The curtain falls after a fruitful four days: Remanexpo 2019 Day Four
January 29, 2019
Remanexpo and Paperworld, the annual trade show for the office imaging and aftermarket industries, drew to a close on Tuesday after a quartet of productive days.
With Messe Frankfurt’s Hall 5.1 preparing to say goodbye to its most recent tenants, many of the over 120 exhibitors at this year’s show were taking the time to reflect on what had been achieved, and on the value of the event itself.
“The show went well, very well,” said ETIRA General Secretary Vincent Van Dijk, who explained that across the show, he had managed to meet with over half the trade association’s members, as well as having positive discussions with a number of potential new ones.
Mito Color Imaging’s Wendy Duan was also delighted with the numbers of visitors at the company’s booth. “It has been a very good show for us,” she told The Recycler, “This year, we had many more visitors than last year.”
“It’s been really interesting,” concurred Adele Berionni, of Ecoservice di Santarelli Paolo. “For us, I think it’s the most important event of the year, in terms of getting to know new potential customers.”
The Italian company’s Head of Exports continued, saying that “it’s always really interesting to meet our suppliers, to meet our customers, and get to know new potential customers,” the latter category making up fifty percent of the firm’s meetings, according to Berionni. She added that many had been particularly interested in some of the company’s new products, which it plans to launch later this year.
Natalie Augustinovic, Team Leader of Marketing & Product Management at KMP, was another who was very pleased with customers’ reactions to its new products, stating that she had been receiving very good feedback on KMP’s new products, such as its replacements toners for the Brother TN2410 and TN2420.
Augustinovic further said that KMP’s choice to return to Frankfurt as an exhibitor for the first time since 2014 had proved to be “a very good decision,” thoughts echoed by Christof Frei, Marketing Director of Turbon Products, which was also making a comeback at Remanexpo. Frei explained that after “many years away,” the show had been a “really good experience,” with the company receiving a strong response from clients both old and new.
Many other exhibitors reported similarly happy experiences across this year’s Remanexpo, including Simon Weiss, CEO of Cross Imaging Supplies, who described it as “definitely positive, very positive”, having made “some promising new contacts” at what he described as “a multipurpose show.”
As well as the company’s trade, Weiss also reflected on Remanexpo’s change of location, which this year saw it move from Hall 6.0 to Hall 5.1 for the first time. “It’s good that the show has been moved,” he commented, “it seems to me that this hall is more suitable. The ceiling is not so high, so it creates a different atmosphere, which I think is more convivial. Everyone is closer together.”
This closeness seemed to be on display both in terms of the hall layout, and the desire for collaboration amongst many exhibitors. As with previous days, many conversations between different companies emphasised the need to work together, in order to protect the aftermarket’s share of the office imaging industry, as well as to emphasise to customers the environmental benefits of remanufactured products. Christof Frei explained his belief that both of these tasks required a unified effort from aftermarket customers, whilst Freckles’ Peter Stefanov, attending the show as a visitor, asserted that the remanufacturing industry must be stronger in collectively explaining its long-term advantages to national governments, with regards to public tenders.
With this in mind, Vincent Van Dijk summed up the mood of the show when he declared that 2019 will see the industry “reap the benefits of the seeds ETIRA has been planting over the last couple of years,” in terms of the organisation’s policy initiatives with the European Union. “I am optimistic,” declared Van Dijk, capturing the ambience of Remanexpo 2019. “I am always optimistic.”
The Recycler would like to extend its gratitude to all exhibitors and visitors, and to the staff of Messe Frankfurt, for their contributions to another successful trade show, and looks forward to renewing acquaintances in 2020. To catch up on all the news from this year’s bustling show, check out our coverage of Day One, Day Two, and Day Three, or look out for our bumper show review in The Recycler Issue 316, coming soon!
Categories : World Focus
