Inaugural EMTE-EASTPO machine tool exhibition ends on a positive note | The first EMTE-EASTPO 2014 concluded successfully on 17 July, 2014 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). Some 650 international manufacturers from 24 countries showcased their innovative machinery to buyers from 54 economies. The four-day exhibition attracted around 47,654 visitors with the locals making up the majority having come from 32 cities across the country.
The biggest group of domestic visitors were from south-eastern China viz. Anhui, Jiangsu, Shanghai and Zhejiang. Buyers from India, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia made up the majority of the international visitors. EMTE-EASTPO is a strategic east-west partnership of two established machine tool show owners from Europe and China, namely CECIMO – the European Association of the Machine Tool Industries and Shanghai EASTPO Culture Development Co., Ltd.
Dr Frank Brinken, chairman, Economic Committee, CECIMO remarked at the opening of the joint exhibition, “We are very pleased with the outcome of our maiden efforts to stage the first EMTEEASTPO exhibition – a high quality showcase of innovative technology and practical solutions presented by leading names from around the world.” The exhibition featured a total of eight country pavilions and national groups from Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan. It brought together some of the world’s leading machine tool manufacturers eyeing the vast market opportunities in China.
Among them were Fastems, a Finland-based company providing automation solutions; leading machine tool manufacturer Tornos Technologies (Shanghai), Whizcut China and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Shanghai). “This is the first time Fastems participated in an exhibition in China. We had quality business discussions with buyers and even concluded a sale during the exhibition. It was a rewarding experience for us and we will participate in the next exhibition,” shared Tomas Hedenborg, group CEO, Fastems.
For Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Shanghai) the exhibition was a launch pad to showcase their new technologies, products and innovations. Zhuang He Ting, deputy general manager, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries averred, “The exhibition has proven to be of a high quality platform that is well-supported by exhibitors and visitors. We were also pleased to have met and networked with several high quality visitors here.”
Conferences were held alongside the event.
Dedicated company pavillions at the show,
Tornos Technologies (Shanghai) and WhizCut of Sweden AB were also delighted with the quality visitors. “The visitor turn-out exceeded our expectations. We had over 150 quality business leads from a number of sectors – automotive, aerospace, electronics and electrical, healthcare and watch-making. We transacted on-the-spot sales and will continue a number of negotiations with potential buyers,” said Sun Weimin, general manager (Greater China), Tornos Technologies (Shanghai). Chris Schmidt, managing director, WhizCut shared, “We had a great show. The contacts we received are now leading to a lot of good business.”
The exhibition welcomed several overseas delegations. They included the Ludhiana Machine Tool Manufacturers Association from India and groups from the Philippines – Philippine Die and Mold Association (PDMA), Metalworking Industries Association of the Philippines (MIAP) and Metals Industries Research Development Centre (MIRC).
Philip Ang, president, Philippine Die and Mold Association commented, “At the show, we were able to see a wide variety of machinery and technologies for the manufacturing industry. This exhibition was a great sourcing platform and our delegates were able to make on-the-spot purchases of tools and accessories. We are very pleased with our visit to the exhibition.”
Chen Jian from Liaoning Jinggang Heavy Forging Co Ltd also praised the extensive range of innovations and machines on the show floor. He said, “We planned to invest in the latest technologies and met two European exhibitors who showcased machinery which matched our requirements. We had serious discussions at the show and will be confirming the purchase very soon.”
The joint exhibition also saw the successful staging of several knowledge-sharing activities and technical seminars. The EMTE-EASTPO CEO summit was one of the key activities held in conjunction with the exhibition. Held on July 15, 2014 at Kerry Hotel Pudong Shanghai, the summit attracted some 100 participants to learn and exchange ideas with a panel of distinguished speakers led by keynote presenter, Fritz Klocke, professor and director of laboratory for machine tools and production engineering (WZL) of RWTH Aachen University (Germany).
Filip Geerts, director general, CECIMO, asserted, “We are privileged to have the presence of many machine tool experts and leading industry end-users from both east and west in one place to discuss important issues under the theme, ‘profitable growth through state-of-the-art manufacturing’. We hope that the discussions that had been initiated at the summit will spur greater cooperation between machine tool makers and users.”
Other enriching activities that also took place included a dialogue on ‘robotics and metal processing machine tool technology integration and application held on the eve of the show; summit on the first EU-China machine tool industry capital and technical cooperation as well as a series of technology seminars led by the Shanghai Mechanical Engineering Society