wire and Tube – the Evolution of a Success Story Made in Düsseldorf

As the leading exhibitions in their industries, the international trade fairs for wire, cable and tubes open their doors every other year in Düsseldorf. With a growing number of exhibitors, expanding square-metre figures and international trade fair guests from more than 150 countries, both events are among the most international in Messe Düsseldorf's portfolio.

The two trade fairs, wire – International Trade Fair for Wire and Cable, and Tube – International Tube Trade Fair, have taken place simultaneously at the Düsseldorf exhibition centre since 1988. Since that time, both trade fairs have grown steadily, continuing to strengthen their position as leading international trade fairs.

wire:
A Success Story in Numbers
The first "wire style exhibitions" emerged as early as 1967 and 1970 in London. It quickly became apparent that this was the meeting place for the growing wire and cable industry.

Due to the city's central location, the then organizers of the trade fair decided to hold wire biennially in the Swiss city of Basel. The trade fair grew and flourished until in 1984 it was finally too big for the exhibition centre in Basel.

It was time for another move – this time to Messe Düsseldorf, who has successfully organized wire since 1986 as the international trade fair for wire and cable. Located in the heart of Europe, and featuring ideal logistic connections to neighbouring foreign countries as well as overseas, the Düsseldorf exhibition centre has proven itself as the ideal home for wire.

Tube was called into existence in Düsseldorf in 1988. Since then, wire and Tube have taken place simultaneously at the Düsseldorf exhibition centre.

The development curves of both trade fairs show rapid growth since 1988: wire began its Düsseldorf success story in 1986 with 488 exhibitors on a net area of barely 27,000 square metres. At the time, 21,000 trade visitors came to Düsseldorf to get up-to-date on the latest machines and systems in the wire and cable sectors.

With its biennial cycle, the number of participating companies grew steadily through the year 2002, when 1,096 exhibitors presented themselves on an area of 51,000 square metres. 2004 marked a slight decline in exhibitors and area due to the overall economic situation, only to bounce back to absolute top results in 2008, with 1,130 exhibitors presenting their innovations on an area of 53,600 square metres.

2010 recorded similarly excellent results as 2008, with a slight increase in the number of exhibitors and slight decrease in rented exhibition space.

Now, four months before the doors open again to the world's largest trade fair for wire and cable, from 7 to 11 April 2014, 1,071 exhibitors from 47 countries have already booked exhibition space to the tune of roughly 58,000 square metres.

At wire 2014, machines for wire manufacturing and finishing, tools and auxiliary materials for process engineering, as well as materials and special wires will be shown. In addition, innovations in the areas of cable, measuring, control and test technology will be presented. Specialty areas such as logistics, conveying systems and packaging round off the offerings. Brand new: the concentration of mesh welding machinery in hall 16.

In 2014, wire, cable and fibreglass machines, as well as the wire and cable producers and wire and cable trade, will be located in halls 9 through 12, 16 and 17. Forming (fastener technology) will be found in hall 15, while spring making and mesh welding machinery area will reside in hall 16.

Tube:
Rapid Growth from the Beginning to the Present Day
The international Tube trade fair was born in Düsseldorf in 1988. Since then it has taken place every other year simultaneously with wire at the Düsseldorf exhibition centre.

The premiere of Tube in 1988 already hosted 147 exhibitors and covered an area of almost 4,000 square metres. Tube recorded substantial growth every two years, surpassing 300 exhibitors by the mid-nineties. Six years later, in 2000, that number more than doubled, as 660 companies presented their products and services at Tube. The rented exhibition space grew even more impressively than the number of exhibitors: In 1992 it was more than 10,000 square metres, almost doubling again by 1998 with more than 19,000 square metres.

In 2002 the exhibiting companies were already covering 27,000 square metres, and in 2006 it was more than 30,000. Tube recorded a 10,000 square-metre increase in rented space between 2006 and 2008 – a record result. The fair closed its doors successfully in 2012 with almost 48,500 square metres of rented exhibition space.

Today, four months before Tube 2014 begins, more than 49,500 square metres have already been booked. Next year will clearly mark yet another record result. So far 1.044 companies from 44 countries have registered.

Tube occupies halls 1 through 7a. Halls 1 and 2 house tube accessories, with tube trade and tube manufacturing located in parts of hall 2, as well as halls 3, 4, 7.0 and 7.1. Also located in hall 2 is the China Pavilion.

Forming tube technology will reside in hall 5, while tube processing machines will be located in hall 6, as well as in hall 7a with other machines and systems. The premiere of the PTF (Plastic Tube Forum) special exhibition will take place in hall 7.1. Profiles will be present in several halls, from 1 through 7.0.

The entire spectrum will be shown – from tube manufacturing to tube processing to tube fashioning. The offerings will reach from raw materials, tubes and accessories, to machines for tube manufacturing and used machines, to tools for process engineering and assistive equipment, to measurement and control technology. Pipelines and OCTG technology, profiles and profile technology, test engineering and special areas such as warehouse automation and control systems round off the comprehensive offerings.

Up-to-date information on both trade fairs can be found on the trade fair portals at www.wire.de and www.Tube.de.

Your Press Contact for 2014:

Petra Hartmann-Bresgen M.A.
Kathrin Kleophas van den Bongardt
Tel.: +49 (0)211/4560-541/-544
Fax: +49 (0)211/4560-87 541/-87 544
E-Mail: HartmannP@messe-duesseldorf.de
E-Mail: KleophasvandenBongardtK@messe-duesseldorf.de