Maquitec surpases the business expectations of participing companies

The industrial trade fair, which was held from the 25th to the 29th October in Fira de Barcelona's Gran Vía M2 exhibition centre, recorded 20,764 visits The sixth Maquitec, held in Fira de Barcelona's Gran Vía M2 exhibition centre and which closed on Saturday, the 29th of October, recorded 20,764 visits by professionals linked to industrial activity. Thanks to the concentration of buyers in the north east of the mainland –40% of demand in the sector– numerous trade contacts are made at Maquitec. Many exhibitors stated that they had surpassed their participation expectations. Several sales operations were finalised during the fair and, in general, exhibitors gave the quality of visitors a high ranking. La sexta edición de Maquitec, que se clausuró en el recinto Gran Via M2 de Fira de Barcelona el pasado sábado 29 de octubre, registró 20.764 visitas de profesionales vinculados a la actividad industrial. La gran concentración de compradores en el nordeste peninsular –el 40% de la demanda del sector– convierte Maquitec en un salón donde se realizan numerosos contactos comerciales. Muchos de los expositores declararon haber superado sus expectativas de participación, cerrando diferentes operaciones de venta en el salón y, en general, las empresas participantes valoraron nuevamente la calidad del visitante.

The sixth Maquitec, held in Fira de Barcelona's Gran Vía M2 exhibition centre and which closed on Saturday, the 29th of October, recorded 20,764 visits by professionals linked to industrial activity. Thanks to the concentration of buyers in the north east of the mainland –40% of demand in the sector– numerous trade contacts are made at Maquitec. Many exhibitors stated that they had surpassed their participation expectations. Several sales operations were finalised during the fair and, in general, exhibitors gave the quality of visitors a high ranking. 

All specialities of the metallurgical industry were present in Maquitec 2005, which offers solutions for those industrial processes in which metal elements are manipulated, such as the automobile industry, the manufacture of domestic appliances, metal articles and parts, construction, electricity and optics, among others, since it is a sector which crosses over into almost all economic activities. 

The sectors represented at Maquitec were: machine tools, welding, cutting tools, hydraulics and pneumatics, CAD/CAM, measuring and control, thermal and surface treatments, accessories, automatisms and tooling, subcontracting and engineering and support services, which were incorporated last year.

800 companies were represented at 230 stands in Maquitec 2005. The net exhibition space in halls 3 and 4 of the Gran Vía exhibition centre amounted to 12,813m2. Maquitec showed the transformation of the industry with the incorporation of new technologies in industrial design and production processes. Automation, the growing importance of engineering, innovation applied not only in the development of new products and more efficient production methods, but also design, business management, marketing tools, etc. are some of the key areas that defined this Fira de Barcelona industrial trade fair.

Maquitec was inaugurated by the Councillor for Labour and Industry of the Generalitat of Catalonia. Josep M. Rañé, had previously met with members of the Organising Committee, who expressed some of the concerns of the metallurgical sector. Insufficient subsidies for better innovation, a difficulty in finding skilled labour and a low level of flexibility in companies were bullet points of the meeting with the councillor.

Maquitec has an established position as a trade fair which provides information, shows innovation and promotes the globalisation of companies of the metallurgy sector in new markets, such as the Euro-Mediterranean Area and Eastern Europe. This year, more than ever, Maquitec provided a debate forum for reflecting on the current state of the sector and the main trends which are going to mark the evolution of the metallurgical industry and its entry into new markets. Over 400 people participated in the various forums, seminars and conferences held within the setting of Maquitec.

The Euro-Mediterranean Industry

In this sense, on the 25th and 26th of October, Maquitec hosted the second Euro-Mediterranean Industrial Cooperation Forum with the presence of more than a hundred foreign professionals from the Euro-Mediterranean area. The inaugural session was attended by the Moroccan Minister for Industry, Trade and Economic Affairs, Salah Edin Mezouar, who defended the creation of an “offensive” Euro-Mediterranean economic block in order to face competition from other markets such as the Asian one. Salah Edin Mezouar presented Morocco as an advanced “economic partner” and he encouraged European businesses to take advantage of the opportunities and benefits offered by southern Mediterranean countries. The Minister pointed out that Morocco has bilateral trade agreements with the U.S. and various Arab and African countries, which allows companies that set up in Morocco to enter these markets duty free. The Minister assured delegates that ”the true delocalisation is the one going to Asia”. In Euro-Mediterranean countries, however, company localisation is happening in a geographic area which is becoming an economic centre”. 

According to the President of the Organising Committee of Maquitec, Josep Morell, “Mediterranean industrial management” is an option of the future. For Morell, European countries have to bring “industry, innovation, new technologies and inventiveness” to the construction of this new free trade zone. 
The forum started with the presentation of the first report on the state of technological innovation in this area. This report identifies the technological centres and innovation tools that exist on both sides of the Mediterranean for foreseeing North-South cooperation in the industrial field and attracting investment. The remaining sessions focused on industrial subcontracting as a way of inter-company cooperation between countries and looked at some case studies of investments made in southern Mediterranean countries. The Forum also provided the setting for business meetings between foreign professionals and exhibitors.

European Subcontracting Forum

On the 27th and 29th of October, the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce also organised the second European Industrial Subcontracting Forum, during Maquitec, at which various speakers talked about the competitiveness of Spanish industry, allaying fears of large scale delocalisation. The Foreign Trade Director of the Higher Council of Chambers, Carlos Díaz, portrayed subcontracting activity in Spain, “which forms part of all sectors”, and said that we need to commit to quality and technology in order to compete. Alex Ruiz, economist for the Server d’Estudis Econòmics of la Caixa gave his view of the sector’s future in Eastern European and Chinese markets. Ruiz said that multi-localisation must be fruit of a well defined strategy and presented Turkey as one of the most attractive markets for subcontracting. The consultant Lide Salvador presented the conclusions of a report on the repercussions of industrial multi-localisation in Spanish industrial subcontracting companies.

A series of practical workshops analysed the current state and future of four sectors linked to industrial subcontracting: the metal, plastics, aeronautical and electronics sectors.

Associated with the forum, the 5th European Industrial Subcontracting Encounters put 25 leading European contractors in touch with Spanish subcontractors. The foreign companies belong to the aerospace, electronics, metallurgy, automotive, capital equipment manufacturing, plastics, machine tools and energy sectors. All of them extended specific demands and were looking for subcontractors in Spain.

View of purchases and how to market ones own product

The Maquitec programme also included the conference organised by the Asociación Española de Responsables de Compras y Existencias with the title “View of the new industrial economy and purchases”, which focused on the machine tool and subcontracting sectors with special attention on the Mexican and Czech markets.  Lastly, the PIMEC INNOVACIÓ Cycle of Conferences called "How to create your own product and market it" were about industrial design and the protection thereof, marketing and entry into new markets and financing and public subsidies within the reach of companies.

2007: The Year of Maquitec

As stated by the president of the Organising Committee of Maquitec, Josep Morell, “Fira de Barcelona is already working on the 2007 show. The organisers have maintained contact with different companies and organisations and all consider the change to odd years to be a good decision. The main aim is to revalidate the growth of the show in both number of exhibitors and visitors and to continue to make Maquitec a profitable fair for the metallurgy industry.

Maquitec is a trade show of Fira de Barcelona, the leading organiser of industrial and professional exhibitions in Spain and one of the first four in Europe in number of events.