wenglor sensoric gmbh presented its newest product highlights at SPS IPC Drives in Nuremberg from the 27th through the 29th of November, 2012. For three days, visitors were able to experience the automation sector’s most up-to-date sensor technology first hand. More than 50 wenglor specialists we on-site in order to pass their concentrated expertise along to technologically enthusiastic expert visitors. But there’s lots more than just small talk and blue and white neckties behind the scenes during day-to-day trade fair routine. A chronicle.
Nuremberg, exhibition hall 4a, booth 141. It’s the evening before the traditional SPS automation trade fair opens in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg. The cool ceiling lamps light up wenglor’s trade fair booth, but it’s by far too little to illuminate every corner. Additional spotlights are focused on the product panels which are set up all around. A cool draft blows through the hall, which is open at all sides for the moment. After all, final setup work is still running at full bore. wenglor’s 3-member trade fair setup team is also putting the final touches on their trade fair booth which covers 480 square meters of floor space. Finished! After several days of setup, everything is finally ready for the big show. The walls with their new look are standing upright, the shelves have been filled and the product panels are ready for presentation. Together with the Vision System, a larger-than-life self-portrait of Albrecht Dürer adorns the bar at the heart of the booth over a breadth of nine meters. Two originals in Nuremberg – naturally. Distributed throughout the entire cross-shaped booth, the little blue products in numerous applications demonstrate their extraordinary capabilities. Industrial Communication, Barcode Scanners, Safety Light Curtains, Vision Systems and many other highlights will serve exclusively as a source of inspiration during the next few days.
Setup is followed by coaching for booth personnel. Roughly 50 persons from sales, product management, marketing and management receive their final briefing for the days to come. During this initiation for the opening of the trade fair, managing directors Dieter, Fabian and Rafael Baur explain the trade fair strategy to the entire wenglor team. “We want to talk to the right people at eye level”: this is the doctrine. Initiating new business relations, maintaining existing ones, demonstrating enthusiasm for technology, closing deals, small talk and much more will all be part of routine business for wenglor’s trade fair team during the next three days.
Let the show begin
As of 8 o’clock on the next morning, the team prepares itself for the day: when the trade fair opens its doors to the visitors at 9 o’clock, the suits, the typical blue and white ties and the nameplates must all be in place, the products must be ready for presentation and the business cards must be readily available. However, initial hustle and bustle in the narrow aisles of the dressing room and the work area soon settle down. Everyone has now arranged their work materials, checked the latest e-mails and prepared themselves for the first customer meetings. “Before things really get started you think about which customers you can expect and take a last look at which products are located where in the booth”, says outside salesman Adolf Haffner, to which his colleague Alfons Diemer adds: “I also think about which products might do especially well today, and which of those I’ll recommend to my customers.”
It’s almost 9 a.m. Technology-hungry visitors and the trade press are already waiting on the other side of the transparent glass doors at the entrance to the exhibition center. “All of our preparations have been completed – now we can get down to business”, says managing director Fabian Baur in a relaxed mood. During the traditional, final pep talk before the event is officially opened, sales engineer Stefan König pulls all the stops in customary fashion and once again initiates the team into its ambitious goals. “Let’s go! Let’s inspire and stimulate our customers and colleagues and convince them of wenglor’s reputation. Each and every one of us must do our best today!” One more group photo and the inrush of visitors can no longer be stopped. Then noise level rises abruptly – let the show begin!
The first crowd of visitors is now churning its way through the aisles of exhibition hall 4a and the first excited discussions at the product panels and in the cozy conference rooms are now running at full bore. The panels covering the fields of Industrial Communication and Image Processing are well visited right from the start, and the experts from Tettnang are beckoned from one meeting to the next. After having diligently completed the first trade fair reports, the next customers are already waiting for personal consultation. The engine is running.
Making a good impression
wenglor’s kitchen personnel is extremely busy as well. Behind the scenes at the trade fair booth, they’re serving, washing up and preparing food. Here as well, the customer is king – and discussions with the customers go much more smoothly with coffee and cake. Various giveaways such as bags, ballpoint pens and jelly bears make their contribution to the wellbeing of our guests as well. “The technical aspect is secondary”, stresses outside salesman Sven Thomas. “The most important thing is that our customers go home with a good impression and enjoy a pleasant trade fair experience with us.”
But there are of course differences amongst the visitors. wenglor takes heed of the great diversity of its guests, which necessitates a very well planned strategy. Although SPS IPC Drives is attended predominantly by relevant decision makers, visitors also include traditional sales employees, buyers from large national and international companies, technologically enthusiastic students, private persons, developers, tinkerers and many others. wenglor succeeds in having the right lines of communication for fulfilling the needs of all visitors, thus providing them with an unforgettable trade fair experience. “As opposed to other events, SPS is attended primarily by people who make decisions”, explains key account manager Teresa Sack with regard to her first impressions. “This makes our work highly efficient and promising.”
The hustle and bustle at wenglor’s booth don’t slow down until the doors of the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre are closed to the public at 6 p.m. Now it’s time to take initial stock of things and sort out the day’s experiences. But not for long – because on the next morning the maxim, “let’s get down to business”, rings out loudly through the expansive trade fair booth in hall 4a. When everything is over, the only remaining question is how much business we’ve done, which is exactly what all the energy and effort invested at the event is targeted at and makes wenglor so successful. The only answer to this question which can be found at our booth is: “We really got down to business!”
