Reporting Live | International Hardware Fair | Cologne, Germany

Visit the AHMA / USA Pavilion in Hall 4.2

From February 28 to March 3, 2010, the INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE FAIR will be held at the Koelnmesse exhibition center in Cologne, Germany. Over a period of four days, trade visitors from all over the world will be able to gather information about the innovations and trends of approximately 2,700 suppliers from 51 countries, while also placing orders for the coming year and establishing new business contacts. “Cologne will become an international business hub for the sector by bringing together professionals from trade and industry with buyers and suppliers, enabling them to hold discussions and lay the groundwork for the coming year,” says Oliver P. Kuhrt, Executive Vice President of Koelnmesse. In addition to an informative supporting programme and services that help to initiate business deals, visitors can look forward to an international range of exhibitors that will be reorganised into five product segments.

Five Product Segments

In 2010, the overarching roof of the INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE FAIR will encompass five clearly structured product segments: Tools, Industrial Supply, Fastening & Fittings, Locks & Fittings and Home Improvement. As a result, the limelight will be focused even more strongly on exhibited product categories than in the past, allowing the manufacturers to present their products to the public in a target group-oriented manner. The new visitor-friendly layout also means that dealers and buyers from industry can quickly find their way around the fair and gain a compact overview of the innovations for their specific area of responsibility, while at the same time being able to plan their appointments in a time-saving manner.

Over 2,000 Tool Exhibitors

The fair’s biggest segment, Tools, will be presenting a very deep and broad product range. More than 2,000 companies will exhibit a comprehensive range of hand-operated and power tools, as well as power tool attachments, in Halls 1 to 3, 4.1, 10.1 and 10.2. Industrial supplies and workshop and industrial fittings will be displayed by about 300 companies in the Industrial Supply product segment in Halls 4.1 and 4.2. Visitors will find innovations for fixing and fastening technologies from 150 suppliers in the Fastening & Fittings segment in Hall 5.2, while products from the Locks & Fittings segment will be presented by 100 manufacturers one storey lower down in Hall 5.1. Fastenings and fittings from Asia will also be found in Halls 1 to 3, in which the product ranges from Asia will be concentrated. The product range will be rounded out by exhibitors from the Home Improvement segment in Hall 5.1., where visitors will find products from the builders’ and DIY supplies segment.

80% of Exhibitors from Outside Germany

Around 80 per cent of the exhibitors at the INTERNATIONAL HARDWARE FAIR will come to Cologne from abroad in order to seek out new business partners and maintain and expand their global contacts. The European country sending the most suppliers to the fair is Italy, followed by the UK, France and Spain. From overseas, there will also be large contingents from China, Taiwan, India and the USA. In 2008, nearly 60 per cent of the visitors came from outside Germany.

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