Going through the motions

And for a moment there I thought I was going to be eating humble pie. (I'd gone on record and stated that I think Deutsche Messe have got it wrong by staging the event every year). But after a busy and energetic opening day, things slowed down.

Dates have already been announced for its 2008 event, however, when a return to the Shanghai New Int'l Expo Centre will take place from 27-30 October. So, diaries are busy. Soon, another booming market is opening the door to the international market with CeMAT India taking place at the Bangalore International Exhibition Centre from 4-7 December. Carsten Fricke, senior project manager, Deutsche Messe, was certainly excited about the prospects of the Indian show, when I spoke to him in the CeMAT offices on the show floor last month. And why not? For them, it's an almost certain money-spinner.

But it's a lot for everyone else to keep up with and large elements of the CeMAT Asia show have remained static since the last time. After all, a year isn't a long time in the factory lifting business.

One of few new products available to visitors was the ER2 hoist from Kito, already available in native Japan, but will start to appear in the Chinese market from next April. The unit features an emergency stop pushbutton, upper and lower limit friction clutch with limit switch, plus high-frequency response of 60% duty factor, it added. The unit was showcased in a glass box at the front of the stand, as you'd expect it to be, but such emphasis on new products was hardly commonplace around the aisles.

Taiwan-based Yoke Industrial Corp., did present its new hoist ring, while Tele Radio, which were represented on the stand by president Bertil Gorling, exhibited its new T70 system, which is specially design for the Chinese and American markets. Also new to China is the so-called Jaguar ESB transmitter with four, six or eight functions depending on the transmitter version. Staying with remotes, Fomotech launched a transmitter series to the local market.

But there was not a great deal more for the shopping trolley, or at least not much that hadn't been seen before. It was a bit like watching a movie for the second or third time.

Demag didn't even exhibit, but did have representatives of the company on the show floor, while it was a more low-key affair on the Konecranes stand this time around, which previously focused on the opening of its new Chinese facility (2005) and its new corporate logo (2006).

Has the market reached trade show saturation point?

Richard Howes

Editor

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