Impressive results for Orgatec

An all around successful trade fair   
The presence of nearly all of the market-leading companies and the extremely high-quality products presented from the furnishing, lighting, flooring, room acoustic and media technology segments generated a great deal of interest on the part of visitors. There were big crowds at the stands. For example, Heinz H. Meyering, Board Member of König + Neurath AG, reported “an increase in visitor frequency” compared with 2010. Dr. Wolfgang Neubert, Board Member of Bene AG, talked about “an enormous amount of visitor interest”. Pietro Molteni, Unifor SpA Board Member, said that the trade fair was “more international in scope than in the previous years.” Dr. Bernhard E. Kallup, Chairman of the Board of Management at Sedus Stoll AG, said that there had been an increase in visitors, “especially from overseas”. This is confirmed by the results of the visitor statistics. There was a marked increase in visitors from Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as from Turkey and the United States, while there was a slight decrease in visitor numbers from the countries affected by the euro crisis. The exhibitors also expressed great satisfaction with the visitors’ extremely high decision-making authority. Henning Figge, Managing Director of Haworth GmbH, reported a “variety of top-quality contacts”. Daniel Butz, Managing Director of Object Carpet GmbH, was “enthusiastic about the quality of visitors”. This finding is confirmed by the initial results of an independent visitor survey, as 86 per cent of all trade visitors are involved in purchasing decisions at their company. In addition to discussions with architects, interior designers and representatives from planning companies and the specialist trade, many exhibitors were delighted to forge excellent contacts to representatives of large user companies. Helmut Link, Managing Director of Interstuhl Büromöbel GmbH, noted that “the number of large manufacturers was about 30 per cent higher than at the last event”. Rudolf Pütz, Managing Director of Vitra GmbH, reported discussions with “customers from the large-scale industry and medium-sized companies on specific projects”. Dr. Jochen Ihring, Managing Director of Dauphin Human Design Group, noted the attendance of “end-users from the banking, chemicals and automotive industries.” In addition, numerous representatives from the insurance, media and telecommunications sectors as well as large retail chains and administrative units visited ORGATEC.    

Highly satisfied visitors   
The trade visitors were also highly satisfied with the event. The visitor survey revealed that 83 per cent of visitors said they were very satisfied or satisfied with the degree to which they had met their trade fair objectives. What’s more, the fair’s comprehensive spectrum of products ensured that 84 per cent of visitors rated the product range as either good or very good. Overall, 94 per cent of visitors would recommend a visit to ORGATEC to their business partners.   

Current trends: lots of communication, technology, movement and wellness   
Orgatec 2012 had a strong focus on the noticeable changes in today’s working environment. One main issue was the design of working spaces that facilitate communication yet at the same time offer workers the chance to withdraw and concentrate on their work individually. Solutions to this double challenge included innovative acoustic solutions and lighting concepts. Another major focus at this year’s Orgatec was integrated technology and the possibilities of sharing, forwarding and jointly processing knowledge and information via cutting-edge technology. The underlying philosophy seemed to be an emphasis on more movement at the office and on employees’ health and long-term ability to work. In general there has been a noticeable increase in comfortable office furniture design, in order to create a genuine feeling of well-being among office workers.    

Very positive reactions to event’s themes    
As part of the supporting programme, global trends were discussed and best practice results from around the world were presented. For instance, a packed audience attended the first presentation of the results from the “New Work Order” survey on the working environments of the future. One particularly popular event was a lively panel discussion on the pros and cons of open-plan office concepts. Examples of international best practice were also very popular. Looking forward to ORGATEC 2014, Frank Haubold, Vice President of Trade Fair Management at Koelnmesse, said: “The broad range of products are one of the trade fair’s most unique selling points. In the future we plan to focus more not only on the contract area but also on the topic of office organisation.”