GrindTec 2018: Leading Fair for Grinding Technology Increasingly on the Radar of Asian Firms

That’s not surprising. The leading trade fair of grinding technology is also growing in 2018. That 535 registrations have already been received is a very clear sign that the record of 577 exhibitors set two years ago will be broken again. Moreover, the level of internationality is likewise as high as in 2016: some 40 percent of the exhibitors come from 26 countries other than Germany.

It is obvious that Asian suppliers of grinding technology have become increasingly interested in GrindTec. More and more companies from China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan and India regard the GrindTec trade fair as the perfect platform for presenting their products. Indeed, three out of every ten international exhibitors now come from these Asian countries.

The range of exhibits: Tool machining systems, Grinding machines, Technology, Machine periphery, Machining technology, Machining periphery, Management and planning, Training, research and development, Services.

The leading suppliers of grinding technology registered their participation in GrindTec 2018 a long time ago, and some have greatly expanded their exhibition space. GrindTec is the most important trade fair for many of them − here they will achieve top results, as most recently at GrindTec 2016, when some 64 percent of the exhibitors rated their participation as “very good” or “good” and another 28 percent said it was entirely satisfactory.

New trade fair hall completely rented

Just as in the cases of halls 1, 2, 3 and 6, the new pavilion, which is a first-class temporary trade fair hall, has been completely rented. Only rather small isolated areas are still available, and these are running out. Hence, interested companies should get in touch with trade fair product management (see below) as soon as possible. The registration forms can also be downloaded from GrindTec’s website: www.grindtec.de.

Theme Park Grinding Technology 4.0 at the GrindTec fair

GrindTec 2018, as the leading trade fair for grinding technology, is going in new directions here. The AFAG trade fair company, together with the “mav” profes-sional journal published by the Konradin Media group and the FDPW Association of Precision Tool Grinders, is organizing the theme park “Schleiftechnik 4.0” [Grinding Technology 4.0] for the second time. Leading manufacturers of controls, machines and robots have committed themselves to participate and will be presenting their visions, ideas and solutions in the form of lectures at the Forum. The focus will be on networked systems which exchange data in real time, analyze it and then control themselves. Such solutions make it possible to design grinding processes so that they are much more efficient and cost effective. This theme park is being organized to present the advantages of digitalization in concentrated form.

GrindTec 2016 Final Report

Only the best marks for the world’s leading trade fair for grinding technology, once again with significant growth.

Augsburg – It seems as if the GrindTec must have been programmed for continuous growth by the organisers AFAG and the sponsors, the trade association FDPW during the première 1998. Since the very first event the GrindTec has shown far above average growth, completely ignoring the world’s economic situation. Again the 10th edition impressed with new best benchmarks: 577 exhibitors (+ 11 %),  17,950 visitors (+17 %) and 42,000m² exhibition space (+14 %).

Excellent results for the participating companies

Equally as satisfying as the impressive growth of the GrindTec are the renewed excellent results of the exhibitors, as the trade fair market research agency Gelszus, Dortmund reported: 73 % assessed their trade fair participation as “very good or good”, a further 20 % were “satisfied”. They also hold high expectations regarding their trade fair follow-up business: 70 % of the companies are expecting “very good or good” business, and a further 28 % expect it to be “satisfactory”. The present situation of the sector is seen as positive by the overwhelming majority of the exhibitors (86 %). Nearly half (45 %) are even expecting the economic situation to continue to improve, only 9 % expect a possible light weakening.

Order trade fair GrindTec:  2,700 visitors placed orders

15 % of the visitors already placed orders during the GrindTec, considerably more than in 2014, when 6 % answered this question with yes. This means that here we are discussing at least 2,700 orders, an average of 4.7 per exhibitor! Furthermore 66 % of visitors reported that during the GrindTec the had made contacts, which could lead to orders after the trade fair. And these results will doubtless have contributed to the good moods of the exhibitors: More than every second respondent (57 %) was visiting the GrindTec in order to prepare for an investment decision or to consolidate it.

Success factor quality of visitors

Since the very first event a significant factor for the continued success of the GrindTec has been the very high quality of the visitors. They are nearly all experts in the field of grinding technology, and added to this is their high level of decision-making competence: 85 % are sole decision-makers or involved in decision-making, or at least participate in an advisory capacity. And their assessment of the range of exhibits was excellent: 74 % assessed it as “very good” or “good”, a further 24 % were at least “satisfied”.

More guests from Asia

About a third (31%) of the GrindTec visitors comes from outside Germany. Of course the neighbouring European countries continue to dominate here, but the interest shown in particular by Asian visitors is highly conspicuous. Around 1,300 visitors from Asia were registered, with China being the strongest country of origin. Overall there were guests from around 60 nations in Augsburg, creating another new benchmark.

Successful première for the theme park Grinding Technology 4.0.

The first edition of the theme park Grinding Technology 4.0 fulfilled all expectations and ensured satisfied partners. There is still some potential for increased attendance by visitors at the stand, but the quality of the visitors was sensational. KUKA for example noted around 100 leads, of which around 30 per cent already resulted in concrete inquiries during the trade fair. KUKA and other partners such as SIEMENS have therefore already planned their participation at the theme park in 2018.

Tool-grinder of the year comes from Schmalkalden

The winner of the competition Tool-grinder of the year 2016 is Roberto Krech (32). He works for Weisskopf Werkzeuge GmbH in Meiningen. The finale of the competition took place on 17th March, 2016 during the framework of the leading trade fair for the sector GrindTec in Augsburg. The competition was carried out by the trade journal fertigung of the publishers moderne industrie, Landsberg, this year together with the manufacturer of tool-grinding machines Vollmer Werke Maschinenfabrik from Biberach. The competition is held bi-annually in German-speaking countries.

Ready for the next event: GrindTec 2018 from 14th to 17th March

The documentation for participation in 2018 will be available for potential exhibitors earlier than for previous events. The Project Management plans to mail it next autumn. In order to be able to meet the increased demand for space in 2018, the organiser plans to add a high quality temporary exhibition hall, which was already used highly successfully during the world’s leading trade fair for elevator technology in 2015. In 2020 the new and considerably larger Hall 2 will be available. The GrindTec 2018 will take place from 14th to 17th March (Wednesday to Saturday).

Statements on GrindTec 2016

Jürgen Baldus, President FDPW, German Trade Association of Precision Tool-Grinders 

“As the technical sponsors of the GrindTec we are absolutely thrilled by this trade fair! The carefully revised glossary has resulted in the range of grinding technology exhibits at the GrindTec becoming highly interesting for the industry and its suppliers – and at the same time one of the reasons for the enormous increase in qualified visitors!”

Heiko Könicke, Managing Director of the organisers AFAG Trade Fairs

“Even for us as trade fair organisers such absolute top results are not routine. Although the frameworks within the markets are not free from conflict, we were able to more than satisfy our exhibitors and visitors. The excellent quality of the trade fair and its range of exhibits, the ultra-strict specialisation and the dynamic increase in the internationality factor of the GrindTec result in high acceptance by the professional visitors. Tests of the trade fair have proved that the targets of both the exhibitors and of the visitors have been satisfactorily fulfilled. The high level of willingness to invest already led to dynamic ordering activities by the trade fair visitors during the trade fair. The high amount of good quality contacts made by the exhibitors in Augsburg means they can expect good follow-up business after the fair. Together with our partners and customers we are very happy about the excellent results of the GrindTec in Augsburg.”

Joachim Kalsdorf, AFAG, Project Manager GrindTec

“The increased internationality factor or the exhibitors was visibly reflected in the visitor structure. Never before have we been able to greet so many foreign guests at the GrindTec, from Asia alone there were about 1,300 visitors. The participating companies are particularly pleased to see the continued impressively high level of competence of the visitors.”

Professor Dr.-Ing. Wilfried Saxler, General Manager FDPW

“As there were more exhibitors exhibiting on more space at the GrindTec 2016 than at the previous event, it remained until the end to see whether it would also be possible to increase the amount of visitors. So it is fantastic to see that we finally totalled nearly 18,000 professional visitors. This confirms for us, the technical sponsors of the trade fair, the specialisation on grinding technology has really qualitatively proved its value. The discussions between exhibitor and visitors were very efficient as it was possible to get straight to the point.”