NA winds down, ProMat gears up
By Staff -- Modern Materials Handling, 3/30/2006
At 3:00 p.m. today, the last of the show visitors will leave the I-X Center and bring an official close to NA 2006. By Friday, most of the exhibits will be crated up and put on a truck back to wherever they came from.
A show that took five days to set up will be torn down in a day and a half.
Tom Carbott, vice president of sales for show sponsor
Material Handling Industry of America (MHIA), is already gearing up for
ProMat 2007, scheduled to be held at McCormick Place South next January 8 to 11.
"We had a strong space draw for ProMat in November, with 85% of the space already sold," Carbott said. "Based on the early sales, we're expecting over 700 exhibitors and over 300,000 square feet of exhibition space."
That would be an increase in both the number of vendors and the amount of space from ProMat 2005, according to Carbott. It also continues the momentum from NA 2006.
That was the consensus on the show floor yesterday. "The traffic and interest from visitors on Tuesday alone made this a worthwhile show," said Noah Dixon, vice president of product management for
Catalyst International (Booth 1340), a provider of supply chain software solutions and warehouse design services.
According to Dixon and other exhibitors, show attendees were not just kicking tires this year.
Most booth visitors had marching orders and a commitment of dollars from management to improve their manufacturing, warehousing and supply chain operations. "What we are hearing is that most people had funding for their projects," Carbott said.
Many of those projects reflect the merging of materials handling inside the warehouse and factory with logistics in the supply chain.
"Along with new materials handling applications, we're seeing more projects outside the four walls of the warehouse, like transportation management and freight auditing," Carbott said. "Materials handling is more supply chain oriented and less compartmentalized than it used to be."
Carbott noticed one other important difference. "There was a genuine optimism among the visitors and attendees," he said. "We have a healthy economy now, and there was a continued optimism about the next couple of years. That's a big improvement over the way the industry pulled back in 2002 and 2003."
Carbott expects those trends to continue next year at ProMat 2007 in Chicago. He also expects to see an even stronger international presence than in years past. "ProMat is one of the few shows certified by the U.S. Department of Commerce," Carbott said. "They're promoting the show through our consulates and embassies. And it comes at a time when international manufacturers, especially from Europe, want to expand in the U.S."
For now, the show says so long to Cleveland until 2008.
"Cleveland has proven to be a very hospitable place to exhibit," said Carbott. "I think our exhibitors and attendees have enjoyed the I-X Center and all the area had to offer."
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