METAV is relaunching, and from 23 to 27 February 2016 will be reinvigorated with fresh power.
It’s positioning itself as the “19th International Exhibition for Metalworking Technologies”. Its core remit is the entire value creation chain involved. The focus here is on machine tools and production systems, high-precision tools, automated material flows, computer technology, industrial electronics and accessories. Four complementary fields will as from 2016 be permanently and lastingly integrated into METAV, and imaged in what are called areas as trade fair themes with their own nomenclature: Quality Area, Moulding Area, Rapid Area and Medical Area.
“We are confident that both the tighter substantive focus and the expansion of METAV’s profile will benefit all exhibitors,” said Dr. Wilfried Schäfer, Executive Director of the METAV organisers VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association), speaking at a press conference in Düsseldorf on 17 November 2014 . The aims, he stated, are to bond further exhibitors and visitor groupings to METAV, to give METAV a new image, and to develop METAV-specific strengths.
METAV has at its venue in Düsseldorf quite indubitably justified its existence, says Schäfer. With more than 23,000 companies from the top customer sectors alone, hundreds of thousands of knowledgeable users and a very high investment potential, METAV is an absolute must in the middle of this market, one of Europe’s major industrial powerhouses. Only with METAV will manufacturers of production technology reach the majority of their customers in North Rhine-Westphalia and the Benelux nations. “We know from the visitor structure data that the customers from this conurbation do not go to AMB in Stuttgart, and merely a few of them to EMO in Hannover,” reports Schäfer.
Quality Area to showcase quality assurance north of the River Main
“The manufacturers of metrological equipment explicitly contacted us at the last METAV, because they were looking for a platform in North Rhine-Westphalia and the adjoining markets,” he continues. A wish that the VDW first took on board in 2014, with the Quality Road. Now it is upgrading this feature by instituting the Quality Area as a fixed constituent of METAV. The partners for the Quality Area are the Specialised Section Metrology and Testing and the Specialised Section Vision in the VDMA, the German Society for Quality Assurance DGQ, the Hanser Verlag publishers and the Machine Tool Laboratory (WZL) in Aachen. On the part of the media, the Quality Area will be supported by the trade periodical QZ – Quality and Reliability
Covering the market in the north with the Moulding Area
Moulding, meaning tool and mould construction, is one of the most sophisticated application categories involved in metalworking. The sector is getting a new platform in the shape of the Moulding Area. The VDW is thus competing with the EuroMold. Many exhibitors are dissatisfied here, and are looking for new presentation options. “Together with the Moulding Area at METAV in Düsseldorf and the Moulding Expo in Stuttgart, whose sponsor we are, we are creating a new service for the sector,” is how Schäfer describes the overall concept, which guarantees complete coverage of the market to the north and south of the River Main, and in both odd and even years.
The partners for the Moulding Area are the tool manufacturers, a specialist group in the VDMA’s Specialised Section Precision Tools, the Hanser Verlag publishers, and the trade periodical Form + Werkzeug (Moulds and Tools).
Rapid Area to showcase new production processes for metals, plastics and composites
Additive manufacturing (AM) expands the spectrum of machining processes for metalworking applications. Some of METAV’s exhibitors are already involved in this field, and integrating the process into their machines. They will find a new platform in the Rapid Area. The topic has been significantly upgraded still further by the inauguration of an International Additive Manufacturing Award, which will in future be conferred every two years jointly by the VDW and the AMT (the USA’s Association for Manufacturing Technology), for innovators from the AM scene, and is worth a total of 100,000 US-dollars in cash and media services.
The partners in the field of additive manufacturing are the congress organisers Rising Media (who handle the world congress Inside 3D Printing), the newly founded Additive Manufacturing Working Group in the VDMA and on the part of the media in Germany the VDI News, in the USA the Gardner Media Group.
Medical technology sustainably anchored in the Medical Area
Medical technology, finally, a recurrent theme at METAV within the framework of special shows ever since 2010, will as from 2016 likewise be a fixed constituent, in the shape of the Medical Area. Like tool and mould construction, it is a customer segment with maximised stipulations for quality, safety and dependability. Many manufacturers of production technology are meanwhile serving this customer segment, which is characterised by high growth rates, rapid advances in innovation, but also stringent regulations.
The partners for the Medical Area are the Medical Technology Working Group in the VDMA, the Medical Cluster North Rhine-Westphalia, Vogel Business Media and the specialist periodical DeviceMed.
METAV’s new concept renders it more attractive for exhibitors and visitors alike
“Numerous synergies are emerging between METAV’s core remit and the themes of the four areas,” explains the VDW’s Executive Director Schäfer. Traditional machine tool manufacturers, too, are already developing machines for additive manufacturing. New vendors have arrived on the scene. Additive processes are also being used in the field of medical technology. Medical technology, plus tool and mould construction, are in themselves attractive customer groupings for METAV’s core exhibitor base. After all, quality assurance is closely intermeshed with all fields of production technology
The new topics as fixed constituents of the event will also expand the target groups involved, and thus the number of potential visitors as well. For trade visitors, this means METAV will become all the more attractive, because it is able to provide information on both the production modalities across all the processes involved and the adjoining steps in the value creation chain.
METAV is relaunching with power plus a new look and feel
METAV’s new concept is complemented by a new corporate design. It consists of a new METAV 2016 logo. Integrated into the year’s number is a power button. It stands for: “Power on!” Because exhibitors and visitors alike utilise METAV as a platform for their business, “Power your business” is accordingly the main message. In addition, METAV is being given a face, since trade fairs are encounters between people. The key visual of the METAV thus subsumes the logo, the keynote message, the face and the four themes of Rapid Area, Quality Area, Moulding Area and Medical Area. This creates numerous options for appropriately targeted visitor communication by means of ads, flyers, posters, etc.
All four areas are closely linked to the keynote themes of METAV. They complement the classical processes of metalworking, and address new target groups, which are also, however, interested in machine tools and tools as such. All four areas possess high growth potential, as has been confirmed by market research. Competent sales partners with in-depth knowledge of the markets concerned are supporting the VDW here in adopting and expanding these themes. Appropriately qualified trade associations and media partners guarantee that the visitor target groups can be addressed individually.
“We are confident that with this concept METAV will gain significantly and thus become even more attractive for exhibitors and visitors alike,” is the final summary of the VDW’s Executive Director Wilfried Schäfer. With “Power your Business,” METAV – the 19th International Exhibition for Metalworking Technologies – will be held in Düsseldorf from 23 to 27 February 2016.