Constructionshows
• Over 300 exhibitors and 5000 trade visitors
• Exhibitors have access to 85,000 machines
• Buyers from more than 100 countries
• Positive economic conditions
• USETEC auction on the final day of the trade fair
USETEC will take place at Messe Karlsruhe from 13 to 15 April 2015. This year’s edition marks the return of the World Trade Fair for Used Technology to its birthplace – and to its traditional date at the same time as Hannover Messe. USETEC began its existence as RESALE in Karlsruhe some 20 years ago and established itself as a fixture in the city’s calendar until it was last staged there in 2010. With just one month to go until the doors open, the joint organisers, Hess GmbH, Weingarten/Baden and Karlsruher Messe- und Kongress-GmbH (KMK), are in confident mood. “We are expecting over 300 exhibitors and around 5000 visitors from more than 100 countries,” say Managing Directors Britta Wirtz (KMK) and Florian Hess. “Visitors will find machinery for every sector of manufacturing industry at the trade fair.” And the exhibits are just the beginning. The exhibitors have direct access to a total of around 85,000 machines. As always, this means that many buyers will complement their trip to USETEC by visiting exhibitors’ warehouses after attending the event.
The global economic environment offers reasons for optimism. Although risks and crises continue to simmer, analysts expect the trend in the major economic regions to be positive as the Federation of the German Export Trade (BDEx) in Berlin – one of USETEC’s partners – explains. “We see growth potential for the used machinery market, especially in the ASEAN member states and Latin American countries, such as Bolivia, Peru and Colombia,” says Gregor Wolf, Managing Director of BDEx. “The picture in Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco is broadly similar. In all these countries, demand is primarily driven by food processing machinery and agricultural technology.” BDEx expects exports to grow by around 4 percent in 2015 but does not anticipate any significant growth stimulus from the BRIC states. Due to the low oil price, the appetite for investment in the Middle East is also less than pleasing. The same applies to other oil exporting countries such as Nigeria, Venezuela and Russia, where falling revenues from sales of oil and gas are having a noticeable impact.
Favourable conditions for used machinery
As co-founder and technical sponsor of USETEC, the Trade Association for Machine Tools + Tooling (FDM) will again be flying its flag at the trade fair. Many of the association’s member companies from working groups on used machinery will be participating as exhibitors in Karlsruhe. “They will present a large and diverse spectrum of machinery and equipment at very competitive prices,” announces Kurt Radermacher, Managing Director of the FDM. “As always, these companies want to prove that used machines offer a good alternative to new machinery.” One important service provided by the FDM’s working groups is the website www.usetec.com. This combines the USETEC online catalogue and the association’s own used machinery portal MachineStock.com and can be used free of charge. It gives potential buyers of machinery round-the-clock access to a pool of high quality used machine tools that are available for immediate purchase as well as the machines offered by all USETEC exhibitors. It is therefore the perfect complement for USETEC, which is primarily a face-to-face marketing instrument.
The European Association of Machine Tool Merchants (EAMTM), USETEC’s major supporter, has a generally positive assessment of the current economic environment. The EAMTM expects USETEC to benefit from the relatively strong global economy and attract a large number of visitors – although the association is quick to emphasise the importance of quality above quantity. According to the EAMTM, the used machinery market has mostly recovered from the setbacks of recent years. “We expect that the trade fair will be a success,” says Ton Matena, President of the EAMTM. His machine tool trading company, Mamach, is based in Holland and will itself be an exhibitor in Karlsruhe. “Ever shorter term contracts in the contract manufacturing sector are also playing their part in lifting demand for used machinery,” he explains. “After all, it makes no sense to invest in new machines for short-term projects.” Second-hand equipment offers a viable and much more affordable solution here.
Durable and extremely reliable
The largest group represented at USETEC are suppliers of metalworking machines. This year, BTT from Ispringen near Pforzheim has increased the size of its stand. The machinery dealer has specialised in the Japanese brand Mori Seiki and more recently also Makino for nearly 25 years. “The machines from both these manufacturers are very durable and extremely reliable,” says Mike Bosetti, owner of BTT. “Even second-hand examples are excellent machine tools, which will provide good service for many, many years to come.” Demand for BTT’s machines is currently growing– especially in Germany. “At the moment, though, the improving economy is making it quite difficult to source good quality used machines,” he adds. “A lot of manufacturing companies are not yet willing to part company with their older models.” As well as German customers, metalworking companies from dynamic industrialising countries, such as India and Turkey, are buying in greater numbers. Second-hand machining technology is also on the shopping lists of companies in the Middle East and South Eastern Europe. At the last edition of USETEC, BTT sold three used machines during and immediately after the trade fair.
Another exhibitor, Agrar-Markt Deppe, has also activated the contacts it made at recent editions of USETEC for this year’s event. The supplier of agricultural technology notes that many comparatively new machines, up to 3 years old, remain in Germany. Of its traditional sales regions, only Bulgaria and Romania remain as destinations for older machines. As a result, Agrar-Markt Deppe is on the lookout for new markets for its products and hopes that USETEC will make a contribution to achieving this goal. The company has its sights set on South America and has already sold a few machines to customers in Argentina and Chile. “We enjoy the advantage that everyone needs food wherever they are and all the time,” emphasises Friedrich Deppe, Senior Director. “The infrastructure in any given country is a key factor in determining whether the machine is an attractive investment.” Used agricultural machines are an interesting proposition for countries with large farming operations. However, Deppe offers no suitable equipment for regions where smaller farms predominate. And, sometimes, there are also legal obstacles. The company is unable to sell its used machinery to Brazil, a very populous country, due to import restrictions.
Products define the target market
For Schmidt Kommunalfahrzeuge, a USETEC exhibitor and supplier of municipal vehicles, the circle of customers is defined by the range of products it sells. The company based in Groß-Rohrheim is the leading European supplier of reliable, reconditioned products in its sector selling everything from refuse collection vehicles, road sweeping machines, suction tankers and hook- and skiploaders. Schmidt Kommunalfahrzeuge has recently made some changes to its second-hand portfolio. “Our range now consists almost exclusively of young products,” says Fiorangela Schlösser, Deputy Managing Director. “These are high-quality vehicles that are between one and no more than seven years old.” However, this strategy also restricts the company’s circle of potential customers. “African buyers are very conscious of the price,” she continues. “Quite often, it is difficult to persuade them that a higher initial investment could even save them money over the long term.” But here, too, the exception proves the rule. Last year, Schmidt sold two vehicles to Brazzaville in the Republic of the Congo.
Demand for used machines from USETEC exhibitor, Josef Hammer Fleischerei- und Großküchentechnik from Dorfmark in Lower Saxony, continues to be strong. “We receive more enquiries for used machinery than we do for new machines, which we also sell,” observes Cord-Henning Heins, Sales Manager of the company that specialises in butchery equipment and commercial kitchen technology. “There is a lot of interest from Eastern Europe and beyond. For example, we recently delivered a machine to Mongolia.” Other former Soviet republics are also on Hammer’s radar, including Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, where the company recently opened its own office, and, naturally, Russia. The current trade sanctions and falling oil price have not yet had any impact on business. “We have a couple of very good dealers in Russia“, explains Cord-Henning Heins. “There’s always something going on there.” Elsewhere, the exhibitor is intensifying its partnership with a local dealer in South Africa.
Cult product and cult auction
Many exhibitors at USETEC offer products and services that are essential for restoring and reconditioning used machines. Schmid & Wezel is participating at the world’s largest trade fair for used machinery and equipment for the first time. The company from Maulbronn in Baden-Württemberg, however, is not a traditional USETEC exhibitor supplying second-hand products. “Used machines are only a very small area of our business,” says Filipp Pachomow, Sales Manager at Schmid & Wezel. “Our primary reason for exhibiting in Karlsruhe is to present the BIAX power scraper. It’s truly a cult product and the only sensible alternative to hand scraping, especially when rebuilding used machines.” Executives at Schmid & Wezel believe that there is even the potential to expand sales of power scrapers. At USETEC, the company therefore hopes to open up new target groups of customers including other exhibitors involved in rebuilding and reconditioning machines.
The highlight of the last day is certain to be the USETEC auction. The “online” auction has already begun and will end around midday on the final day of the trade fair. It will be followed by an “offline” event organised in partnership with TradeMachines.com at USETEC in the Forum in Hall 2. Here, exhibitors at USETEC 2015 will have the opportunity to offer machinery for every sector free of charge. Low reserve prices ensure that the auction will be lively. Transactions will be processed immediately and directly between the buyers and sellers after the sale. Many transactions now take place online. “But the machinery trade is based on trust and contacts,” emphasises Heico Koch, Managing Director of TradeMachines. “These two aspects are promoted by USETEC as a trade fair and TradeMachines as an online platform. The event brings together buyers and sellers of used machines – with the goal of making it easier to do business.” The first companies that spontaneously agreed to participate in the USETEC auction were: GD Machinery (Sheffield/England), Thumar Technical Service (Luxemburg), DELTA MACHINE (Bucharest/Romania), Schmid & Wezel (Maulbronn/Germany), ATM Group (Blieskastel/Germany), nenok (Cologne/Germany), Lindroths Maskinservice (Hillerstorp/Sweden), MAMACH (Zevenbergen/Netherlands), New Technical Solutions (Prague/Czech Republic), Printing Innovation (Herisau/Switzerland), PTF (Gammertingen/Germany).
Machines for every branch of industry
USETEC supported by RESALE is the world’s largest trade fair for used machinery and offers equipment and technology for every sector and branch of industry. As well as the host nation Germany, exhibitors from 27 countries will participate at the event – with exceptionally strong presences from the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland. USETEC 2015 will take place from Monday 13 to Wednesday 15 April 2015 in Halls 1 & 2 and the outdoor area of Messe Karlsruhe – at the same time as Hannover Messe. This enables foreign buyers to research high quality machines and technology at two outstanding trade fairs during their trip to Germany. Once again, a number of delegations will travel to USETEC. So far, groups from 17 countries have registered, above all from Africa and Asia. Groups from traditional visitor countries such as India, Pakistan, Iran, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and Turkey will be joined by those from other dynamic up and coming markets. Sri Lanka and Mali are good examples. A Bolivian delegation is being assisted by the German-Bolivian Chamber of Industry and Commerce in La Paz.
