Behind the scenes at bauma
13 Mar 2013
Peter Kenyon, TunnelTalk
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With little over a month to go until bauma 2013 in Munich, TunnelTalk reporter Peter Kenyon spoke to Georg Moller, Exhibition Group Director, about the global appeal of the event and the logistics behind organising the world's largest trade fair.
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- Civil tunnelling and the supporting industries that service it may only make up a small part of the record 3,200 plus exhibitors that will attend bauma Munich in the week of April 15-21, but they are valued highly.
- The construction industry in general has been hit hard by the global recession and the wave of government spending cuts that followed, but against all this civil tunneling as a specialist sub-sector has remained resilient.
- "Civil tunnelling, for sure, plays a very important role at bauma," said Georg Moller, Exhibition Group Director for Messe München, the company responsible for organising bauma Munich as well as bauma China, bauma South Africa and bC India. Unfortunately, for the moment at least, organisers record civil tunnelling figures in combination with mining rather than as two distinct specialities. "We don't have detailed figures on this special sector at this point in time, but for the mining sector in general, in which we include tunnelling, the number of exhibitors is the largest ever." In fact the total number of exhibitors in the mining sector is 700, a hundred more than 2010.
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Large exhibits create logistical challenges
- It is this sheer scale, says Moller, that makes bauma "the most important trade fair worldwide for the construction industry." In Munich alone Messe München International organises 40 trade shows that attract 30,000 exhibitors and two million visitors each year - meaning that this single week-long event will account for more than 10% of all exhibitors at Messe München organised events in Munich this year, and more than a quarter of all visits.
- Moller explained: "bauma is simply the show to be at - it is simply the biggest construction equipment show on earth. What is it exactly that makes bauma unique? First of all, the special atmosphere: bauma is huge, it is overwhelming, enormously busy, international, simply an unforgettable event - and it is always a successful business. For leading companies and all international market players it is a must to attend bauma. The show attracts top decision-makers and a huge number of buyers and experts of the industry from all over the globe. It is an excellent international contact platform and offers access to global growth markets."
- And what of the logistics in organising the event, which is held in Munich every three years?
- "There are about 100 people involved in the organization of bauma; planning for a show of this scale starts more or less straight after the previous show has ended," explains Moller.
- "Exhibition Management is in constant contact with the exhibitors while the Protocol Department starts its main preparations about six months prior to the show."
- BAUMA 2013 KEY FACTS
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Venue: New Munich Trade Fair Centre Dates: April 15-21, 2013 Opening hours: Mon-Fri: 9.30am-6.30pm Sat 8.30am-6.30pm Sun 9.30am-4.30pm By rail from Munich centre: U-Bahn (U2 to Messestadt Ost) (4am-1am service) Airport shuttle: Terminal 1/ 2 (bus) (8am-6pm)
- "One of the most demanding aspects is the logistics. Some of our exhibitors have very special stands, construction of which requires a set-up time of several weeks. Also, their exhibits are mostly quite large, hence it takes some time to build everything up. Therefore, the official set-up of bauma normally starts between one to four weeks prior to the show, depending on whether the stand is located in the indoor or the outdoor area. However, the start of the official set-up does not mean that exhibitors can choose freely when to come. In order to guarantee a smooth set-up, all companies have to apply for a set-up time and let the organiser know when they'll be delivering their materials and exhibits."
- So while we prepare to join the half a million visitors spare a thought for Georg and his team as they approach the busiest month of their working year, co-ordinating the arrival and delivery of thousands of exhibits, large and small.
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bauma prepares to break all records - TunnelTalk, February 2013
bauma - a chance to maximise global reach - TunnelTalk, March 2013
bauma interactive floorplan and exhibition preview - TunnelTalk, March 2013
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