SALES, MARKETING, NEW MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUES AS THEMES
The international Subcontracting Trade Fair will take over Tampere from 15 until 17 September 2015. Finland's leading industrial trade fair will have approx. 1,000 exhibitors from some twenty countries. Sales and marketing as well as new materials and techniques will be the themes of the trade fair that sold out in record time. The Subcontracting 2015 partner company is Normet Oy.
“Finland is full of high standard expertise and highly competent engineers who come up with thousands of new innovations every year. There is also an incredible amount of new kinds of technology and new materials behind these new products and services. As part of the Subcontracting Trade Fair, we want to offer more information and expertise to support business, so that engineer-driven companies would learn to sell and market their products better globally and thus help the Finnish industrial sector succeed. Therefore this year's main themes are sales and marketing as well as new materials and techniques” says Product Group Manager Jani Maja of Tampere Trade Fairs Ltd.
Tampere Trade Fairs Ltd's partners in developing the sales and marketing theme are the Finnish Association of Marketing Communication Agencies (MTL) and Tampereen Seudun Viestintäyhtymä ry. With regard to new materials and techniques, the trade fair’s contents are being developed with FIMECC Oy, Tampere University of Technology, Tampere Region Economic Development Agency Tredea, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd and the Finnish Plastics Industries Federation. Subcontracting 2015 programme: www.subcontractingtradefair.com.
Subcontracting 2015 partner company Normet Oy – collaboration highlights Finnish expertise
This year the partner company of the Subcontracting Trade Fair is Normet Oy which offers solutions to demanding customer processes in underground mining and tunnelling. The company's head office is located in Iisalmi, Finland, and equipment manufacturing takes place in Iisalmi as well as Santiago, Chile, and Ludvika, Sweden. In addition, Normet manufactures construction chemicals in several countries. The global distribution and service network consists of 43 sales and support locations in 27 countries and is coordinated from Switzerland through Normet International Ltd.
“The idea behind the Subcontracting partnership is that the Subcontracting Trade Fair, together with a remarkable and successful Finnish main contractor, can highlight Finnish expertise. We want companies to pay more attention to the fact that they can also be successful in global competition by using Finnish subcontractors. Our first Subcontracting partner was Ponsse Oyj last year. Now we have the pleasure to partner with another successful company from the region of Northern Savo, Normet Oy,” says Product Group Manager Jani Maja of Tampere Trade Fairs Ltd.
“The Subcontracting Trade Fair is an internationally known and popular event that brings together a large portion of the Finnish industrial sector every autumn. The event provides a comprehensive overview of the topical themes and future prospects. The Subcontracting Trade Fair is also an important venue for meeting customers and suppliers as well as new partners. We are very excited about this Subcontracting partnership,” says Managing Director Timo Rask of Normet Oy.
Mikko Kuitunen, Vincit Oy: Marketing without money requires creativity and courage
Vincit Oy's Managing Director Mikko Kuitunen and Robit Rocktools Ltd Oy's Chairman of the Board Harri Sjöholm, who both received the Most Marketing Oriented Engineer 2014 Award last autumn, say that the world needs more and more marketing savvy engineers and new approaches.
“Marketing is often considered to be a bottomless pit that only major consumer brands can afford. This, however, does not have to be the case. In order for a company to stand out with a non-existent marketing budget, it has to be creative and imaginative. They have to come up with something unique, be aware of the channels through which they can reach potential customers, employees and sources of funding and be prepared to provoke feelings. You haven't succeeded if no one gets upset,” says Managing Director Mikko Kuitunen of Vincit Oy.
Mikko Kuitunen: "Marketing without money, standing out with a zero budget" (Subcontracting column)
Harri Sjöholm, Robit Rocktools Ltd: Engineers need more travel days and customer meetings
“It is a deeply ingrained mindset in Finland that we are technically excellent and able to provide superior tailored solutions to customers in a global market so that the 'products will sell themselves'. In order to ensure future success and growth, it is extremely important for our engineers to have a solid understanding of marketing and sales and the ability to listen to the customer. There is only one way to achieve this – spending more time closer to the customer, in other words interacting with them. If we look at successful medium-sized growth companies, they all have the ability and desire to become international. They have strong sales teams. They also have good products that are flexibly tailored to the customers' needs and preferences,” says Harri Sjöholm, Chairman of the Board at Robit Rocktools Ltd Oy.
Harri Sjöholm: "Engineer – more travel days and customer meetings" (Subcontracting column)
Vesa Kärhä, Finnish Plastics Industries Federation: New materials bring new success
Subcontracting 2015 has selected new materials and techniques as one of the main themes. Vesa Kärhä, CEO of the Finnish Plastics Industries Federation, says that a large number of megatrends will inevitably redefine the world's choice of materials and product design: additive manufacturing, the Internet of Things, the rising standard of living in Asia and Africa, climate change, the environment, health and safety. Even the boundaries between materials are becoming blurred due to the introduction of hybrid materials that are also being produced here in Finland for major brand products on the global market.
“Mechanical engineering materials are currently undergoing a major modernization process. It is essential to make savings in weight, maintenance, consumption, time and all other use of resources. We have to start using more plastics, rubber and composite materials. They can be reinforced with various fibres and modified with nanomaterials, ceramics, metals, bio-fillers or whatever it is the customer's product requires. Fortunately we have reached a level where we are able to produce just the right material for a particular application, starting from the molecular level. We possess a great deal of expertise, so we should make every effort to ensure that the creation of new material solutions continues in Finland,” says CEO Vesa Kärhä of the Finnish Plastics Industries Federation.
Vesa Kärhä: "New materials bring new success" (Subcontracting column)
Jyrki Vuorinen, Tampere University of Technology: Materials and digitalization – a revolutionary combination
“The theme of new materials is now more interesting and relevant than it has been for a long time. Digitalization will revolutionize materials and materials technology just as it has revolutionized other areas of technology and the related business areas,” says Professor Jyrki Vuorinen from the Department of Materials Science at Tampere University of Technology.
Jyrki Vuorinen: "Materials and digitalization – a revolutionary combination" (Subcontracting column)
Tarja Laitinen, VTT: Digital technology brings new opportunities and competence requirements to manufacturing
A megatrend that is changing the world at a rapid speed, digital-based 3D printing or additive manufacturing (AM), has gained a lot of visibility over the past couple of years.
“The possibilities of additive manufacturing can only be utilized to the full extent by gaining new design knowledge, particularly an understanding of the possibilities and limitations of additive manufacturing technology. The entire life cycle of a component is defined on the designer's table either deliberately or by chance. Digital material models combined with digital design offer an opportunity to optimize a high-performance, cost-effective material for the environment of the specific component using primary or recycled raw materials of sufficient quality. Perhaps in a few years containers of goods will be increasingly replaced by bits that will be transformed into physical components on site using additive manufacturing and raw materials that are the most readily available locally,” says Tarja Laitinen of VTT.
The main themes are strongly represented in the programme. Read more: www.subcontractingtradefair.com.
Subcontracting Trade Fair introduces new services to support business networking and marketing
The Subcontracting Trade Fair is known for its networking opportunities and in order to increase these opportunities, we will introduce a new service this autumn, the Brella networking tool. The purpose of the service is to help the trade fair visitors establish new contacts by introducing visitors to each other before and during the event. The other new service is the Messumarkkinointi.fi website which offers sales and marketing packages to the exhibitors. There are services for acquiring new sales contacts, deepening customer relationships, product and service launching, making your company more known and developing international trade. Further information: www.subcontractingtradefair.com.
Organized since 1988, the Subcontracting Trade Fair introduces the entire Finnish industrial sector and the top companies. The Subcontracting Trade Fair will fill all five halls of the Tampere Exhibition and Sports Centre and feature approximately 1,000 exhibitors from some 20 countries. Every year there are over 2,000 new innovations. The event showcases products, services and solutions of the subcontracting industry ranging from metal, electronics, plastic and rubber industries to industrial ICT solutions and related design and consultation services. A total of 16,893 industrial executives and specialists visited the Subcontracting Trade Fair in 2014. Tampere Trade Fairs Ltd's main partners are the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries, the Rubber Manufacturers' Association of Finland, the Finnish Plastics Industries Federation and the Finnish Association of Purchasing and Logistics (LOGY).
FURTHER INFORMATION: www.subcontractingtradefair.com / Twitter: @Alihankinta, #Alihankinta
Tampere Trade Fairs Ltd, www.tampereenmessut.fi,
Facebook: facebook.com/tampereenmessut, Twitter: @TampereenMessut
Jani Maja, Product Group Manager, tel. +358 50 356 1325,
ani.maja(a)tampereenmessut.fi
Tanja Järvensivu, Communications Manager, tel. +358 50 536 8133,
tanja.jarvensivu(a)tampereenmessut.fi, @TanjaJarvensivu
Meri Mattila, Communications Assistant, tel. +358 400 914 877,
meri.mattila(a)tampereenmessut.fi
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