EUROGUSS 2018 – can you describe the experience in a few words?

An interesting, enjoyable and highly valuable fixture in the exhibition calendar – both for the atmosphere and for the many fruitful and engaging meetings with customers, suppliers and other market players.

Looking at the record visitor numbers, it’s not just exhibitors like us who found the show useful.

So it was the right time and place to do business?

Yes, indeed! I would also add that it was the right place to get a real overview of the market situation – the current picture, but also trends for the future.

Maybe because it’s right at the beginning of the year, EUROGUSS allows for moments of reflection on trends and the bigger picture. You don’t always get that at other exhibitions, where the focus is more on doing business and closing deals.

That’s not to say that EUROGUSS isn’t also an excellent opportunity from an immediate business perspective. As in the previous years, we have received important new orders during the show.

What have you learned from conversations with customers and visitors?

I’ve seen two main trends: the market continues to be strong at the high value end and customers are even more focused on integrated and complete solutions that go beyond the mere delivery of equipment.

The last trend is strongly impacting on companies’ offerings to customers, even in a seemingly traditional sector like the foundry industry. Supply, service, monitoring and assistance is what the customers want, and in that regard, ItalPresseGauss has been able to surprise visitors at EUROGUSS with solutions that pre-empt this demand. An example is AMe, a powerful app for remote maintenance and service assistance. Shown at EUROGUSS, the AMe assistant uses augmented reality and other advanced digital technology to help customers fix machines via tablet, or patch in ItalPresseGauss experts on a live call.

AMe, developed by ItalPresseGauss in cooperation with Wonderware, part of Schneider Electric, took EUROGUSS by storm, generating instant requests for the technology from our customers.

We have also had great feedback on the new model in our TF series of die casting machines: the TF 5600, with a closing force of up to 5600 tonnes.

At the show, you exhibited for the first time as part of the Norican Group. How did the market respond to that?

With great curiosity! Visitors, customers, new contacts and prospects have all quizzed us about the opportunities that come with joining the Norican Group family.

It’s part of our evolution as a company. It adds a new dimension to our offering and gives us and our customers access to a global network. Ten months after the acquisition, its positive impact is very tangible for us, but it took a forum like EUROGUSS for the news to really get out in the wider industry.

What’s next on the calendar?

We will be exhibiting at LITMASH at the end of May in Russia and at CHINA DIECASTING in Shanghai in July. The latter is the “EUROGUSS of the East”, where we have been exhibiting for several years now. We’re looking forward to meeting customers and interested visitors at both!