypt, Canada, South Africa and Singapore.

Regarding professionals at national level, 49% came from outside the Basque Autonomous Community. The largest inflow came from Catalunya, Madrid, the Valencian Community, Castilla-León, Navarre, Cantabria and Asturias. Among the professionals, those attending included managing directors, owners, managers, CEOs, as well as the heads of purchasing departments and employees, in general.

Fastener companies were present across the six shows, mainly exhibiting in Halls 1 and 3 at the INDUSTRY TOOLS show with companies such as Rosmil Industrial S.A, PECOL – Sistemas de Fixação S.A, LAPAFIL S.A Sistemas de Fijación, Lusavouga, CHAVESBAO, INDEX Fixing Systems, HEICO Fasteners S.A.U, Qonnect Fasteners Iberica S.L, UGARTE Lantegiak S.L, and UCO U-bolts®.

A total of 343 exhibiting companies from 22 countries participated in INDUSTRY TOOLS encompassing industrial supply and construction companies (25%), locksmiths (19%), handheld portable power tools and woodworking tools (18%), hardware (14%), fixings (8%) and services (8%), in addition to elevations, handling, transport and logistics, occupational protection and industrial cleaning.

INDEX Fixing Systems and CHAVESBAO, regular exhibitors to the Ferroforma show, once again exhibited with an impressive stand – which was arguably the busiest throughout the show in the Industry area. “The fair has always been a positive show for both INDEX and CHAVESBAO and is a very convenient one for us to partake in due to logistics. This year we decided to highlight our exhibition solutions and the wide product range both companies can supply with a bigger stand,” commented Garikoitz Peña, marketing department at INDEX Fixing Systems.

“We received a large number of quality visitors from the northern part of the peninsula, as well as an increase in quality visitors from other parts of Spain and other countries. We did also notice a different type of visitor coming to the show, but mostly in other halls,” said Garikoitz.

This different type of visitor can be explained with a big push by organisers to get visitors from all across the supply chain – professionals from sectors such as aeronautics, automotive, capital goods, railway, engineering, as well as the traditional distribution channels such as industrial supply warehouses, hardware cooperatives, and purchasing groups, that have always been very well represented at Ferroforma.

Miguel Gomes, sales manager at Lusavouga, commented: “We exhibited at Ferroforma in order to showcase our CHEMITOOL brand of fasteners, fixings, and chemical products, onto the Spanish market. We were satisfied with the quality and quantity of our visitors, with most being professional DIY customers from the Spanish market, but we did get a variety of international visitors to our stand.”

Organisers focused on combining a commercial exhibition with a technical workshop programme, live demonstrations, and a Speakers’ Corner. These involved more than a hundred speakers, tackling different aspects relating to Industry 4.0, through products and services in the manufacturing processes and industrial supplies, with attendance rates that have surpassed the highest expectations. The show also hosted B2B meetings where more than 250 purchasers conducted 2,000 interviews over the three days of the event.

In general, the exhibitors acknowledged that their expectations were met, with the sheer volume of visitors welcomed and, above all, the number of ‘interesting’ contacts that were obtained during their time at +Industry.

Arantxa Tapia, minister for Economic Development and Infrastructures of the Basque Government, pointed out the significance of this event at the opening ceremony, directly linking it with “the European industry that is immersed in a process of intense transformation”. She added: “Our competitiveness is facing challenges linked to infrastructures, energy and talent, and to the strengthening of collaboration between companies to transcend borders.”