And yet time and time again, we see the usual suspects roving around the exhibition aisles, while some exhibitors even rebook the same stand position the following year.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to meet the same old faces, catch up, press the flesh and recount many fond memories. However, exhibitors must surely be crying out for fresh opportunities to meet new and potentially lucrative customers – the kind that they wouldn’t normally expect to see at these events.
There is a need to promote these opportunities as they can help initiate healthy synergies between different sectors. With services and capabilities that span the aerospace and automotive industries, composite materials, additive manufacturing and Industry 4.0 have all emerged as enabling technology conduits that encourage industry cross pollination.
Said to be much more than just the sum of its parts, the Advanced Engineering 2016 event - previewed in this issue - will arguably offer the best opportunity to discover more about someone - or something - that you didn’t know existed. From the humble beginnings of 2009’s Aero Engineering Show, event organiser Easyfairs will use Advanced Engineering’s umbrella to showcase the innovations within its four co-locating engineering sectors: aerospace, composites, automotive and performance metals.
It’s a chance to look over someone else’s shoulder and will be of great interest to industry organisations and academia in general, because it fits their remit of gathering together an eclectic and diverse mix of the UK’s advanced engineering sector. I suppose you could call them the unusual suspects.
Mike Richardson, editor