The green shoots of recovery were very much in evidence at this year’s PPMA Show, where thousands of senior buyers with major purchasing requirements generated real business opportunities for exhibitors. Visitors were impressed with the diversity of equipment and number of new developments on display, while exhibitors praised the level and quality of enquiries and many reported sales off the stand.
“Both the quantity and quality of enquiries were great,” confirmed Ingolf Latz, International Sales Director, OCS Checkweighers. “There are projects out there and we are pleased that we will become part of them due to our participation in the PPMA Show.”
Simon Marsh, Project Manager, Conveyor Units, said the stand had been “inundated with enquiries” while Jim Moore, MD, Lynnmoore Engineering said the company had achieved a sale within three hours of the opening day. Deborah Conneely, the PPMA Show’s Marketing Manager said that another exhibitor had reported a £1 million potential order during the show. Among the many first time exhibitors, Suzanne Griffiths, Managing Director of Golden Valley Packaging Solutions, described the show as “the most successful exhibition we have ever attended.”
“There was a real buzz throughout the hall during the three days of the show and this reflected a more positive outlook from all sectors of our industry,” commented PPMA Chief Executive Chris Buxton. “This year’s PPMA Show has been a fantastic success, delivering high calibre visitors ready to do business.”
The upbeat feel of the show was also evident in the number of new product launches. T Freemantle reported “huge amounts of interest” in its new Casepacker, and James Chrismas, Loma System’s Trade Marketing Manager, said the demonstration of the company’s new CW3 Combination Checkweigher and Metal Detector was well attended and that Loma had been delighted with the interest generated in all its new products. “We had a great show with even more enquiries than last year,” he added.
Torsten Giese, Marketing Manager, PR and Exhibitions for Ishida Europe, said the company had reached its leads target within the first two days of the exhibition. “The PPMA Show is a good, efficient exhibition,” he continued, “a nice size and very user-friendly, which attracts the right visitors.”
Official visitor numbers for the event will be released following ABC auditing, but the show attracted a host of blue-chip companies including Asda, AstraZeneca, BAE Systems, Boots UK, Cadbury, Dairy Crest, Diageo, GlaxoSmithKline, Hasbro UK, ICI Paints AkzoNobel, Kellogg’s, Kimberly Clark, Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Tesco Direct, The Royal Mint, Unilever and United Biscuits.
“The size of the show meant we could see all relevant visitors and we were able to make a number of very useful new contacts with companies we would not otherwise have been in touch with,” said Chris Gent of Interactive Coding Equipment.
Visitors to the PPMA Show were equally positive. Kathryn Cope, Manufacturing Manager, Del Monte, described the exhibition as “very informative and well presented,” and Amar Nawaz of Sterling Pharmaceuticals said he had visited the show in 2008 and “didn’t want to miss out this year. It has been very interesting.”
“We have been delighted by visitor and exhibitor reaction to this year’s exhibition,” commented PPMA Show Group Exhibition Director Ian Crawford. “Despite the recession it is very clear that serious buyers in the market are starting to spend again and forward-thinking machinery manufacturers developing new equipment and services are able to capitalise on this. The PPMA Show has proved once again that it is the ideal forum in which to bring these parties together.”
In 2010 the PPMA Show will become part of the Total Processing & Packaging exhibition, which is held every three years. Total Processing & Packaging takes place at the NEC from May 25th to 27th. For further information visit www.totalexhibition.com or to discuss exhibiting at the event, contact Graham Earl on 020 8910 7890 or email graham.earl@reedexpo.co.uk. The next stand-alone PPMA Show will be in September 2011.
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