Trade fair operations aren’t child’s play: The rapid-response task force

Gerhard Hemeli stays cool. If during the drinktec unexpected incidents occur, the team with the white shirts is there to help. “Minor jobs crop up now and then, but we quickly find a solution for all technical requirements. If a part gets broken during assembly, we re-order it from our plant in Neutraubling and replace it. But so far, touch wood, nothing’s gone wrong here.”

The guys are positioned at each machine and are there to assist the sales people in looking after visitors. “Setting up the labeller or assembling the monobloc is an exciting job for us, of course. The exhibits are so fresh from the factory, you see, that often we aren’t able to have had any experience in assembling them. We’d never seen the Viscofill before the fair, for example, so you have to get your bearings before you start putting it together. The assembly teams from the plant support us, and this means we make rapid progress.” The new PreBeam preform sterilisation system has definitely stuck in Gerhard Hemeli’s memory: “That thing is really heavy, we started to wonder how we could ingress it properly.” The crane system in the hall was an indispensable aid for this and all the other heavyweight exhibits.

This is the fourth drinktec for Hem (as his colleagues call him). “This stand is overwhelming, I’m really astonished how many exhibits we’ve got on show here this year. I like attending trade fairs and being involved in the erection work. In the beginning, you see the empty hall, which then gets gradually filled up. Once everything’s been fully assembled, you get to know a whole lot of people and you’re totally involved in the operations at the fair. And then within a single week, the whole kit and caboodle has to be dismantled again. This time, took it’s a really tight timeframe, because the hall has to be empty on Sunday week, Were going to need cranes, and the platforms for the exhibits here from the fair’s own store have to be back in readiness at the right time, which involves a whole lot of logistical planning. But we’ve always managed so far, so it’ll be all right this time as well”, says a confident Gerhard Hemeli

And afterwards? … Gerhard Hemeli will be up in the mountains, recovering from a stressful fair …