Bauma 2010 Poised For Strong Turnout Despite Recession

With special pavilions devoted to equipment used to produce cement-, concrete-, lime- and gypsum-based components, Bauma 2010, the international mining

With special pavilions devoted to equipment used to produce cement-, concrete-, lime- and gypsum-based components, Bauma 2010, the international mining and construction trade show held once every three years, runs April 19-25 at the New Munich (Germany) Trade Fair Centre.

During the boom years of 2007, the Bauma event saw indoor and outdoor floor space stretched across 540,000 square meters Û roughly 5.8 million sq. ft. But even with the current global recession that has hit construction especially hard, the tradeshow has more than 3,000 vendors signed up, approximately the same number it had for 2007. Also, the show has added more floor space, upping the total to 555,000 square meters, or about 6 million sq. ft.

We can’t give an exact figure for exhibitor numbers at the present time, because we are still waiting for information from the organizers of joint stands about their individual exhibitors, said show operator Messe Munchen, CEO Klaus Dittrich, during a press conference. But what we can say is that it looks as if Bauma 2010 will have more exhibitors than in 2007 and that the proportion of exhibitors from abroad will also be higher [2007: 54 percent].

Organizers expect attendance for the week-long show to reach about half a million, near what it was in 2007. Managing that crowd should be somewhat easier, as the organizers will allow attendees to print their tickets at home and scan them at the turnstiles. They’ve also added a new entrance at the center’s northwest corner.

Although the bulk of Bauma’s focus is devoted to construction and mining equipment, a portion of the massive Impressions Halls features plants and machinery used in concrete and cement production, concrete masonry and pipe machinery, construction materials recycling, and control systems.

The drop in demand which occurred so suddenly and nearly all over the world, is an enormous challenge for all manufacturers, said Christof Kemmann, chairman of the Bauma advisory board and CEO of BHS Sonthofen, at a show press conference. Manufacturers of construction equipment are used to seeing fluctuations happening and therefore know how to handle them. However, this time, its scale as well as its speed are unique.

Measures to reduce costs quickly are therefore called for and many a company has already taken some. In this context, it is very good news that the majority of our members are striving to keep their permanent staff. Simultaneously, the time after the crisis needs to be taken into account also. Unfortunately, Bauma 2010 is likely to be affected by all of this. It will be very interesting to find out which answers the manufactures have come up with.

A major innovation theme expected at Bauma 2010 will be cross-sector approaches to reducing emissions. The tradeshow is taking place just as new interim emissions directives come into play: Tier 4 U.S. emissions standards to be phased-in over 2008-2015, as well as the European Commission’s Stage III B Directive 97/68/EC.

Besides predicting a strong Bauma, Kemmann said the construction and mining industries are likely to rebound this year. In 2010, the course will be set for the time after the crisis, he said. The long-term forecasts for the construction, building material, mining as well as the machinery industry worldwide are positive. Û www.bauma.de/en/ExhibitorDatabase