Holz-Handwerk and fensterbau/frontale 2012: duo with quantity and quality

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Nürnberg is host to the world of window technology and wood crafts: The parallel Holz-Handwerk and fensterbau/frontale exhibitions that take place every two years in spring again impressively confirmed their status as highlights for the two sectors in 2012. 98,973 international trade visitors came to the events in the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg.

With altogether 1,277 exhibitors from 37 countries, the Exhibition Centre Nuremberg was completely booked up from 21–24 March 2012 and the crowd of visitors was accordingly large. Window and wood experts came to the exhibition for information about new products, for training, for general guidance on the market, and for dialogue with colleagues. The attendance on the second day of the event was enormous with more than 33,000 visitors.

The exhibition duo was not only convincing in terms of quantity, but in quality too. Nine out of ten exhibitors were satisfied with the quality of the visitors. 98 per cent of the companies said they had reached their most important target groups at the two exhibitions. Some 90 per cent of them made new business connections in the process. Around nine out of ten exhibitors at both exhibitions expect follow-up business from the contacts made.

The 16th edition of Holz-Handwerk with 498 exhibitors from 19 countries was again a highlight for the wood crafts in Europe. Besides Germany, the leading exhibiting nations were Austria and Italy. Eight out of ten exhibitors had brought along a new or improved product. 52 per cent of the exhibitors made direct sales during the exhibition. Many visitors from abroad were also interested in the latest trends: 88 per cent of the exhibitors welcomed international visitors to their stand, especially from Austria, Italy, Poland, Belgium, France and the Netherlands. Nine out of ten exhibitors were satisfied with the overall success of their presence at the exhibition in Nürnberg and certainly want to exhibit again in two years' time.

The visitor attractions on the four days of the event included the live demonstrations, the special show "Dreams of Wood" and the competitions at the heart of exhibition activity. The winners of the Bavarian TSD Cup were determined in an exciting final on the stand of the Fachverband Schreinerhandwerk Bayern (Bavarian Carpentry Association) on 24 March. 26 young people from all over Bavaria competed against each other and proved their knowledge and craft skills in a wide range of disciplines for four hours. The first prize, an original Vespa in wood, went to 14-year-old Markus Gerl of Bichl. The German Planing Championship was held in Nürnberg for the first time – organized by Hände-Werk e.V. The happy winner was Peter Winklhofer, master carpenter and senior technical instructor from Karlsruhe. His winning shaving of 0.016 millimetres was three times thinner than a hair.

fensterbau/frontale 2012 with 779 exhibitors from 36 countries excelled again as leading exhibition for the window and facade sector. Besides Germany, the most exhibitors came from Italy, Poland, Turkey and Austria. 97 per cent of the companies had international visitors on their stands, mainly from the immediate neighbouring countries, followed by Italy, Great Britain, Russia and Turkey and countries in all the other continents. Nine out of ten exhibitors showed a new product or innovation in Nürnberg, three-quarters of them rated their overall success as satisfactory to good, and as many as 13 per cent very good. Well over 90 per cent of the exhibiting companies said they had reached their most important target groups at fensterbau/frontale, so nine out of ten exhibitors had already decided by the end of the exhibition in 2012: We'll be there again in 2014!

A good half of the visitors at fensterbau/frontale 2012 came from the craft trades and another quarter of them from the industry. 12 per cent were from wholesalers, retailers and builders' merchants, and five per cent were architects. Eight out of ten visitors are involved in purchasing and procurement decisions in their company. Three-quarters of the visitors felt that their visit to the exhibition would encourage them to use the new products seen here in their work. For more than half of them, fensterbau/frontale is the only exhibition they visit for the themes shown.

The supporting programme at fensterbau/frontale once again offered many opportunities for information and training. For example, the European trade association EuroWindoor organized a conference on "Climate Protection with New Windows", and on the first three days of the exhibition experts from the Bern University of Applied Sciences and Holzforschung Austria (Wood Research Institute) provided information about the latest research findings from developments in the window and facade market. The Real Estate Conference offered energy consultants and property operators tips on energy-efficient renovation.

The special show entitled "EnergyPlus" focused on pioneering technologies for saving and producing energy in the building envelope. Input for the work of architects and building designers was provided by the "Architects' Area" and the "Innovation Award Architecture+ Window Facade", and especially by the 6th Forum Architecture–Windows–Facades. The speakers on this year's topic of "East meets West" were the Berlin publicist Eduard Kögel and the noted architects Meinhard von Gerkan of Hamburg and Zhang Ke of Peking.

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