The world meets up in Milan

Made expo 2013 brings the global construction industry together aiming to become one of the top international trade fairs

The sixth edition of Made expo, the international fair dedicated to ar- chitecture, design and construction, was held at the Fiera Milano Rho in Mi- lan this October. A universe involving various professional fields, all serving the construction industry. The 2013 edition had 6 vertical specialised exhibitions un- der the same roof, Made expo Construc- tion Building Site, Building Envelope Windows, Interiors Finishings, Cities Landscape, Energy Plants, Software & Hardware, to cover all branches of the professional activities of interest to the construction world. The 1,432 exhibitors were visited over the course of the four days of the fair (2 - 5 October) by more than 211,000 visitors, with almost 36,000 of these foreign visitors. A great result, the outcome of clever plan- ning by the organisers aimed at ensuring this appointment becomes an increasingly international event.
“Made’s strategy for the 2013 edition was to travel around the different areas of the globe for a whole year in order to attract visitors and overseas companies to Milan, offering greater opportunities to those interested in taking part in the exhibition” says Andrea Negri, President of Made expo. The Road Show 2013 went to 18 countries in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and North America. The international dimension was further developed by a series of initiatives during the fair to foster relations between companies, from the IBL – International Business Lounge, a platform specifically studied to host B2B meetings (about 360 planned each day) between the exhibitors and delegations coming from 25 countries around the world.

A global presentation

In order to give Made global visibility, “we worked tirelessly in the months before the actual event,” continues the President, “and it was a wager that we made with the businesses committed to taking part with their own companies at the fair”. Quite an undertaking when one considers the current economic climate and the challenges being faced by the global market, making it not that easy to take part in the event this year. A real “bet on the future”, as Negri calls it, “but even so,” he adds, “the fair was compact, occupying the same space as last year – over 65 thousand m2 of exhibition space – with the presence of the same number of companies as in the previous edition. A common challenge and, at the same time, a wager that Made won”.
Those efforts seem to have paid off, as “the number of foreign companies has grown considerably”, thus confirming the organisers’ intention to continue along this route. “What’s more, this year we had visitors of great quality. Nowadays, only people with real needs visit fairs, one can no longer afford to waste time and resources, and this has led to targeted and high quality contracts.”

Every two years

As of this year, Made expo has become a biennial event. Negri points out that this new direction was one of the goals expressed right from the very start by the Made Technical Committee, a group of 45 large companies tasked with providing general indications. However the previous five yearly editions were needed to build up the fair. “Made expo is now a properly recognised event and this is, for me, a great success. Of course I believe that the decision to hold it every two years will be much appreciated, both in terms of rationalised investments (which are currently difficult to sustain) and in terms of the greater time available for companies to develop and present their new products and proposals.” Future editions will, therefore, continue to be held in October, but on odd years. More specifically, the next edition will be held at the same time as the 2015 World Expo.