With the international cleaning trade fair CMS 2009 – Cleaning.Management.Services. having come to a successful conclusion there are signs that the cleaning industry is recovering. Exhibitors and trade visitors are unanimous that the event was a success, with business at the fair outstanding, a high number of industry decision-makers attending, and opinions agreed on an altogether positive outlook for the industry’s future. Thus 87% of trade visitors are optimistic about the economic prospects of the industry (52% considering them to be “very favourable“ or “favourable“).
Dr. Christian Göke, Chief Operating Officer of Messe Berlin GmbH says: “CMS 2009 exceeded the high expectations. From a qualitative point of view, what defined this trade fair was a substantial increase in the number of trade visitors from abroad, products and services representing the entire market, highly innovative cleaning machines and agents, and the presence of major industry decision-makers, who after their meetings at the fair can now above all plan confidently for future market developments.”
The event again reported record exhibitor and visitor attendance. Some 14,300 trade visitors from more than 40 countries (2007: 13,700) came to find out about the range of products and services shown by 350 exhibitors from 24 countries at the fair (2007: 343 exhibitors from 25 countries). The overall display area measured 24,700 square metres.
With numerous innovative cleaning machines and cleaning agents on display, the fair was well prepared to meet the challenges of the market. Sustainability is an issue that is a top priority for this industry too. Thus the first cleaning machine with an eco-friendly fuel cell was presented at CMS. Sensor technology of the kind used to assist parking cars has now also been incorporated in floor cleaning machines. Several exhibitors displayed prototypes of machines that will be introduced to the marketplace next year.
As regards cleaning agents there are numerous innovations, for instance the first floor care system combining four functions in a single product. Manufacturers are also targeting new business in the building cleaning trade with their innovative products. For example, one manufacturer has an innovative, two-component floor finishing product which is almost as good as varnishing wooden floors. Environmental protection and saving costs are prominent trends. The main focus of engineers is reducing chemical consumption, ensuring ease of operation, and designing compact machines and appliances. Features already developed include the onboard systems of several manufacturers for automatic dosing of cleaning agents, which save costs and are ecologically more efficient.
The chemical industry also showed itself to be well prepared for the swine flu pandemic and presented individual all-in-one packages for companies and public facilities as well for protecting cleaning personnel. Ergonomic design is also becoming an increasingly important product aspect, as demonstrated by this year’s presentation of the CMS Purus Award.
“We are very satisfied so far," says Dieter Kuhnert, President of BIV, one of the sponsoring associations. "The quality of CMS continues to be high. Exhibitors have echoed this and are very satisfied with the number of visitors they have met. What is remarkable this year is the considerable number of innovations, which representatives of the building cleaning trade have been able to find out about in great detail.“
Bernd Heilmann, Chairman of the Board of the VDMA Cleaning Systems Trade Association - another sponsor - agrees: “This year’s CMS actually exceeded our high expectations by far – it was an outstanding trade fair," he enthuses. "In an economically difficult situation companies are called upon to step up the pace of innovation, something we could see everywhere in the display halls, and which was welcomed both by CMS and our customers. The light at the end of the tunnel is much brighter now."
Josef Haentjes Divisional Chairman and member of the Board of fellow sponsor IHO says: “From the first day onwards, member companies of IHO were much in demand at the fair. We were delighted that there were so many decision-makers present among the trade visitors. There was keen interest in our innovative products from both Germany and abroad. The trade fair showed that we represent an industry which has proved itself able to weather an economically difficult situation."
Questioned about the main objectives of their participation, exhibitors mentioned promoting their company and its image, maintaining existing business relations and establishing new contacts with specific customer groups, i.e. members of the building cleaning trade, buyers and retailers. These objectives were met to a high degree. Although the signing of contracts was not the primary purpose of their taking part, more than one third of exhibitors achieved sales before the fair closed. Overall, 84% of exhibitors declared themselves satisfied with their commercial success at the fair. This was also confirmed by the expectations for follow-up business. Some 90% of exhibitors forecast their prospects as “satisfactory” or “good”. More than 96% of exhibitors said that overall they were satisfied with their participation in the fair. At the time they were questioned 92% of exhibitors announced they would be taking part again in the next CMS.
Trade visitors mainly represented the following sectors: services, the trade, industry, wholesales and exports. What was noteworthy was that more trade visitors in a decision-making capacity were present. Some 71% of trade visitors occupied a senior management position in the company, as a managing director, authorised signatory or head of department (2007: 64%). Two-thirds stated that they exercised a significant influence on their companies’ purchasing and procurement decisions. The trade visitors from abroad came mainly from both western and eastern EU countries, from Italy, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, the Czech Republic and Poland. Of the trade visitors from non-EU countries a considerable number came from Switzerland. Around 97% of all trade visitors described the commercial results of their visit to the fair as positive. Trade visitors also highly praised the fair’s range of exhibits, with its innovative products and services (93%), as well as the opportunity to establish new contacts which would result in follow-up talks and business transactions. 94 per cent of trade visitors would recommend a visit to CMS to their colleagues or business associates.
The next CMS will take place from 20th to 23rd September 2011.
With the international cleaning trade fair CMS 2009 – Cleaning.Management.Services. having come to a successful conclusion there are signs that the cleaning industry is recovering. Exhibitors and trade visitors are unanimous that the event was a success, with business at the fair outstanding, a high number of industry decision-makers attending, and opinions agreed on an altogether positive outlook for the industry’s future. Thus 87% of trade visitors are optimistic about the economic prospects of the industry (52% considering them to be “very favourable“ or “favourable“).