The HANNOVER FAIR was more international than ever in 2005: 2885 (previous year: 2213) companies from 65 (61) countries occupied 66'288 square meters of floor space - a year-on-year increase of nearly 50 percent - with 37'234 square meters of net display space occupied. Participation by companies from the growth markets of Asia and Eastern Europe was at an all-time high, a reflection of worldwide economic trends. From the Asia-Pacific region, for example, the number of exhibitors reached 695, up from 448 in 2004. China alone was responsible for 321 exhibitors (190). Eastern Europe was represented with 455 enterprises (390) and institutions. This included the "Partner Country Russia" featured presentation, numbering 150 participating firms. Of all non-German exhibiting nations, Italy was once again the forerunner, appearing with the same total of 449 exhibitors, followed by China (321), Russia (155), France (142) and Switzerland (141).
Foreign exhibitors expressed immense satisfaction with the run of the show, emphasizing the strong rate of international attendance as well as the quality and decision-making authority of visitors.
"This year the HANNOVER FAIR developed into a focal point for industrial innovation, more than ever before. It is the prime event for us in terms of conducting an international dialog with our customers," observed Massimo Sarti, Marketing Manager of Bonfiglioli Riduttori SPA from Italy. The Italian contingent as a whole was very pleased with its trade fair involvement, tallying numerous constructive, first-class business leads from all over the world.
Spanish visitors were also upbeat, speaking in terms of an economic "spring thaw" in the business dealings at their stands. In particular they were enthusiastic about the high levels of visitor traffic.
In terms of net display space, turkey, occupying some 3'500 square meters, now ranks among the "top 10" foreign exhibiting nations. A high rate of satisfaction was apparent among the 126 Turkish exhibitors, who used their appearance at the HANNOVER FAIR to lay the groundwork for future business deals in the wake of their country‘s upcoming EU accession discussions.
Exhibitors from Central and Eastern Europe also accorded the show positive ratings. A typical reaction was that of Wojciek Czaki, a company owner from Poland, who stated that "A Warsaw-based trade show draws in a Polish audience, but the HANNOVER FAIR attracts trade visitors from all over the world. For this reason we are planning to appear regularly at the HANNOVER FAIR."
"Best Hannover Fair ever", was how one American exhibitor summed up the atmosphere at this year‘s show, and he was clearly speaking for the majority of the 104 U.S. companies there. American enterprises, enjoying the support of two American manufacturing associations for their participation, were predominantly represented at the "Motion, Drive & Automation" (MDA), "Energy", "INTERKAMA+" and "Factory Automation" sectors. There they praised the quantity, quality and international makeup of visitors, commenting it had been a long time since they had seen so many genuinely interested visitors from all over the world, or had so many in-depth discussions at a show.
U.S companies exhibiting for the first time at the HANNOVER FAIR were astonished at the event‘s overall size as well as the range of products and services offered at its individual trade shows. This contributed, they said, to an unusually interesting and successful visitor makeup, which vertical specialist shows in their home country could not match.
Capping American exhibitors‘ positive experiences at this year‘s HANNOVER FAIR was a long-time U.S. exhibitor, who uttered the sentence: "It might even be the best show I‘ve ever done worldwide."
With 6037 m² of display space occupied, China was number three among non-German exhibitors. The Chinese exhibitors were also very upbeat about the show, and most of them have already reserved display space again for HANNOVER FAIR 2006. As Mr. Jin Chuanjun, General Manager of the Chint Group, declared: "Participation at the HANNOVER FAIR will be a long-term promotion strategy for my company." Chinese exhibitors placed strong emphasis on business contacts with European customers and the resulting opportunities for business there - an objective for which the HANNOVER FAIR offers the optimum prerequisites.
With 120 exhibitors, Taiwan was one of the main exhibiting nations from Asia this year, particularly with its multi-company pavilions in the display sectors of power transmission and fluid power, factory automation and subcontracting. Registrations for display space at next year's HANNOVER FAIR have already come in from Taiwan, whose entrepreneurs were particularly pleased at the high rate of international attendance.
South Korea's 40 participating companies also had a positive assessment of their appearance at the show, reporting having signed numerous business deals - primarily with Chinese and other Asian companies. For exhibitors from South Korea, appearing at the HANNOVER FAIR now has the status of an "absolute priority," as a typical exhibitor reaction put it.

A new machine type conquers the market

Hannover Fair was for Rösler Oberflächentechnik GmbH, manufacturer of shotblasting and vibratory finishing systems, particularly important as they presented their new booth concept together with a new animation about Long Radius Vibrators. The new LR machines are proof of how quickly a new finishing system can establish itself in the market. This machine type was introduced in spring of 2004, yet it has been so well accepted by our customers that the LR machine range has already grown to 5 different models of differing sizes. The LR concept offers a high degree of flexibility. Long radius machines can be used for in-line continuous processing and for batch processing. In batch processing, the machines are equipped with a pneumatic separation flap. Batch processing in LR machines allows the treatment of larger parts, with a minimum of part-on-part contact. Continuous-feed operation allows the LR machines to be placed directly into an in-line manufacturing process. A typical application is the deburring of transmission parts. A most recent example is the finishing of camshafts. The processing objective was the removal of a light burr after machining, without changing the Rz surface readings. The automated LR system replaced a manual brush deburring.

For information: info@rosler.com

IceTech A/S, Denmark at the Hannover Fair

The stand of IceTech A/S in Hannover attracted many interested customers from all sorts of industries.
IceTech A/S manufactures machines for industrial cleaning with dry ice. Production equipment is cleaned effectively using dry ice blasting, which is non-polluting and very gentle to the surface underneath the coating to be removed.
Dry ice is carbon dioxide (CO2) in solid form shaped as small pellets. The temperature of the dry ice is -79C. Blasting with the pellets is done under extreme pressure, forcing the dirt off the surface to be cleaned.
The process is completely dry, as the carbon dioxide vaporises on contact with the surface. Apart from the removed coating there are no other residual products such as water, sand or chemicals to be removed subsequent to cleaning the production equipment.
Many industry giants have already replaced traditional cleaning methods such a sandblasting, high-pressure cleaning and use of chemicals with one of the efficient dry ice blasting machines engineered and produced by IceTech A/S.
Apart from different types of dry ice blasting machines, IceTech A/S also manufactures dry ice pelletizers, allowing customers to produce their own dry ice.

For information: Contact Birgitte Sande at bsa@icetech.dk

DISA: Further development of a blast wheel

DISA presented its whole range of shot blast solutions for applications in foundry, descaling and shot peening.
A further development of a blast wheel was presented. Its unique features are the blades, which have a significantly extended service life in comparison with conventional blades. However the modified blade geometry and wheel disc offer further advantages in so far as the blade fixtures can be omitted.
Many more visitors than in earlier years coming from Germany, Europe and Asia - among them a considerable number of potential customers visited the DISA stand.

For information: info@rdisgroup.com

AGTOS blast machines with reliable technology

AGTOS has shown that cost reductions are possible for users of surface technology. With their focus on home-made shot blast machines, second-hand machines as well as after-sales service and spare parts, AGTOS is operating successfully. AGTOS was represented at this year's exhibition in Hanover with a booth at the "Praxispark". Since the main focus was placed on the AGTOS high-performance turbines during past years, a completely new machine was presented this year. This concerns a highly variable compact rotary table blast machine type VARIOFLEX which apart from common blasting tasks, can also be used for the hardening of different work pieces. To fully meet this requirement, the machine is equipped with a variety of technical refinements. The swivel-mounted AGTOS high-performance turbine contains a single-disk with reliable technology to ensure that different work piece geometries are treated in an ideal way. The continuously adjustable turbine speed as well as the abrasive metering by magna valve guarantee the blasting result. Another advantage is the possibility to mount the turbine in three different positions on the machine. This makes it  possible to adjust the machine to many different work pieces. During the exhibition the machine was operated by means of a handling system.
For the blasting procedure the work pieces to be blasted are placed on one of the four satellites manually or by a handling system. The rotation is started after the equipped satellite has driven to the blasting position. The work piece is blasted from one side only by the high-performance turbine placed at the ceiling of the machine. After termination of the blasting period the satellite steps forward to the loading, unloading and turning point passing the cleaning station. Now it can be removed or turned in case blasting from both sides is required.
For continuous use the abrasive is cleaned and remains in circulation. The abrasive is transported from the abrasive cleaning device to the storage hopper and then to the high-performance turbines. A filter unit supplies the required vacuum for the  de-dusting of the blast machine. The separation of dust is effected by means of cone-shaped filter cartridges. The filter unit was shown on the exhibition as well. Its special features are an advantage during maintenance as the cartridges can be exchanged quickly and easily.  The back-up element can always be reused and therefore helps to save money.

For information: info@agtos.de, www.agtos.de

Konrad Rump shotblasting machines - advanced shotblasting technology

KONRAD RUMP Oberflächentechnik GmbH & Co. KG from Salzkotten / Germany, displayed a new developed Overhead Monorail Shot Blasting Machine in Compact Design in hall 6, booth C23.
This machine is suitable to prepare the surface of work pieces by batch. The mentioned work pieces are suspended on a trolley which is responsible for the rotation and oscillation movement in the blasting zone. The installation is equipped with two directly driven shot blasting wheels with pre-acceleration. Work pieces with complicated geometries will achieve a tremendous result even within a short blasting period. The machine housing and also the turbines are made of high wear resistant manganese steel. The wear plates of the wheels inside lining and the throwing blades inside of the turbine are made of high wear resistant special steel. The monorail system is adjusted to a maximum weight of 400 kgs and courses in Y-way in front of the machine, therefore two trolleys can be used alternating. The cleaning of the abrasive is ensured by screening and a shifting cascade. From a connected storage bunker the cleaned abrasive is then  moved by a stepless adjustable dosing device to the shot blasting wheels. The integrated filtration plant guarantees a low dust level in the outgoing air. By adding a secondary filter the cleaned air can be returned into the hall in the winter time. The result is a substantial saving of energy as well as lower environmental pollution.
The electrical panel, equipped with free programmable PLC and clear text operator panel, is responsible for a safe and a trouble-free operation. All main controls can be adjusted according to the respective blast program.

For information:
Contact Heinz Dieter Wischer, Sales Director at info@rump-oft.de

For information: www.hannovermesse.de