Being an exhibitor on a show such as the recent Machine Tools Africa requires a considerable investment of time and effort. Now the show is over, the question is: “Was it worth it?” From an Elquip perspective, the answer is a resounding “yes!” Quality is key We have been a local provider of quality global electrical, automation, mechanical and consumable products as well as capital equipment since the 1980's. Here I need to emphasise the word “quality”, a term that applies to every machine, tool and solution we market to South African industry on behalf of our premier global suppliers.

Valued customers and principals Machine Tools Africa 2017 gave Elquip Solutions the opportunity to show the market the level of quality we offer from a capital equipment and consumables perspective. Importantly, the show also gave us the opportunity to engage constructively with our valued customers; as well as with the representatives of our principals, who made the time to specifically attend. During the week of MTA, it was therefore an excellent experience to be able to work shoulder-to-shoulder with Gerrit van Oosterum, the Commercial Manager of Kinkelder; Cedric Folschweiller, the Sales Manager for Tube Tools at Saar-Hartmetall; Bella Lin, the Regional Manager for YLM; Michael Popa, the Export Manager for Behringer and Lars Borkowsky, the Head of International Sales and Marketing at Rontgen. We greatly appreciated their attendance, and the manner in which they professionally and enthusiastically assisted our local team in developing existing and potential new customers' interest in a machine or product displayed on our stand, into a solid new business opportunity.

We are now currently working hard to turn these leads into sales; and to provide new and existing customers with the best quality products the market has to offer. And even though our overseas principals have now left, we know that they have done so with an even better knowledge of our local market's challenges and requirements. We look forward to their support in our marketing efforts in the months to come.

In the same way that we appreciated their presence and participation, the appreciation that our principals showed for Elquip's ongoing marketing efforts was very gratifying. They all expressed their warm satisfaction at the show, its organisation and Elquip's role in it.

At Elquip, we will continue with our endeavours to strengthen and reinforce these relationships. What is important to us is that Elquip continues to serve as a truly effective extension to our principals' global footprint.

“Live” demonstrations boost customer experience

The Elquip stand, and the range of the capital equipment and consumables displayed and demonstrated, was impressive. Allowing potential customers to fully experience our product offerings “live” helped generate a significant number of leads. For example, customers and visitors to our stand could look at, touch and appreciate the quality of the blades from Kinkelder and Rontgen; and tube deburring products from Saar-Hartmetall.

In addition, many watched the operation of the Behringer bandsaws and circular cold saw, and the advanced YLM tube bender. Many of our customers involved in the fabrication and manufacturing sectors commented favourably - and with authority - on the quality of this state-of-the-art capital equipment. We are also happy to report that both the Behringer LPS 60-T bandsaw and the YLM 38-RSM five-axis bending machine were also sold to customers, further endorsing their confidence in the quality, productivity and return-on-investment of these premier products.

We also noticed that many visitors to our stand were drawn to the Hoffman tool display and actually spent some time examining the hand tools on display. Hoffman has an “encyclopedic” range of superb quality tools - of which we were able to display only a few.

In line with the theme of this year's MTA, Industry 4.0 and its implications for advanced automation are upon us - not to mention the need to lower the cost-per-cut and increase productivity and operational efficiency. These imperatives are increasingly driving the need for reliable quality capital equipment and consumables.

At MTA this year, we were therefore delighted to share our team of highly experienced international principals' - and our local team's - knowledge and expertise; which will set our customers firmly on the path of lowered operational costs and increased productivity.

We look forward to seeing all our valued customers and principals at the next show in 2020.