bauma Munich, the world's biggest construction, quarrying, mining & recycling machinery exhibition, attracted more than 495,000 visitors from over 200 countries and around 3,200 exhibitors from 60 countries during the latest staging of the tri-annual event (24-30 October 2022).
Although the 2019 edition of the industry showpiece drew more visitors (627,603 from over 200 countries) and exhibitors (3,684 from 63 countries), organiser Messe München was pleased by this year's visitor and exhibitor numbers, given the impact of COVID-19, Russia's war with Ukraine and other big challenges facing global commerce.
The proportion of international visitors to bauma 2022 was around 50%. The top 10 exhibitor countries at last week's exhibition were, in number order, Germany, Italy, Turkey, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Netherlands, France, the U.S., Austria, Spain and China. The share of international exhibitors was nearly 65%.
Stefan Rummel, the CEO of Messe München responsible for the event, said: "This bauma has again stoked enthusiasm and fascination! After the world fundamentally changed following the last bauma, we're really thrilled that bauma 2022 demonstrates the trade fair remains a powerhouse of the construction equipment industry thanks to our customer's great variety of innovations, good business deals and many visitors from all over the world."
Domenic Ruccolo, CSO of Wirtgen Group and Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Support for Global Construction Equipment at John Deere, added: "The Wirtgen Group's joint trade show appearance with John Deere was a resounding success. The interest in our company and our innovative and sustainable products was simply overwhelming. Our participation in the industry-leading trade fair bauma was the most successful in the history of the Wirtgen Group."
Steffen Günther, a member of the Board of Directors of Liebherr, also expressed his satisfaction: "bauma proved to be a very successful trade fair for us. We generated a lot of enthusiasm among the large audience. The conversations were outstanding. We're already looking forward to the next bauma trade fair now." Fred Cordes, Chairman of the Management Board at Zeppelin (CAT), adds: "bauma was long overdue — as demonstrated by the overwhelming rush of visitors to our booth and the extraordinary interest in Cat construction machinery and Zeppelin services."
And in terms of business deals as well, bauma proved once again it is THE platform for the industry. Alexander Greschner, Chief Sales Officer at Wacker Neuson Group, said: "Visitors flocked to our stand, and we had a lot of very good discussions. From the very first day, we were able to achieve sales success on the same level as 2019 and beyond."
Alexander Schwörer, owner of PERI, had a similar experience: "The entire team was very keen to see how the trade fair would develop in these difficult times. But even after the first day, it was clear to see that this bauma would be a complete success. What's particularly noteworthy to mention is the quality of the conversations we had during the week of the trade fair: they were exceptional in all respects. And something I certainly want to mention: We signed a number of very attractive contracts right at the trade fair. In short, bauma 2022 more than exceeded our expectations."
These are assessments the co-CEOs of Messe München, Stefan Rummel and Dr. Reinhard Pfeiffer, like to hear: "In these challenging times, bauma has sent a strong signal to the trade-fair sector: Industries need precisely such in-person events like bauma where everyone can directly experience products and hold personal conversations."
But bauma did not just showcase its strength as a business platform; the trade fair also lived up to its leadership claim in setting topics for the event. Franz- Josef Paus, Managing Director of Paus Maschinenfabrik and Chairman of the bauma Advisory Board, said in summary: "We're very satisfied with how bauma went. The trade fair was enormously popular among our customers and guests. Digitalisation and automation are topics that dominate the trade fair, and this trend is irreversible."
Joachim Schmid, Managing Director of the Construction Machinery and Building Material Association of the German Engineering Federation (VDMA) echoes this, saying: "The exhibitors are offering solutions to address current challenges related to CO2 neutrality as well as tackling the issue of skilled worker shortages with automation and digitalisation. This is the future. You see this with the traditional companies and with the nearly 50 startups at the trade fair for the first time."
Andreas Klauser, CEO at Palfinger, added: "As the world's leading trade fair, bauma gives exhibitors and visitors an opportunity to already experience the future today."
The next bauma will be held in Munich from April 7–13, 2025.
