Full Closing Report: European Coatings Show 2009

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The European Coatings Show plus Adhesives, Sealants, Construction Chemicals 2009 was the tenth edition of this top international event for the coatings community since 1991. The exhibition took place this year in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg from 31 March – 2 April and the congress from 30 March – 1 April. Despite the worldwide problems of key customers such as the building industry and motor industry, both events proved the dynamic innovative power of the manufacturers of raw materials and technologies for laboratory, production, testing and measuring.

A display as colourful as the German punk music icon Nina Hagen is nowhere near enough today. It has long been taken for granted that coatings and paints as well as sealants, construction chemicals and adhesives must fulfil their basic functions. The task for today's developers and formulators is more complex than ever: additional product properties are called for as well as consideration of environmental aspects, legal directives such as VOC reduction, and cost-effectiveness.

A car paint that "heals" small scratches itself when the sun shines, a coating for the hulls of super tankers that reduces barnacle growth under water and saves huge amounts of fuel, or articles in the medical field with a surface that already possesses an antibacterial effect without additional disinfection agents? These are no visions of the future, but just a few of the current issues in the coatings industry – and therefore at the European Coatings Show 2009.

The European Coatings Congress again emphasizes how innovative the international coatings industry is. 160 top speakers from all over the world discussed ways into the future with the 461 congress participants – at nine pre-congress tutorials, 15 sessions on coating raw materials, eight on printing inks, adhesives and construction chemicals, special sessions on the EU projects NAPOLEON and AMBIO, and the established session "Science today – coatings tomorrow", which deals with the latest research findings on polymer chemistry relevant to coatings.

At the plenary session on Monday, 30 March 2009, the European Coatings Award for the best paper of the many outstanding congress papers at the European Coatings Congress 2009 was presented to Dr. Zhen Wen Fu and his colleagues Dr. Andrew Hejl and Dr. Andrew Swartz from Rohm and Haas, USA, for their paper entitled "Designed diffusion technology:
A paradigm shift in film formation".

"The European Coatings Show and Congress concentrate the know-how of companies, research institutions, universities and associations in one place, " says Friederike Plasswich, Head of Events Division at Vincentz Network, Hanover. "People especially rely on dependable values at times of crisis. We are proud to offer the industries concerned a platform of proven quality from which they can get fit for the recovery, which will certainly come."

The 806 exhibitors (2007: 838) from 42 countries (2007: 43) at the European Coatings Show 2009 represented a slight decline in numbers, but this was more than compensated for by the recent growth of six per cent in the net display area (2009: 27,490 m2; 2007: 25,890 m2). The exhibiting nations this year after Germany (346 exhibitors) were China (78 exhibitors), Italy and Great Britain (47 exhibitors each), the Netherlands (39 exhibitors), Switzerland (32 exhibitors) and Belgium (31 exhibitors).

The European Coatings Show occupied six halls of the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg for the first time and so presented a bigger event than ever for the 19,756 visitors (including 56 per cent international; 2007: 22,791 / 59 per cent). This made a spacious layout and many impressive stands possible, which allowed better distribution of the flows of visitors and created a pleasant atmosphere for talks. "The European Coatings Show 2009 will stick in everyone's mind as a very special event. The long-term basis for this success is the trust of the exhibitors, visitors and congress participants in the responsibility of the event partners Vincentz Network and NürnbergMesse, " says a convinced Richard Krowoza, Exhibition Director at NürnbergMesse.

The result of the European Coatings Show 2009 clearly exceeded the cautious expectations circulated before the event due to the general economic conditions, short-time working and reduced travel budgets. Exhibitors and visitors were agreed on the predominantly positive assessment of the European Coatings Show 2009. 93 per cent of the exhibitors were satisfied with the overall success of their exhibiting activities and 96 per cent of the visitors were satisfied with the products and services at the exhibition.

Most of the exhibitors said their primary aims in exhibiting were to gain new customers, provide information about their range of products and services, and cultivate their customer contacts. Nine out of ten also achieved these aims. 97 per cent of the exhibitors were satisfied with the qualifications and competence of the visitors, and practically all of them made contact with their major target groups during the three days of the exhibition.

These contacts resulted in new business connections for 97 per cent of the exhibitors. Some 27 per cent actually received direct orders during the European Coatings Show 2009, and 92 per cent of the companies also expect extra follow-up business. For nine out of ten companies, the European Coatings Show is an important to exceptionally important part of their marketing and sales activities. And 89 per cent of the exhibitors had already decided during the 2009 exhibition to be there again in Nürnberg in 2011.

Most of the visitors had also already decided to come to Nürnberg again in 2011: 56 per cent of those interviewed said the European Coatings Show is the only exhibition they visit in this field. 96 per cent were satisfied with the information and contact opportunities on the stands.

The visitors' main reasons for coming to Nürnberg were obtaining information about new products (55 per cent), cultivating contacts (47 per cent), general market orientation (42 per cent) and exchanging views (41 per cent) (multiple answers possible).

An impressive feature of the European Coatings Show 2009 was the share of visitors holding key positions: nine out of ten visitors at the European Coatings Show are involved in purchasing and procurement decisions in their company, one-third of them decisively. 18 per cent of the visitors work in research and development in their company, 15 per cent in management, 13 per cent in sales and marketing, and 12 per cent in purchasing and production (multiple answers possible). 72 per cent of the visitors came from industry and 17 per cent from the trade. The largest groups of visitors were formulators of paints and coatings (22 per cent), raw material suppliers (16 per cent), applicators of coatings and paints (7 per cent), and formulators of adhesives, sealants and construction chemicals (6 per cent each).

2010 and 2011: get-togethers in North America and Europe
The coatings community meets next year in Charlotte, North Carolina / USA, in April at the American Coatings Show from 13-15 April and the American Coatings Conference from Monday to Wednesday, 12-14 April 2010. The Exhibition Centre Nuremberg is then the scheduled international get-together again in two years’ time, when the European Coatings Show runs from 29-31 March and the European Coatings Congress von Monday to Wednesday, 28-30 March 2011.

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