Industry News

Ferroforma opened in Halls one and three at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre on 6^th June, alongside five other events – a collocation clearly aimed at transforming the long surviving hardware, tools and DIY fair. Phil Matten made a long overdue return to Bilbao to try to gauge how successful the latest reinvention might prove.

Ferroforma relocated to the then brand new, custom-built Bilbao Exhibition Centre, half way between the city centre and the airport, in 2005. It was a desperately needed departure from the multi-level, convoluted halls of the old exhibition centre near the bull ring in the city centre. For two editions the new style fair more or less filled the BEC’s halls, until the financial crisis bit savagely in Spain and the event shrunk dramatically.

One thing the BEC team has demonstrated throughout is an apparently inextinguishable passion for reinvention and the projection of Ferroforma as an international event. The reinvention efforts have undoubtedly sustained the fair and presumably delivered the necessary return for the fine exhibition centre built to host it. Ferroforma’s role as an international event has, frankly, always been questionable, despite the best efforts of an enthusiastic team. In the past, this magazine has rightly described the event as a very good Spanish show. It shows signs now, having survived extraordinarily tough times not of its own making, of regaining that accolade.

This year Ferroforma has 429 exhibiting companies, a shadow of its heydays, but nevertheless an impressive 21% increase over 2015 - and perhaps a positive indication that the conscious transformation of its visitor constituency may be bearing fruit.

Representation of the fastener sector at Ferroforma is fairly limited, as has long been the case. Most visibly active on the first day was the large combination stand of Index andChavesbao in Hall One – expert exhibition performers wherever they go, so bound to be strong on home ground. Ambrovit presented another stylish stand towards the rear of the hall, but on day one, at least, activity seemed somewhat subdued. Madrid headquartered Bralo is another longstanding supporter of Ferroforma and had an attractive presence in the heart of Hall One. Heico Fasteners were well positioned at the throat of the corridor connecting the two elements of Ferroforma in Halls One and Three. Also in Hall One were Italian manufacturers, Bulloneria Del Toce, as well as Fabory Spain, SWG España, and Bizkaia fastener distributors, Rosmil. Bollhoff and Wurth Industria España were, however, to be found in Hall Five.

That is significant because BEC, starting from the 2015 edition, has clearly sought to extend the visitor demographic from a primarily reseller and DIY profile to attracting industrial users. “+Industry” is emphatically being pursued by the organisers, through the collocation of the 18-edition pedigree, ‘Subcontraction’ manufacturing processes and equipment fair in Hall Five. From 2015, BEC introduced four new linked events – ‘Pumps & Valves’ and ‘Maintenance’, both in Hall 2, and ‘FITMAQ’ and ‘ADDIT3D’ in Hall Five alongside Subcontraction. The first two are self-explanatory. FITMAQ is the third edition of an event dedicated to second hand and used machinery. ADDIT3D hints correctly at its focus on additive manufacturing but rolls in a number of other manufacturing technologies as well as metrology.

BEC has reinforced the multiple fairs with B2B meeting areas and technical seminars, presentations and workshops. In 2015, some 18,500 visitors attended from 65 countries – the latter as much as anything evidence of BEC’s energy in inviting delegations from target countries.

The multiple fair concept makes sense in trying to achieve an economic critical mass for ‘Ferroforma +Industry’. The question is whether the individual components retain their identity - particularly Ferroforma itself – and whether the sum of the parts delivers the essential return on investment for exhibitors with differentiated customer bases.

Look out for the report in the July issue of Fastener + Fixing Magazine for exhibitor reactions, plus statistics and comments from the organisers.