The metal trades and Glasstec: Questions for HEGLA Fahrzeugbau

What goals did you have for Glasstec based on which fair exhibitions, and to what ex-tent were your expectations fulfilled?

Be it recycling IGUs, safe handling and cutting glass or sorting insulated glass in sequence – we had a diverse set of goals for the trade fair. For HEGLA Fahrzeugbau, a new international transport forum for windows, glass and structural elements was the focus. With IG2Pieces, our machine engineering unit presented the first ever system with which old insulated glass could be separated into individual parts without causing damage. Afterwards, the glass and spacers are ready for recycling by material or re-use. It is also possible to separate damaged IGUs during production and replace a damaged pane, for example. Alongside presenting our new products, trade fairs are an important place for remaining in contact with our international customers. Our expectations were more than met: the number of visitors to our stand was significantly higher than before the pandemic. It remained important for us to advance the idea of recycling and allow the products themselves to convince visitors based on the physical presentation of exhibits.

What customers did you primarily reach? Were there target groups that you were unable to reach? Were you successful at acquiring new customers? Some people believe that companies no longer acquire new customers at trade fairs. What is your experience?

The crowds of visitors were diverse and from both the trades and industry. HEGLA was established in 1976 as a small metal forming business and grew based on products like glass racks, our roll-out storage system for vertical sheet storage and transport attachments. We have been able to maintain this connection to our origin and therefore have a cross-section of visitors that is unique at Glasstec. Even after almost 50 years in the market and many partnerships with companies, we still meet new customers at Glasstec who know about us but haven’t worked with us. They could be start-ups or in sectors on the periphery of our core products. The trade fair is a wonderful opportunity for us to impress visitors with our services by exhibiting products or having in-person discussions.

To what extent were you able to speak with metalworkers and tradespeople from the DACH region and what is the importance of industry customers from Germany and abroad?

We are the market leader in transport attachments in Germany and we enjoy a high level of recognition. For HEGLA Fahrzeugbau, the trade fair is a great opportunity to re-connect with customers whom we have worked with for a long time – and in some cases there are personal ties. In everyday life, we do not always have the time or an occasion to meet. That is why Glasstec is a welcome opportunity. We were surprised at how much the interest in our transport forum has grown on the part of non-German Europe.

Of course, industry customers are the part of our customer base that we share to a great extent with our colleagues at HEGLA Maschinenbau. Traditionally, the trades sector is higher at Fahrzeugbau, as we also target customers from the glass, metal, wood and structural element sectors.

Were you able to sell the IG2Pieces machine?

Yes, we sold an IG2Pieces insulated glass separating system directly at the trade fair. And we are processing several enquiries. The system was a surprise success for us at Glasstec. We were right about the high level of interest and the topic of recycling it-self. But we were still impressed by the crowds of visitors. From the first day onwards, we had to increase the number of demonstrations and employees manning the system to take all our visitors into account. The requirements for the system were multi-faceted. The concept of separating insulated glass without damage proved to be effec-tive at the trade fair. Some leverage recycling by material as a good strategy and oth-ers want to reuse expensive, rare panes, while others want to separate freshly pro-duced insulated glass in order to replace a scratched pane.

Do you plan to exhibit at the next Glasstec? What prerequisites are there?

Glasstec was a major success for us and dividing our stand across two different halls proved to be an effective strategy again. At the “Handwerk live” special show, our transport attachments were received warmly and our activity with goal-shooting at the rack was a real highlight. The mechanical engineering on display at our main stand attracted a very high number of visitors. We already look forward to the next Glasstec, which will hopefully be just as impressive.

HEGLA Fahrzeugbau GmbH & Co. KG
74589 Satteldorf, Germany

Carsten Koch
Tel.: + 49 (0) 52 73 / 9 05 - 121
Email: carsten.koch(at)hegla.de