How was the first fair „after“ Covid?

Due to Covid, many things were not possible for a long time, or only limited. So we were more than delighted to finally being able again to take part in such a meaningful fair like the IFAT in Munich.

The IFAT is the world‘s leading trade fair for water, sewage, waste and raw materials management and took place in Munich from 30 May to 3 June 2022.

Despite the past two years of restrictions and lockdowns, we were positively surprised to see 2.984 exhibitors from 59 countries and around 119.000 visitors from 155 countries participating. This high level of international participation is impressive at the current time, especially for IFAT. Because it occupies a very important position for a sustainable circular economy and environmental industry. Even German Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke explained at the opening of the fair that a functioning circular economy saves primary resources, reduces dependencies and contributes significantly to climate and species protection. More than 300 experts shared their knowledge in lecture programmes, as well as numerous live demonstrations and tours to showcase technologies that address the four special areas of the circular economy. IFAT Munichen occupied all 18 halls at this fair and also a large part of the outdoor area, which is 260.000 square metres in total.

In addition, 49 start-ups from 16 different nations were set up in a designated area. There were also 15 international joint stands, with Europe, Japan, Canada, South Korea and the USA, among others, exhibiting. Furthermore, a number of high-ranking representatives in political positions travelled to IFAT Munich, including Egypt, Belgium and Malaysia, also the environment ministers of Brazil and Singapore, as well as numerous international delegations. It was a pleasure to be part of this incredibly successful world-leading trade fair. It was nice to meet our customers as well as friends again after such a long time, after such a crucial time. Compared to the last years, we found that there were far fewer visitors at the fair, especially in the last days of the fair. There was a lack of visitors and exhibitors from china and russia in particular. This was due to covid on the one hand and the restrictions due to the ukraine war on the other. Nevertheless, it was once again a great platform for us to meet our customers, acquaintances and friends and to promote social interaction. Our latest development, which we presented at the fair, attracted a lot of interest. Over the last few months, our development team has developed a milling machine that can automatically mill holes in the pipes in order to attach connectors. This milling machine can also be used to cut pipes, thus eliminating the work that previously had to be done by hand. This makes the process much safer, more precise and also easier. The machine is programmed so that any shape can be cut. Soon it will be possible to order this machine from us and thus make many steps in production easier. At the trade fair, we exhibited a pipe that had been cut with the milling machine.

Our booth at the fair, with our Krah-bar and a pipe with cut outs made with our newly developed machine in the front.

To show how precisely the machine can work, we milled our Krah logo into it. We showed a video of this process. The visitors were very fascinated by the video and the result, and we have already received several enquiries about the new machine. If you would like to know more, please send us an email.  But even though it sounds like a lot of work and exhausting days - it definitely was - the fun was not neglected either. It would have been a shame if we hadn‘t explored the beautiful city of Munich extensively and spent the summer evenings there after work. All in all, we can say that we enjoyed the days in Munich with our customers very much and we are already looking forward to the next trade fair.

We have also met potential new clients and we will see how the relationships and business develop in the near future. In summary, it was an exciting and informative few days that we spent at IFAT Munich. With that in mind, our anticipation is tremendous, when we think of the next fair. - which will be the K show in Düsseldorf, taking place from 19 - 26 October this year.

We are already planning the booth and some special events during the fair and hope it can still take place like the IFAT. Exhibitions are always something special, it‘s so nice to see everyone, talk to everyone and experience all of this together - which only works so well because the Krah Community feels like a family.

Jenny & Lena

Krah Group