December 2011: Since 1988, the two trade fairs, wire, International Wire and Cable Trade Fair, and Tube, International Tube and Pipe Trade Fair, have been held jointly at the Düsseldorf Exhibition Centre. Ever since, they have been developing steadily and continue to build on their positions as leading international trade fairs.

wire: A success story in numbers

The first “wire style exhibitions” were held in London as early as 1967 and 1970. It quickly became clear that they were the meeting point of the growing international wire and cable industry.

Because of its central location, the previous organisers decided to hold wire every two years in the Swiss City of Basel starting in 1972. At this location it grew into a flourishing trade fair. This trend continued until 1984, when the Basel exhibition grounds became too small.

So the event moved again, this time to Messe Düsseldorf, where wire has been organised successfully as international trade fair for wire and cable since 1986. Located at the heart of Europe, with ideal logistical connections to the neighbouring countries and overseas, the trade fair location Düsseldorf is still the home of wire today.

In 1988, Tube was founded in Düsseldorf, and ever since then, wire and Tube have been held together and Düsseldorf.

As of 1988, the development of both trade fairs has increased rapidly: wire started its success story in Düsseldorf in 1986 with 488 exhibitors on a net display area of just under 27,000 square metres. That year, 21,000 trade visitors came to Düsseldorf to gather information on current machinery and systems from the area of the wire and cable industry.

Held every two years, the trade fair continued to attract more and more participating companies until 2002. In 2002, 1,096 exhibitors displayed on an area of 51,000 square metres. Due to the overall economic situation, a slight reduction of the exhibitor numbers and square meters was recorded, before 2008 brought an absolute top result. A display area of 53,600 square meters was booked, and 1,130 exhibitors presented their innovations at wire 2008.

In 2010, the good results of 2008 levelled off: while exhibitor numbers were rising slightly, there was a minor decline in the leased display area. Now, just under four months before the start of the world’s largest trade fair for wire and cable 2012, 1,142 exhibitors from 47 countries have already booked a display area of over 56,000 square metres. 2012 will again top the result of the previous event.

At wire 2012, machines for wire production and finishing, process technology tools, auxiliary materials for process technology, materials as well as specialty wire and cables will be shown. In addition, innovations from the areas of cable, measurement and control technology and test engineering will be presented. Specialty areas such as logistics, conveyor systems and packaging round off the product and services range.

In 2012, wire, cable and fibreglass machines, as well as wire and cable producers and wire and cable traders occupy Halls nine through 12, 16 and 17. Hall 15 houses the area of fastener technology, and in Hall 16, one will find the spring making section.

Tube: Fast-paced development from its inception to today

In 1988, Tube, the International Tube Trade Fair, was founded in Düsseldorf. Since then, it has been held jointly with wire every two years at the trade fair location Düsseldorf.

The Tube premiere in 1988 welcomed 147 exhibitors who occupied a net area of 4,000 square metres. Every two years, Tube made bigger and bigger leaps. Until the middle of the nineties, exhibitor numbers rose to more than 300. Six years later, in 2000, 660 companies arrived at Tube. The occupied display area grew even more impressively than the exhibitor numbers. In 1992, more than 10,000 square metres were occupied, while the numbers almost doubled in 1998 to 19,000 square metres.

In 2000, the exhibiting companies occupied 27,000 square metres, and in 2006, the number climbed to 30,000. Between 2006 and 2008, Tube recorded an increase in square meters of 10,000, which is an absolute record result. In 2010, another success: after all was said and done, 44,500 square metres of display area had been leased out.

Today, just under four months before the start of Tube 2012, 47,000 square metres have already been booked. This means that another record result can be expected for 2012. So far, 918 companies from 44 countries have registered.

Tube occupies Halls 1 through 7a. Tube accessories can be found in Halls 1 and 2, the tube trade and tube manufacturing are in Halls 2, 3, 4, and 7.0. Metal forming occupies Hall 5. Tube processing machines are presented in Halls 6 and 7a. Parts of Hall 7a are also dedicated to the area of machinery and systems.

On display is the entire product and service range, from tube manufacturing via tube processing to tube machining. The offer spans raw materials, tubes and accessories, machinery for the production of tubes, used machines, process technology tools and auxiliary materials, measurement and control technology, test engineering. Pipelines and OCTG technology, profiles and profile technology, control technology and special areas such as warehouse automation as well as monitoring and control systems complement the comprehensive offer range.

Source: Messe Düsseldorf