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ZOW Bad Salzuflen: East Westphalia goes international - Highlights galore at 14th Zuliefermesse Ost-Westfalen
Thoroughly positive and constructive – that was the mood among exhibitors and visitors at ZOW Zuliefermesse Ost-Westfalen at the Bad Salzuflen Exhibition Center: this year’s industry gathering offered sophisticated presentations and provided participants with outstanding contacts. There was a huge response to the Architectural Lounge and events supporting logistics, lightweight engineering and direct print special features. 771 exhibitors from 34 countries assembled at the heart of the East Westphalian furniture industry on February 25-28 to display their design ideas for the furniture and interior design industries for the coming season.
Following the 14th ZOW in Bad Salzuflen, Bielefeld-based organizers Survey Marketing + Consulting GmbH & Co. KG can point to positive outcomes all round. Stunning presentations in all product categories and a huge array of features awaited the 16,500 trade visitors to ZOW 2008. Halls 19 to 23 at the Bad Salzuflen Exhibition Center were practically sold out, with 771 exhibitors (previous year: 683) displaying their newest products and services solutions for the industry over a 45,000 m2 area (previous year: 41,000 m²). A great many familiar but also new suppliers and their portfolios injected even greater variety for trade visitors. A number of start-up companies took part for the first time in 2008 in the context of a special program financed by the German Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (www.bafa.de).More foreign exhibitors
Compared to 2007, the ratio of German to foreign exhibitors has turned round: the 375 German businesses exhibiting made up 49 percent (previous year: 51 percent), while the international contingent of396 exhibitors contributed 51 percent (previous year: 49 percent). Within this group, the 125 companies from Italy again represented the biggest national contingent, followed by Austria (29) and Spain (27). Apart from a slight increase in the number of international exhibitors, suppliers from the East Westphalia furniture area (OWL) remained the strongest group among German exhibitors: 160 companies from OWL were at Bad Salzuflen, in other words, 43 % of German exhibitors and 21 % of all ZOW exhibitors. ZOW remains true to its regional concept while at the same time becoming increasingly international.
Visitor numbers up
At the end of the fourth show day, the previous year's trade visitor numbers were overtaken by more than three percent to reach 16,500. The number of guests from overseas increased slightly, however, and as expected, German visitors continued to make up the biggest proportion. As more international guests were represented at ZOW in 2008, there was an increase in average time spent at the show, with Monday and Tuesday proving to be the strongest show days.A particularly pleasing development in visitor categories is that of the architects, interior designers and design professionals. This group has developed systematically into a new ZOW target group. Aimed at interior design topics, the ZOW Architects’ Days based around the “Architectural Lounge” offered a daily information program and trade-specific tours for these professional groups. All the events were either well attended or fully booked, and a “Product Test” of selected ZOW exhibits in particular had a huge response. Countless exhibitors stressed that this had provided them with a lot of excellent contacts.
As well as the wide range of presentations by ZOW exhibitors, the special events promoted by the organizer and its partners were particularly well-received. The “Logistics in the Furniture Industry” series of presentations highlighted the importance – and also the volatility – of this extremely topical aspect, which unfortunately for many companies still only lurks in the shadows. For the third time under the ZOW umbrella, the special E3S exhibit on solid surfaces and engineered stone demonstrated new possibilities for working with these types of composite materials and in particular for craftsmen and interior designers.
Also to the fore was the issue of direct print and naturally the hot topic of lightweight construction. In a closed session on lightweight construction at ZOW, representatives from science and industry discussed future developments in this exciting segment. The significance of the topic found expression in the encouragement which the Interest Group for Lightweight Engineering (“Igel”), received during the four show days. Membership of “Igel” has now grown to well over 100, and thought is already being given to forming a long-term lightweight engineering cluster in East Westphalia.