Review: TV 2010
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Review: TV TecStyle Visions maintains its high standard
7,353 trade visitors ensure for satisfied exhibitors at Europe's most important industry meeting point for textile finishing and clothing decoration
Satisfied exhibitors at TV TecStyle 2010: 7,353 trade visitors attended the inter-national trade fair for textile printing, embroidery, transfer and flocking, which took place from 4 to 6 February 2010 in Stuttgart, to obtain information on trends and innovations in the sector. 180 exhibitors, i.e. 22 percent more than at the previous event two years ago, came away extremely satisfied with the level of interest shown in their products and machines by the visitors. Visitors whose numbers have jumped 19 percent since the move to the new trade fair grounds two years ago and now increased further to 7,353. Such figures ensure that the high standard of the TV trade fair is maintained and once again emphasise the trade fair's role as Europe's most important industry meeting point for textile finishing and clothing decoration.
There were plenty of new faces joining the regular customers at the trade fair stands this year. Around 34 percent had travelled over 300 kilometres to come to the exhibition, a figure similar to that of the previous event. The number of visitors coming from outside of Germany remained the same with 14 percent. Visitors from 38 countries were registered, which is a new record. They came mainly from Europe but also from Turkey, Israel, the USA and Canada. The high quality of visitors remained constant with 93 percent indicating that their involvement in the purchasing and sourcing decisions of their company was on a crucial, decisive or advisory level. A slight decrease was seen in the intentions of visitors to invest or purchase at the trade fair, falling by one percent to 92 percent. Exhibitors explained that this was because their customers were frequently finding it difficult to secure credit from the banks; companies are coming under increasing pressure due to the current economic situation. However, the majority of customers who did want to invest intended to do it soon; either directly at the trade fair (23 percent) or within the next six months (58 percent).
Embroidery attracted the most interest at the trade fair, followed by textiles and fabrics, transfer printing, digital transfer printing, textile screen printing, flocking and, finally, the (multiple) exhibitor services.
There was great interest shown not only in what the exhibitors had to offer but also in the comprehensive accompanying programme. The TV Specialist Forum, organised by the trade magazine TVP, once again enjoyed enormous popularity. 344 participants visited the 21 seminars addressing the themes of printing, embroidery, flocking, marketing, quality standards and much more. Excellent feedback was received from visitors and the speakers too appeared to be delighted with the opportunity to engage in expert discussions at the trade fair stands. A technical highlight of the TV trade fair was the Flock Application Area, a special show presenting the workflow for the direct flocking of textiles. Here, it was explained how cotton bags were printed and directly flocked. At another larger section of the special show, the entire flocking process was demonstrated. The seven partners Maag Flockmaschinen, MHM Siebdruckmaschinen, Sefar, Casati Flock, Tesoma, the Association of the Flock Industry in Europe and Beechfield looked at the themes of artwork creation, materials, screen production, adhesives, flock fibres, the process of electrostatic flocking, drying, cleaning, as well as testing and measurement processes. The Flock Application Area proved to be a great platform for participants looking to find out more about the flocking procedure.
The Golden Shirt Award, awarded by the trade magazine for textile decoration and promotion TVP, was once again a coveted prize. The theme this year was "The colour red" and entrants were given the task of combining at least two textile finishing techniques.
Exactly 50 participants submitted 88 entries, 11 submissions more than the competition in 2008. A jury of 13 experts, all members of the TV Trade Fair Advisory Board, decided the winners. First prize, sponsored by Melco, went to Benjamin Unger and Andreas Wahl from Zego Promotion in Aschaffenburg. Second prize, sponsored by IVM SignTex GmbH, was awarded to Detlef Schimmel from Hans Enders GmbH in Selbitz, while Barbara Stümer from TexDesign in Tornesch took home third prize. The Special Flock Prize, awarded by Maag Flockmaschinen, went to Danny Santo and David Schleider from the student company prisma sGmbH in Plauen.
95 percent of TV visitors were impressed with the opportunities available to gain information and make contacts at the trade fair stands. And they clearly found what they were looking for with 92 percent of visitors indicating that they would recommend the trade fair to others and 97 percent expressing their intention to return again in two years time.
95 percent of exhibitors at TV TecStyle Visions rated the expertise of the visitors as "very good" to "satisfactory". 93 percent of exhibitors expect their follow-up trade fair business to be "very good" to "satisfactory", a 6 percent decrease on the previous event, with the economic situation likely playing a part here. With a grade of 2.6 (1.0 being the highest), the market situation has been estimated as being significantly worse than in previous years. As far as commercial success is concerned, 92 percent of exhibitors believe their business will benefit "very well" to "satisfactorily" from their trade fair participation. The industrial location of Baden-Württemberg also provided an excellent platform for the TV trade fair, according to the exhibitors who awarded it a grade of 1.8.
A few opinions from the exhibitors themselves:
Jan Baden, Accounts Manager/R&D Application Specialist, Multi-Plot Europe GmbH, Bad Emstal: "We had achieved what we set out to do by the middle of the second day. The number and quality of the visitors was really very good and we are expecting successful follow-up trading. We were even able to generate business directly at the trade fair. We presented digital textile printing systems for the decoration of T-shirts with transfers, which can also be used for panel printing of materials, outerwear, textile fabrics and carpets."
Rolf Daiber, Managing Director, Gustav Daiber GmbH, Albstadt: "We came with high expectations and they were met. There were a lot of printers and embroiderers at our stand, many of them international visitors, mainly from Austria and Switzerland. The right visitors were there and we can confidently predict successful follow-up business. We are the market leaders for printwear in Europe with regard to professionalism and being up-to-date and presented completely new collections for the various applications."
Sofia Viegas, Customer Care, Solaris, Hamburg: We were delighted to be able to drum up work directly at the trade fair. Our strass designs were very popular and there were plenty of visitors looking to venture into this area. This is where we were able to help and the entire experience brought us plenty of new business. For us, this visit to the TV trade fair was definitely worth it."
Jürgen Korge, Global Sales Manager, Madeira, Freiburg: "TV 2010 was a great event. Despite the current economic situation being anything other than easy at the moment, all of our expectations were met. It was important for us that customers from the small, medium and large companies active in the area of embroidery came to our stand. Many of them were looking to enter the market for the first time and had come to TV to gather information. They appeared to be impressed with the subject matter and the event in general, also because all the suppliers were present. All in all, I'd have to say that the event was superb and the atmosphere second to none."
Gianpaolo Smania, Events & Marketing, Master Italia, San Dona' di Piave/Italy: "All of our customers were here, along with several potential customers from the printing and embroidery companies. Overall, however, we thought that there were fewer new customers than the previous event two years ago. The high standard set by the 2008 event with regard to visitor numbers and business was maintained which is good for the market in general and for the TV trade fair. We are glad to have participated."
Claus Teller, Managing Director, Borchert + Moller, Haigerloch: "Customer care and new acquisitions are our main focus and we succeeded at both. We mainly met with our existing customers but there were also a few new customers thrown into the mix. The quality of the visitors was good and there was buying interest. We are expecting to have plenty of follow-up business and are happy with how everything went."
Thomas Heuer, Country Manager DACH, Russel Europe Ltd., Livingston/GB: "As our products need to be explained, contact with the customers is very important. We want the distributors to really understand our products. The TV trade fair is a real hot-spot for the industry. All the manufacturers were there and the customers far exceeded our expectations with regard to number and quality."
Stephen Junge, Managing Director, Northcraft GmbH, Menden: "We are delighted with how everything went. All of the customers we invited were there and there were more new customers than expected. Our core competency lies in functional textiles, particularly for softshell jackets, with the option of changing the product in small quantities. We are anticipating excellent follow-up business immediately after the trade fair due to the high level of interest in our entire collection by the new customers."
Bettina Kutien, Marketing Manager/Product Development, Falk & Ross Group Europe, Sembach: "The trade fair went very well even though the number of visitors was slightly lower due to the current economic climate. This was, however, to the benefit of customer care as we had more time to devote to individual queries. We reached out to our entire target group and practically no-one slipped through the net. New customer acquisition was a success and the quality of the visitors was excellent, all of whom showed themselves to be willing to purchase."
Bernd Gröner, Managing Director, Karl Gröner GmbH, Ulm: "We are delighted with how everything went and saw both existing and new customers come to our stand. Contracts were concluded directly at the fair where there was a simpler system in action that was not too 'consultation-intensive'. Overall, we are expecting good business in the follow-up to the event."
Isabelle Attal, International Marketing Coordinator, Sol's, Paris/France: "We made new contacts at the trade fair and the customer frequency was good. We are happy with how it all went. We benefitted from the cooperation of the printers and distributors who presented our products and we would like to have a bigger stand at the next TV event in order to expand our business in Germany even more. Based on the many contacts we made this time round, we can look forward to great business in the months to come."
The next TV TecStyle Visions will be taking place from 9 to 11 February 2012 once again in Hall 1 of Messe Stuttgart.
Further information can be found at
http://www.tecstyle-visions.com.
