Worldwide demand brings new life to the fair for used machines

One day after the start of the International Hardware Fair on March 5th, the Used Machine-tool Fair Usetec opens on the Cologne fairground. Last year, after many successful years in Karlsruhe under the name Resale, the Usetec had its premiere in Cologne. In the eyes of sceptics, this was taking a risk. However, for the organisers the first Usetec was seen as a success. The 423 exhibitors attracted 9,250 buyers from 119 countries. „The new fair venue was a complete success for the trade“, according to Kurt Radermacher, Managing Director of the trade association of machine and tool wholesalers (FDM) who was very enthusiastic about the positive reaction. „At its premiere, the Usetec was able to confirm its role as the most important market place for secondhand machines in the world.“

After the successful change of venue in 2011, the organisers, the Cologne Fair and the Hess GmbH have brought forward the date in 2012 so that the Used-Machine Fair no longer coincides with the Hanover Fair but rather with the Hardware Fair. „It was not an easy decision to make“, says fair organiser Florian Hess, „but we wanted to take advantage of the shared interest of the visitors to both fairs“. Katharina C. Hamma, Managing Director of the Cologne Fair GmbH, sees it this way: „Now that both fairs take place at the same time we see new synergy effects for visitors and exhibitors. Visiting the fair in Cologne at this time benefits the trade twice.“ After all, the Hardware Fair attracts up to 60,000 visitors from more than 120 countries, 30% of whom are industrial buyers. FDM Managing Director Radermacher explains how he intends to attract many of these to the Usetec: „There will be a combi-ticket to encourage visitors to go to both fairs.“ There will in addition be information stands in order to draw the attention of visitors to each of the fairs. „We are expecting the cooperation of the trade associations responsible for each fair“, emphasises Florian Hess.

The organizers have further developed the concept of the fair. Both the fair and its name show two new areas which logically extend the scope of the Usetec. In the section „Tools and Moulds“ exhibitors display tools suitable for used machines and plant. The emphasis here will be on precision tools for metal processing. In accordance with the wide scope of Usetec there are tools and moulds for all applications, from wood processing to plastics, or for the food and packaging industries. In the area „Spare Parts and Equipment“ visitors will find new tools for used machines, also for all trades and matching the machines shown on Usetec. Spare parts and equipment for industrial trucks and construction machines form an important sector of Usetec 2012. „As previously with the Service sector, the sector Tools and Spare Parts round off the range of used technology“, explains Florian Hess.

The technical organisers of Usetec, the trade association FDM, played a large part in establishing these new market segments. „Our members from the used-machine sector define the image of Usetec with numerous displays of machines“, says Managing Director Kurt Radermacher. „A further important group of dealers in the trade association specialises in tools. This is an important addition and will be of great interest to trade visitors“.

Although the pan-European association „European Association of Machine Tools Merchants“ (EAMTM) was absent last year, it is taking part on Usetec 2012 with a large joint stand. „In December we signed a new cooperation agreement with the EAMTM“, says Florian Hess, who is very satisfied with the new development. Because of the participation of more members of the European Association there could in the future be an even greater number of foreign exhibitors. Of the approx. 450 exhibitors, at least a third are foreign. The most important countries exhibiting are Italy, Holland, Switzerland, Great Britain and France. Included are joint exhibitions by the associations FDM, AIMUU (Italy), DUMA (Holland) und LandBauTechnik.

The foreign exhibitors on the Cologne Fair are all optimistic. „Our company is active in the metal sector“, explains Marco Moritsch. „The demand for used machines is growing constantly“, reports the Managing Director of Marcels Maschinen AG from Höri in Switzerland. „We are optimistic for 2012, as we are getting queries all the time from all over the world, mainly from Europe and Asia.“

Prior to the fair the organisers of Usetec have also received many inquiries for used machines. „The potential customers come from Germany and our European neighbours“, says Fair Organiser Florian Hess. „There are, however, also inquiries from Eastern and Southern Europe – and from much more distant developing markets such as India or Argentina.“ The Managing Director of Hess GmbH talks about „a mixture of trades and countries with an exotic element thrown in.“ In the course of time more and more machine manufacturers have realised that there is business to be done with used machines. For this reason, in addition to the many machine dealers on the fair, there are also many manufacturers of machines and plant exhibiting on Usetec. These include DMG, a company which sells used Gildemeister machines. More manufacturers include Chiron, SHW, Siemens and Carl Zeiss, who are in 2012 again exhibiting on a joint stand. „Our machines have had a complete overhaul, incorporate state-of-the-art technology and the customer can have a maintenance agreement with us“, says Michael Lücke, naming a number of advantages. „It’s just like buying a new machine“, claims the Events and Fair Manager from the Carl Zeiss Industrielle Messtechnik in Oberkochen. This Swabian hi-tec company reports a flourishing business in used machines with a two-digit growth rate. „The demand is higher than the supply“, confirms Lücke. What the customers are looking for are machines less than 5 years old, and modern technologies such as scanning. There is at the moment great interest from Russia and Turkey – and also from Southern European countries among which Zeiss names Spain in particular

The organisers Kölnmesse und the Hess GmbH are expecting around 10,000 visitors (2011: 9,250). Whereas many companies come individually to Usetec in the search of used machines, others come in groups. Some large foreign delegations have announced their visits including some from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Marocco, Nigeria und Russia. The Africa-Group sponsored by German industry is also bringing a delegation of visitors to the fair. This consists predominantly of companies in East Africa. It is not yet clear what influence the disturbances in Arab countries will have on the number of visitors. „It is quite possible that the demand will temporarily sink in one or two of these countries“, says Florian Hess.

There was an interesting announcement in October 2011 from Hess GmbH. This was to the effect that the world’s biggest fair for used technology, the Usetec in Cologne, will be cooperating with Umex, the leading fair for used machines on the Indian sub-continent. „We have always had a lot of buyers from India“, says Florian Hess, „and for this reason the Indian market is very interesting for our exhibitors.“ For some time now these have been hoping for support in developing the Indian market.

Dr. Rolf Langbein